Page 82 of Romeo

My thumb stilled over the screen.

Well, fuck.

I read it again.

She wasn’t wrong.

From the second I’d realized the La Croix curse had finally come for me, I’d been making decisions about Fiona in my own head. I’d decided I would wait. Decided I would protect her. Decided what parts of my world I wanted anywhere near her. I’d done all of it without asking what she wanted because I’d convinced myself I was protecting her.

Sugar’s voice came back to me.

Let her set the pace.

Apparently, that applied to more than keeping my hands off her.

Me: Fair.

The response felt weak, but I didn’t have a smartass comment that could make her less right.

Ma Belle: Are you hurt?

I stopped pacing.

There it was.

She hadn’t demanded answers about the club. Hadn’t pressed me for names or details.

She just wanted to know about me.

Me: No.

Ma Belle: Are you angry?

I looked toward the door.

Angry didn’t begin to cover it. I wanted the Death Dogs out of our backyard. I wanted every secret King was keeping dragged into the light before another one blindsided us. I wanted Syrena somewhere I could get my hands on her—although Mimic had already taken care of that.

And part of me was pissed at myself for being upstairs talking to Fiona instead of downstairs doing something useful.

Me: Yes.

Ma Belle: Do you want to talk?

I stared at the words for a long time. I wanted to say yes; I wanted to tell her more than I could.

Not every club secret—those weren’t mine to share. But I wanted her to understand the kind of life that existed behind the cut she’d seen me wear.

Someday, if she chose me, she would have to know there would be things I couldn’t tell her. There would be danger. There would be days like this one.

And there were things I’d done for this club—things I might have to do again—that a high school girl in Rosewood had no reason to imagine.

What scared me wasn’t the thought of Fiona knowing every ugly corner of my life.

It was what she might decide after she did.

Me: Not about what happened.

Ma Belle: Talk about something else.