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My mindstillwouldn’t produce the direct connection of who the hell this woman was.
“I’ve been away fromThe Gardena long time. A lifetime, it feels like,” she corrected herself, “Before I went back to take it down. I remember you—the angriest little motherfucker I’d ever seen. They sent you to me because the men couldn’t tame you. No matter how much they abused you, you wouldn’t break. So they thought you needed a mother figure. And I favored yours, they said. A different kind of torture.”
Shit.
I closed my eyes again, trying to shut away the sudden rush of grief and rage and… knowledge.
I knew now, who she was.
Knew why my brain was fighting so hard against it.
“You left me,” I grumbled, my fists clenching tight against the cold metal surface of the table.
A deep breath rushed from my lungs after those words—my most immediate coping method to manage this abrupt, dizzying blast of emotion. I was fighting hard against the childish urge to lash out in violence, an impulse I’d long conquered, but her words had brought me right back to a moment in time I’d worked hard to suppress.
It took her a moment to respond to that, and when she did, there was a strain in her voice. “I did.” She nodded. “But I hope you know it wasn’t because I had a choice.”
“Why then?” I asked, finally meeting her eyes so I could glare into them directly. “Huh? You were one of the only people in that place who ever gave a shit about me, and then one day you were just… gone.”
Her gaze was… soft.
Nostalgic.
It pissed me off even more.
“Nyx, I’m surprised to hear you cared so much.” She countered my words, with the hint of a grin playing at the corners of her mouth. “As many times as I had to whoop your ass to make it clear I wasn’t going to let you whoop mine.”
I shook my head. “Iletyou win,” I claimed and she laughed.
“No you didn’t,” she insisted. “You couldn’t back then and you can’t now.”
I grunted, knowing she was trying to provoke me at this point. “If this is supposed to be a happy reunion, you’ve got a funny way of showing it.”
“I never claimed happy,” she said, her tone losing the amused edge. “But a reunion… yes. It’s definitely that.” She laced her fingers together, leaning over the table a bit. “What are you doing in Vegas, Nyx? Why are you here? You here for me?”
“Why the fuck would I be here for you?” I snapped. “Youleftme,” I told her, jabbing a finger in her direction—an emotional slip I instantly wished I could take back.
I wasn’t a fucking kid anymore; I was a grown ass man.
I was supposed to be beyondthis.
“BecauseThe Collectivesaid so,” she snapped right back, glaring at me as she reclined in her chair, arms crossed. “I was nineteen years old, and still under their control. What the fuck was I supposed to do?”
“The same thing you told me to do,fight.”
She stared for a moment, and then asked, “And why the fuck do you think you’re free now?”
My eyebrows went up. “Oh yeah, that’s right.The Mighty Garden, taken down by the long-lost heiress of the Pelletiers,” I grunted, not bothering to keep the cynicism from my voice. “I heard the rumors. That really was you?”
“I’m here aren’t I?” She gestured around us. “This compound is full ofThornsandRoseswho found their way to Vegas. Who found their way tome.”
“Well isn’t that just a fucking hallmark card?” I countered with a smirk. “A house full of sons and daughters you could never have on your own, right?” I asked, wanting her to feel even an ounce of the same hurt I was.
Too bad I felt like shit as soon as the words were off my lips.
I saw the way that jab hit her.
Harder than intended.
