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“You’re right. It just… it feels good to be able to be doing something for a change. I know I agreed to stay out of it, but it's hard staying home and not knowing what’s going on. I feel like you guys are doing so much for me and my sister. I just… I really want to help tonight.”
Cy wraps his arm around me and pulls me in for a soft kiss. “You are helping, P. We wouldn’t even be able to do any of this without all the details you gave us about your time with him.”
I let myself sink into his hold, but in the back of my mind, I can’t help but feel a little guilty. I haven’t shared every detail with them.
As if my guilty conscience conjured him into existence, a man steps into the card room and my body stiffens as recognition clicks in an instant.
Fuck.
“You okay?” Cyrus asks, pulling my sunglasses down to get a better look at me. I try to mask my reaction and avert my eyes, but I’m too slow. Cyrus follows my line of sight and, without another word, he stands up from his seat and drags me along with him.
“You know her?” He asks, looming over the man in question as he nods his head towards me.
The Zombie’s callous eyes skim over me before looking back at Cyrus. “Nope.”
Fucking liar.
Cyrus scoffs. “I’m not sure if you heard me.” He snaps, raising his voice even louder. The entire room comes to a standstill, and it’s as if all of their eyes are on us. “I said. Do. You. Know. Her.”
The Zombie sucks his teeth as he glares at him. “I believe that’s a question you should be asking her.”
Cyrus lets out a laugh, as if they're just having some friendly banter, but I can tell by the look in his eyes that this is anything but friendly. Without a warning, Cy’s fist goes flying and smashes into the side of The Zombie's face with such ferocity, I literally hear his cheek bone crack. The Zombie crashes to the ground and when Cy backs away, I’m half convinced the fight is over, but soon realize he’s only preparing himself to throw another hit.
“Cy don’t.” I say, catching his arm and trying to hold him back. “He’s not worth it.”
“He’s not.” He says simply, looking deeply into my eyes. “But you are, P. I know exactly who this motherfucker is and what he likes to do. He’s not going to get away with what he did to you. Not tonight.”
In an instant, Cyrus is on him, pounding his fists into him like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The Zombie tries to hit him back, even lands a couple of cheap shots, but Cyrus is better. Faster. He’s fighting him like he’s been training his whole life for this. And as strange as it sounds, watching him defend my honor like this pulls at my heartstring in a way I didn’t expect.
I haven’t had someone protect me so ferociously like this since my dad. And somehow, I know that if he were here, and he saw this, he would be just as fucking proud of Cy as I am.
Cy continues to beat the shit out of him and it doesn’t stop until his own security team finally steps in to separate them.
When he’s finished with him, The Zombie is barely moving and, to add insult to his injury, Cy spits on him right before he has his security team drag his barely conscious body to the back.
“Let this be a lesson to anyone thinking of laying a finger on our fucking Queen. Your punishment will be swift. Your punishment will be brutal. And your punishment will be bloody.”
After the fight, Cy doesn’t speak to me. Not when he drags me out of the casino. Not when he walks to his motorcycle. And not when he helps me get on it.
It isn’t until he parks the bike at the top of this huge peak overlooking San Francisco that he speaks to me again. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
I kick at the loose gravel underneath my boots. “I was trying to protect you guys.”
“Keeping things from us doesn’t protect us. It hurts us. You need to tell us everything. That’s how we build trust.”
“I’m sorry, Cy.” I really am. I saw the pain on his face when he realized we knew each other. It physically hurt him to find out like that, and it wasn’t okay for me to keep it hidden. “I should’ve told you everything from the beginning.”
“You’re right.” He says, working the muscles in his jaw. “You should’ve. We have to trust each other, P. Especially in our world. People are constantly going to be trying to rip us apart, but we have to be stronger than that. From now on, no more secrets. No more lies.”
“Okay.”
“Come here.” He says, outstretching his arms towards me. I hesitate, if only briefly, because I honest-to-god don’t think I deserve it. Cyrus is consistently kind to me and I feel like I find a way to make him regret that kindness. I don’t want to do that anymore. Not with him. Not with any of them.
“Princess.” He says sternly, glaring down at me. “If you’re going to have a fucking pity party, have one in my arms. It’s cold up here and I need to remind myself that that motherfucker can’t get to you anymore. That you’re with me now, and that you’re safe.”
And with that, I practically throw myself into his arms. I have a stupid pattern of punishing myself every time I make a mistake, as if my misery will somehow remedy the situation. But in order for me to grow, I have to learn from my mistakes, not fear them.
