Page 104 of Reckless

His eyes lock onto mine. “Every fucking time.” The certainty in his voice shatters whatever I’d been holding together.

A tear slips free before I can stop it, warm against my cheek.

Then another.

I brush impatiently at them with the heel of my hand, frustrated that they’re there at all. “I k-know,” I whisper, my voice cracking despite everything I’m doing to hold it steady. “That’s the problem, Ghost.”

He doesn’t say anything.

He just looks at me.

I’ve cried in front of Marley.

I’ve cried in front of Piper.

Hell, I cried in front of Ro at the clubhouse after Ghost shot those men on the road.

But I’ve never, not once, cried in front of Ghost.

For a second, he looks almost… caught. Like every instinct he has is pulling him in a different direction. His hands tighten once against his thighs before relaxing again.

“You keep trying to protect everybody else,” I whisper.

“So do you.” His voice is quieter now. The edge he had when he first walked through the door has disappeared. Or maybe it’s being buried beneath something else.

I laugh again, but this time it hurts. “That’s different.”

“No.” The single word lands between us. “It isn’t.”

I look away because suddenly I can’t keep holding his gaze. “I wasn’t trying to be brave.” The admission leaves me before I can stop it. “I was terrified.” The room blurs. “They came after us on the Sunday ride… they ran brothers off the road. They fucking shot at us!” I let out a shaky breath. “They tailed Piper when she went for coffee!” I throw my hands in the air. “I woke up every morning wondering who the next message was going to be about.” My fingers twist together so tightly they’re beginning to ache. “Some days I’d convince myself it had stopped…” I shake my head, “… and then my phone would buzz, and I’d feel sick before I even picked it up.”

Ghost’s breathing changes, only slightly, but enough that I hear it.

“I kept waiting for them to say they’d taken Piper.” I swallow. “Or you!” Silence. “I don’t know how to lose my sister, Ghost.” The words snag in my throat. “And I…” my voice finally breaks, “… I-I couldn’t survive losing you too.”

The apartment goes completely still. Ghost’s eyes close, only for a heartbeat, and when they open again, something inside them has changed.

The disappointment is still there.

The hurt is still there.

But it’s fighting for space with something infinitely more dangerous—the overwhelming need to reach for me.

But he doesn’t.

I can see him choosing not to.

He watches me with that impossible stillness that somehow hurts more than if he’d shouted.

My eyes drop to my hands. “I know I should’ve told you. I know I hurt you.” The words blur as another tear slips free. “I’m sor—”

“Objection!”

I jerk back in shock, slowly lifting my head. “What?”

Chapter Twenty

SAGE