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“Not so much for her. Cara and I just weren’t workin’ out. She deserves someone better than me. I can’t be what she wants me to be.”
“Which is what?”
“A suit. She wants me on the straight and narrow, and I can’t be that guy. Never was,” I tell him.
“She wanted you to change who you were?”
“Pretty much. Cara wanted me to be someone I wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, the idea of bein’ someone else is nice sometimes, but that isn’t me. It would never last, and I would end up right back where I started.”
“Which is here,” he states.
“Which is here.” I agree.
“Heard that. She can’t expect you to be someone you’re not. That’s why you like Raven, yeah?”
“She doesn’t want me to be anyone else. Raven accepts me for who I am. She doesn’t look at me oddly when I say I need to handle business. She makes me feel somethin’.” Demon nods his head as if he understands, and maybe he does. He has Cheryl, and their relationship didn’t start conventionally. Far from it.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Cross. Keep the girl around for as long as you can,” he says.
“That’s the problem. Raven has some plans that she says she has to handle. I don’t even know what the fuck that means,” I tell him. I don’t know what it is, and that’s what’s bothering me. She said it could be dangerous, which doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t want her in danger, but the assholes who had her are already dead. I don’t know what other business she could possibly have.
Then again, I don’t know her past. That’s something that she doesn’t like to talk about. At least not to me. When she’s with me, that’s it. It’s just her and me. I don’t ask her about her past, and she doesn’t offer it up. It’s how we work. But now I’m curious. I think when we get back, I will ask her about it. Ask her about her plan. I need to know that she’s going to be safe and smart about whatever it is she’s doing. I need to know that she isn’t going to put herself in harm's way.
“You’re worried about her,” Demon states.
“I am. I don’t know what Raven has planned or how deep it runs,” I reply.
“She won’t tell you about it either, yeah?” I shake my head.
“Nothin’.”
“Maybe it’s best to let her go then. Cross, you don’t want her past drama creepin’ up on you.”
“I know that, but I also don’t want to let her go.”
“It’s a lose-lose situation, brother.”
He’s right. It is.
Chapter Ten
Raven
This isn’t my smartest move. It’s not even my brightest, but it’s the best I got. I stare at the house’s front door with my bag over my shoulder. The house that nearly killed me. The house has broken me in so many ways.
I start to walk up the sidewalk when the front door opens, and he walks out. His eyes find mine, and shock registers across his face. I bet he never thought he’d see me again. Bastard.
“Raven?” he asks as if there’s not even a chance it’s me. I force the tears to come. I force them to fall as I look at the man I hate. The man who will pay for every one of his sins.
“It’s me,” I whisper. He looks around, confused by what’s happening. He should be. I bet he thought he’d never see me again in his life. I bet he thought he was rid of me and never had to look at my face another day.
“What … how …”
“I’m here,” I say, keeping my tone low even though all I want to do is strangle him. I want to take his life the way he took mine. I want to see him begging for mercy the same way I did.
“I don’t understand,” he says, taking another step toward me. It takes all I have in me not to pull away and curl into myself.
“I don’t really know either,” I tell him. He steps toward me before slowly reaching out his hand. I want to pull a knife and cut it off, but I play my part. I play the part I have to play to execute my plan.
