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“I couldn’t hate you.” I covered his hands with my own. “Not when I feel the way I do.” It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him I loved him, but I stopped myself at the last second. Love had no boundaries, no rules, so I knew without a doubt he was it for me. He’d always have a place inside my heart.
“Remember that, Lola.” He puffed out a breath. “Remember the way you feel and the words you just said. Promise me, darlin’. Promise me you’ll remember.”
His voice was desperate, his body taut and tense. He didn’t need to beg me though because I was sure I’d never be able to forget the way he made me feel.
“I promise.”
Two words. Two words I vowed not to break, but sometimes it wasn’t so easy to keep a promise.
Chapter Sixteen
LOLA
Sometimes you’d get a feeling in the pit of your stomach when something bad was about to happen, but there were times when it didn’t appear, and that usually happened when I was stuck inside my head.
I was back at Brody’s place in my mind, relishing in the way he touched me after he’d taken me for midnight pancakes last night. I was imagining all the things he could do with his lips and hands, and I was unaware of what was going on around me.
I should have been more switched on as I walked home from the station after my day shift. I should have noticed there was no music and no cars on our street, and most importantly, Hut’s SUV was missing. But none of it registered because nothing could pierce my bubble of happiness.
Until I closed the front door behind me.
Hut was sitting on the sofa, his gaze focused intently on the door. I frowned and opened my mouth, about to ask him what was going on, but he beat me to it.
“Where were you last night?”
“I…” My breath stalled in my chest. “Where was I?” I rushed out.
He slowly stood, and I realized there was only him and me here. The atmosphere was intense, warning me of the danger swirling around us. The silence surrounding us more telling than the clenched fists at his sides and the redness spreading across his face.
“Yeah. Where were you?”
“I was at work.”
“Don’t fuckin' lie to me!”
“Jesus, Emerson.” My nails bit into the palm of my hand as I clenched my fists.
He took a step forward, a dark cloud seeming to cover him, threatening a storm ahead. I knew the kind of reaction I’d get from him using his first name, but I was tired. Tired of him. Tired of the life I lived in this house.
“How many times have I warned you?” he asked, his voice deceptively low.
“Warned me about what?” I was playing with fire, sure to get burned. He knew. He knew where I had been last night, but most importantly, who I was with.
His hand whipped out, and his fingers curled around my wrist. “For starters, you should know better than to call me anything but Hut.”
I’d been good at calling him Hut, both out loud and in my mind, but the rebel inside me had wanted to push that button—the only button I knew I could press. I’d lived in his shadow for so many years I was practically hidden in the darkness, but a fight had battled its way throughout me, the last boost needed in the form of Brody. I was finally showing the backbone I always knew I had. I refused to bow down to Hut and treat him like the king he thought he was.
“Your name is Em—”
He slapped me like I was an annoying little fly.
I sucked in a breath, trying to control the rage that was building in me like the flight an airplane would take. “How dare you.” I tried to wrench away from him, pulling my arm, but his grip was too tight. His fingers bit into my skin, and a part of me relished in the pain because it fueled my anger even more.
“What do you think is gonna happen here, Lola?” Hut raised his brow, his mouth quirking at the corner, mocking me. He thought this was a game—he thought everything was a game. “You thought you could fuck one of my crew and get away with it?” He pushed his face closer to mine. “You broke the fuckin' rules.”
“Let go.” I stared into his eyes, the same eyes that had welcomed me into this house seven years ago. The same eyes I once looked at in safety. But all I could see was hatred. Hatred for who he was, and what he represented. He knew I had no one. He knew he was the only one left in my life that was considered family. What he didn’t understand was that I’d save myself a thousand times over before letting him dictate my life.
“And what if I don’t?” He stepped closer, and I shuffled back a step, cursing the wall that my back hit.
