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Or I could tell her to let him in.
I looked down at the ground, mind buzzing with worry. And the thing that came to mind when I looked at the hardwood floor, at the marked wood where I used to play as a little girl, was the feeling I got when I fired that gun.
The strength, the joy, the power.
I never felt like that before.
And then, when he took me—that was mixed with it, the two experiences mingled irrevocably.
I looked up and forced a smile. “Okay. I’ll go talk to him.”
She nodded. “He’s waiting out front.”
I went to walk past her but stopped. I hesitated then hugged her. “I love you mom.”
“I love you too.” She patted my back. “Why are you acting so strange? Who is that man?”
“Don’t worry. He’s a friend.” I pulled away and walked out front.
Owain stood in my childhood driveway where I used to draw hopscotch boards and big fat rainbows in chalk with his hands behind his back surveying the neighbors like he was a developer looking to buy. He half turned as I approached.
“Nice place.”
“My mom really kept it up.”
“How’s it going in there?”
“Good, I think. She’s been worried.”
“I’m sure.”
We descended into silence. I wanted him to yell at me for running away. I expected him to grab me by the hair and drag e back to his car. He was parked out front by the curb, and I almost thought he left it running.
But he didn’t do either.
“Wy did you follow me?” I couldn’t help it. I had to ask, even though the question sapped me of all my power and all my strength, I still had to ask.
“Because I wanted to give you another chance.”
I sucked in a breath and felt my anger rise. “You want to give me another chance?”
He nodded. “To come back to work.”
“Work?” I wanted to laugh, but the idea was too absurd. “You call that work?”
“I don’t know what else to call it.”
“You sell drugs.”
“Still a job.” He turned to me, hands still behind his back. I stared into his handsome face and felt another stab of rage—mixed with longing, desire, and need. It was confusing and heady, a bouquet of emotions. “Come back with me.”
“I don’t know if I want to.”
“I’ll come inside and meet your mother if you want. Mom’s tend to love me.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“I’m polite and charming. And it doesn’t hurt that most of them want to fuck me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re an animal.”
“Yes and yes.”
“I don’t know what I want, Owain.”
“Is that why you’re out here?”
I nodded and looked away. “I’m trying to figure it out.”
“You felt that, back at the firing range.” He took a step closer and I felt his animal heat roll off him like heaven. “I know you felt it as much as I did.”
“Owain—”
“You can do what you want. If you decide to stray here and you send me away, then fine, I’ll accept it. But don’t you start lying to me.”
I sucked in a breath and nodded, closing my eyes. “I felt it, okay?”
“I know you did.”
I opened my eyes again. “Doesn’t change anything. Jason’s dead. And you have me selling drugs.”
“I do.”
“And you think I’ll come back to that? When I don’t have to?”
“I do.”
“Why? What the hell would make me come back?”
“I’ll make you a partner for real.”
I shut my mouth then and stared at him. I felt startled and I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant—but I knew I was interested.
“Partner… how?”
“I offered you a cut before, and that’ll remain. But I’ll offer you a cut on all future sales as well. With each new batch, your cut will increase, until maybe one day we’ll split it 50-50. You do the work, you earn the money, and you get a say in what the crew does.”
“You’ll let me have a say in the crew’s business?”
“Damn right I will. You’ll get a seat at the table, little diamond.”
“Why would you do that?”
He stepped closer to me and I felt a spike of fear and lust.
“Because you deserve it. You’re smart, Leigh. You see things and intuit things, and you fight harder than any person I’ve ever met before, all my guys included. You have no clue how much you’ve impressed me, and I don’t want to do this thing without you anymore. Come back to me and I’ll give you whatever you want and then some.”
I stared into his eyes. I knew coming out here was a choice, and I knew where it would lead me. Seeing him, being so close to him, I knew it would inevitably lead to me following him home again.
But I hadn’t thought it would lead to this.
“Partner,” I said, feeling the word in my mouth. “You’ll make me a part of your crime family.”
