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And the heart of the girl who’d come looking for him.
Hurt flickered across her face, the look so raw and vulnerable, and he hated himself for putting it there. “I wanted to make sure you were safe—”
“I’m fine, pup.” With a gloved hand, he gestured to himself. “See? All in one piece.”
The look she gave him in return suggested that what he said hardly constituted as being fine.
“You need to leave,” Roman urged. He looked out toward the shadowed street beyond the gates—the many places where someone could hide. The many places where Don’s men could hide, waiting to take her the minute they saw her here. To rape her bloody and kill her, just like Don had said. “This thing that’s going on between us—” With a thick swallow, he forced out, “It needs to end.”
Shay stared at him. Tightened her arms over her chest. “End?” she whispered, those green eyes flicking about the yard and the people lingering by the vehicles, Darien halfway inside the driver’s door of Roman’s car. “What do you mean end?” Quieter, she said, “I came back for you.” Sayagul was watching from Roman’s shadow, the dragon sniffling quietly—a sound only he could hear.
It always ended like this—every relationship he and Sayagul ever had. His mother, Travis…
And now Shay.
“You made a mistake,” Roman said, his throat tight and aching. “And so did I—I should never have gone after you. Besides, isn’t that what you wanted? To leave Yveswich?”
Again, she tightened her arms, fingers curling in her jacket sleeves. “What if I don’t want to anymore?”
Roman didn’t have words. This—her coming back—was what he’d wanted. Shay was what he wanted. But more than that, he wanted her safe, far away from the savage hands of Don and his men.
Shay persisted, “I never had any reason to stay before…” A swallow. “Before…” She didn’t finish her sentence.
Me, Roman thought, his shoulders sinking. And that was fucking bad.
“My sister and I planned on running away,” Shay went on, “but now that she’s gone…now that she’s gone, I don’t really want to leave anymore. And it’s because…” A pause. And then she choked out, “Because of you.”
Roman kept his face empty of expression as he stated, “That’s stupid.”
“What?” she snapped, reeling back as if he’d slapped her.
“You’re giving up your dreams for some guy? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. I didn’t think you were that fucking stupid, pup. This—” he gestured between them “—is a fling. It’s a crush. And a mistake. You don’t throw away lifelong dreams for a fling, Shayla.”
Shay was barely breathing. “Yeah, well, sometimes…dreams change,” she tried, every word, every hard-spoken confession ripping Roman apart. “And you’re not just a crush, Roman, you…” Her eyes darted about the yard and the people in it. Settled back on Roman. “You’re my dream.” Her breath hitched, and Roman felt his heart stall again. “My new dream.”
Now, Roman couldn’t breathe. Still, he managed to speak—managed to sound like the heartless wolf he’d always painted himself to be. “I’m not your dream, Shay. I’m not puppies and rainbows and fluffy clouds. I’m a goddamn nightmare.” He hardened his voice with every word. “I’m sharp teeth and black eyes and things that go bump in the night. You think your life is a wreck now? Find out what it becomes if you stick with me. You’ll be running for the door by the third night, I guarantee it.”
She turned away—so he couldn’t see her face, Roman knew.
He drew a breath. “You’re getting out of here, Shay.” He opened the passenger’s door of his car. “You’re getting out of Yveswich and you’re following your dream, which is. Not. Me. End of story.”
“He threatened you,” Shay whispered, whirling around to face him, tears shining in her eyes. “Didn’t he?”
Roman didn’t answer.
“Don threatened you,” she pressed.
“You need to leave.”
“My mom did the same to me, Roman. She showed up at my apartment.” She swallowed. “Killed my neighbor and my landlord.” A blink sent a lone tear sliding down her cheek, and Roman fought the urge to wipe it away. To care for her, the way he once had. “She told me to stay away from you.”
“I’m sorry that happened.” Gods—he sounded like such an asshole. He’d always played his role convincingly, had worn a mask he rarely took off.
He should never have taken it off for her. This was what he got for his slip-up: Heartache. Pain.
“That’s it?” Shay bit out. More tears dripped to the driveway. The girl who never cried was crying for him. “You’re sorry?” She shook her head, staring out at the quiet street he’d soon have to say goodbye to. “If you don’t stand up to him,” she said, her voice whisper-quiet, “he will kill you one day.”
“That’s for me to worry about,” Roman replied, that cold mask and flat voice disguising the real him. “And for you to get the fuck out of here.”
