Page 29 of Marked By Myth

“And you?” I aimed at Fang.

“Don’t get ya knickers in a twist because you got Rox in your head again,” he said. Only he’d be brave enough to call me on my bullshit. “What ya think she was gonna do? Come back, fuck you and want to come home?”

“This is her home. She should be here, whether she’s pissed off at me or not.”

“Did you ever tell her the truth about that night?” Fang queried. I’d tried to put everything about that night behind me, especially what I’d done after it, lost to my misery of losing Rox.

“No. She doesn’t need to know.”

Fang shook his head. “Either way, what you’re doing with her, it’s either gonna end with her back home with us, or she’s going to ruin you. Be smart about it. You’re not kids anymore.”

He pushed off the stool at the bar and headed out of the clubhouse, smoke sticking out of his mouth before he disappeared from sight.

“And I suppose you’re on his side.”

“Didn’t say nothin’ about it. I’ve never heard of Cowboy and Fang talk about her, but the way they were protecting her last night tells me she’s important. Why’d you let her leave?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Your choice, Prez, we always got your back, even when your ol’ lady burns this place to the ground when you fuck up.”

I shook my head, but I hated to admit it, he was right.

My Rox had a temper on her, and she wasn’t afraid of putting her foot down when she was mad. My front gate could attest to that.

I scrubbed my hand down my face and pushed off my stool, heading back to the bedroom to cool off. It still smelled of her, of sex, of everything that I wanted to take back for myself.

She felt it too, I knew she did.

She was just running scared, and that was okay, because now, she’d come storming back and I’d show her this was where she was supposed to be.

There was no way in hell I was letting her leave again. I’d made that mistake once. I was not doing that again.

Rox

My hotel room was packed up, and my phone was fully charged. Or it should have been. Why was it still off? It should have turned back on the second it had enough juice. It always did that when it went flat.

Maybe I was too hesitant to turn it on knowing what I was going to cop from Beck when it loaded.

Fuck.

I’ll turn it on, and then I’ll put it in my bag until I can get to the airport. Then, at least, I could show him I was on my way home.

Home.

Why did it feel like a lie? Why did being back in the clubhouse feel more homey than my life back in London?

I couldn’t think like this. It was a blip. I’d said goodbye to Cam, and when I explained the situation to Grace, she would understand why I needed to flee without a proper goodbye.

My tummy itched, but I pushed it out of my mind. Maybe if I let Beck find me a laser removal clinic, he would forgive me for my transgressions.

Maybe.

He’d been itching to get my ink removed for years, surely, it would help. It couldn’t hurt.

I headed out of the hotel, having already paid online when I booked, and headed to the train station. It was only a few stops until I got to the Airport station, so I closed my eyes to meditate.

My phone was buzzing non-stop in my pocket, probably from the non-stop messages coming my way from one seriously pissed off boyfr—fiancé. Fuck. Why did I keep thinking he was a boyfriend? We’d been engaged for over a year now, surely the title would stick by now, right?