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Rocket took a step forward. “You fuck me on this, old man, and—”
“I won’t.”
The front door flew open and Chloe appeared on the porch. “Logan!” she cried as she started running down the four steps. When she reached the walkway, she came up short, her gaze bouncing between him and Esposito. “What’s going on?” she asked as though she could feel the thick tension.
God, she looked good, though perhaps a little thinner and exhausted. Rumpled from sleep or at least attempting to sleep, her hair hung long and disheveled down her back. She wore another of his T-shirts over a pair of stretchy black leggings.
Esposito smirked at Rocket before addressing Chloe. “Just congratulating your man on a job well done. Kinda surprised he had the balls to pull it off. Especially once he found out there was a kid involved.”
Chloe gasped then sent a horrified look his way. With her hand covering her mouth and another on her stomach, she looked like she was going to vomit.
“L-logan?” she asked. “Please tell me that isn’t true. You couldn’t have killed a child.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This shit was not supposed to go down this way. He stared at her, willing her to remain calm and give him a chance to explain.
“Logan?”
He flicked a glance to Esposito. The fucker was grinning ear to ear as though the impending showdown was the highlight of his miserable life. Keeping his gaze on the barefoot Chloe, Rocket stalked toward her, stopping when he hovered just inches away.
“Please?” she whispered.
“It’s true.”
The wail of agony that fell from her lips just about broke him. Chloe’s knees buckled but he managed to catch her before she hit the ground. The moment she was steady on her feet, she shoved out of his hold. “Don’t fucking touch me,” she shouted, backing away like he had the plague. “How could you?”
Rocket swallowed. His insides solidified to ice. It was the only way to survive the hatred in her stare.
Just as Chloe fled back into the house, no doubt to pack her shit, Esposito said, “Well, this has been entertaining. Sorry to say I won’t be in touch anymore, but you will be receiving payment soon.” After his customary two fingered salute, he climbed into the passenger seat of the Escalade Rocket returned in.
Rocket waited until the SUV was clear of his driveway and cruising down the street before entering his home. The place was tomb-quiet. Funny how with just a few weeks of having Chloe there, the silence he’d become accustomed to after living alone for so many years no longer felt comforting, but empty and cold.
Taking the steps two at a time, he ran upstairs and into his room. Chloe was stuffing as much as she could into the small suitcase she’d stashed under his bed.
“Chloe,” he said placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
She jolted like he’d touched her with a live wire. “Don’t touch me!” Hands up, she backed away from him. Her eyes were wild, more yellow than green in that moment. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
He advanced. They had to hash this shit out and it had to happen now. In ten minutes, company would arrive.
“Chloe, you need to listen to me,” he said, voice calm as he followed her retreating form.
“No,” she said. “I don’t have to do a goddamn thing, Rocket. Jesus, a kid? They wanted you to kill a kid? And you did it? This is all because of me.” She pressed a hand to her stomach. “I think I’m going to be sick.” Her back hit the wall and her eyes widened as she realized there wasn’t anywhere else to go. She lifted her hands, warding him off.
Or trying to.
That sure as hell wouldn’t stop him.
He crowded her against the wall as he grabbed her hands and lifted them high above her head. She fought him, wrenching with surprising power, and screaming curses at him. The strength required to hold her in place had his aching body screaming for relief. When she jammed her knee upward, he nearly lost his balls.
“Stop!” he shouted but the order either didn’t penetrate or she didn’t give a shit what he wanted. “Listen!” She struggled against him with all her might. To keep those wicked knees from unmanning him, he spread her legs and used his thighs to pin her to the wall.
“How could you?” she shouted over and over again.
He wanted to lean in and whisper the truth in her ear, but she’d probably take a chunk out of his neck, so he let her writhe until the fight began to dwindle. Even then, she used her fledgling energy to try and escape.
“How could you?” she choked out as her body finally sagged against the wall. Streaks of tears ran down her face.
Rocket leaned in until his mouth was directly against her ear. “I didn’t.” How could she believe he could commit such a heinous act? He thought they’d moved beyond her distrust of him and his club.
