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“Baby, I’ve seen lot of bad in my life, and you aren’t it. Even before I left home and crashed into the underworld, I saw plenty of that going down—dirty deals and blackmailing, backstabbing, takeovers that destroyed lives and agreements that tore families apart. It’s a tough world. I saw people go to jail for deeds they didn’t commit. Why do you think I left? Corruption, greed, power. These things turn people crazy. And compared to all that…”
I shake my head and look straight into her eyes, letting her see I’m being honest. “You’re gold, Ray. You’re clean. You’re funny, and sexy, and goddamn pretty, but above all, you’re a good person. You think I didn’t notice how you barely used anything in the house you broke into? That you didn’t steal and sell anything? That you went out in the storm to save me, and that you want to protect me?”
She bites her lip and breaks her gaze, staring down at her hand that’s splayed over my heart.
“You really mean that,” she says, and yeah, I do.
And then the oddest thing happens. Her eyes fill up. Bright, glittering tears that spill over her flushed cheeks, and fuck me, she’s breaking me. Shattering me.
“Damn well I do.” I wipe her tears with my thumb, and more spill out. I let them soak into my skin and then lift my hand to my mouth and taste their saltiness. “And I’d rather lose trying to win you, rather than let you go without a fight.”
There you go. This is my truth. This girl will be the death of me, and I don’t fucking care.
Chapter Seven
RAYLIN
What’s happening to me? I’m strong. I’m tough. Nothing has managed to break me, not my crappy family, not the dangerous men sent after me, not even leaving everything and everyone behind, time after time.
So why did his words make me cry?
Not just his words, I remind myself. The faith behind them. The faith in me.
Damn this guy. He hasn’t just pulled down my walls, he has crushed them and stomped on them. Ridiculous. I barely know him. I may know how he tastes and what sounds he makes as he comes, how he looks naked and aroused, or relaxed in sleep, but that’s not…
Yeah, that’s not enough, right? Not enough for me to fall head over heels for Storm, and yet I have. This can’t end well…
No relationship in my life has lasted. None of the good ones, anyway. God knows my dad’s ghost is after me every single day as I run and hide.
See, I just never learn. And it doesn’t matter. I’m going to tell him everything, even as he tastes my tears and holds me close. Comforting me, as I’m about to drop a bomb on him.
“Storm…” I’m getting to love his name. Never knew anyone called Storm before. “Listen. This is bad.”
He takes my hand off his chest and kisses the center of my palm. “I’m so scared.”
“You should be.” I roll my eyes at his grin. “I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
God, this guy… So cute, but he doesn’t realize just how bad this is. “My family owes a lot of money. My dad and my brother, they’ve always worked together. Petty conmen, rounding up their victims in bars and rundown dives, rigging card games and spewing lies to clean everyone’s pockets.
Nothing too big. It worked well. We moved from town to town for years, and nobody ever knew who we were.”
I close my eyes, trying to hide from this. His hand is under my chin, tilting it up. Forcing me to look at him as I speak.
“Then what changed?”
“Everything changed.” I swallow hard, my mouth dry. “One of his victims wasn’t as stupid as the others. Pissed as hell, he tracked us down and came at us with a gun. Mom got in the way. He shot her down. She died on the spot.”
“Fuck.” Storm’s hand moves to my cheek, my jaw, so gentle. “I’m sorry, Ray.”
“She didn’t really know what he did. He fed her lies for years, about selling second-hand cars, and she never questioned him. I never questioned him.” My breath is stuck in my throat. “She trusted him, and it got her killed. I trusted him, and I’m on the run for my life.”
Most of this is true.
“Hell. This is fucked up.” His hand moves to my hair, tugging. I love the slight sting of pain. It allows me to take another breath.
A good thing, too, because I’m far from done.
