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My heart vibrates like a hummingbird, and a kaleidoscope of butterflies explodes from my stomach. I can’t control the shaking that’s slowly taking over my body. I can’t hold back the tears either. The pleading giant before me becomes blurry as I wipe the salt from my wounds.
Love...
Someone loves me?
Ronan takes a step forward and I don’t budge. Slowly, his warm arms wrap around my quivering body. I melt into his embrace. The anger in me is draining. My eyes are damp from rainfall. I want to give into him so bad.
“I thought you abandoned me,” I whisper into his broad chest. The heat of his heartbeat calms me.
“I did,” Ronan sighs. “But it was only so that I could come back to you. I already know about the Russians. I’m so sorry—I’m going to make them pay.”
His biceps flex around me. I can feel a new energy seeping through his body. An anger that isn’t directed towards me, but towards those who have truly wronged the both of us.
“Why did they come after me?” I ask, looking up at Ronan’s shimmering eyes from the warmth of his chest.
“Because they know you’re all I care about. And they wanted to smoke me out of hiding.”
“... It worked,” I whisper. I want to feel afraid for the both of us, but I just can’t manage it while I’m in Ronan’s embrace.
“So they’ll think... until it’s too late.” Ronan’s voice has become a growl. I study his eyes and see a primal flash explode behind his steely gaze.
“What are you going to do?” I ask, curious, but also terrified of the answer.
“I’m going to kill them all.”
23
Ronan
“You’re leaving already?” The hurt in Nia’s voice breaks my heart, but I know we can’t have peace until I deal with the assholes who forced us apart in the first place.
“When I come back, all of this will be over,” I try to assure her. My hand’s on the doorknob, but pulling it open is proving to be harder than I ever expected. Nia doesn’t want me to go, and I don’t want to leave either. But I have to. This has to end, one way or another.
“... What if you don’t come back?” Nia looks as beautiful as ever. There’s a glow about her that just makes me want to spend the rest of my life staring.
I sigh. “Well, then at least I got to say goodbye this time.”
Nia sneers and shakes her head. “Not good enough.”
“It’s all we have right now.”
Nia grinds her teeth. The same fire that greeted me when I first entered the apartment threatens to erupt out of her again. I’d almost rather she was angry; it’d make it easier to go.
“If you leave again, don’t bother coming back,” Nia suddenly spits. My heart lurches at her venom.
“Nia...” I plead quietly. She has no one idea what’s out there. And sure, that’s my fault, but it’s also my responsibility. I need to bear this cross on my own—it’s the only way we can end up together in the long run. “I have to do this.”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Nia immediately retorts.
I’m getting fed up. My hand drops from the doorknob and I turn my attention fully to her. “I’m just trying to keep you alive,” I tell her.
“Well, maybe I’m just trying to keep you alive, too.”
I want to hug her, but I know that ship has sailed. The flame that surrounds her now isn’t one of passion or affection, but of anger.
If I leave, she doesn’t expect me to come back—can I blame her?
“We don’t have any other options,” I plead, my patience wearing thin. She doesn’t know how things work in the underworld.
