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Holy motherfucking shit. “You killed one of them?”
She pales. “Clay, my brother, said their guy was dead. Said I should give myself up or the triad would kill them, too. But instead I ran. Never looked back. That was two years ago.”
Holy fuck, this can’t be happening. My stomach twists into a hard lump.
She wipes a hand over her eyes, and her cheeks glisten. “That’s why they’re after me. They want their money, and they want to punish me. And even if it all works out, if you manage to pay them off… They won’t let me go.”
Hot damn. I grunt and shake my head.
“This is the whole truth,” she murmurs. “That’s everything. Nothing left. I swear it.”
My heart stops for a moment, then starts again with a boom. I look down into her dark eyes and I don’t know what to say or do.
Fuck, I need to sit down. Suddenly everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours crashes down on me. My knees feel like water. I sink down beside her and rub my hands over my face.
So this is the truth.
Holy fuck, she killed a member of a triad. How am I gonna help her? How am I gonna save her?
“I’m leaving.” She makes as if to stand, but I grab her arm and don’t let her.
“No.”
“You can’t help me, Storm. I won’t—”
“I’ll fix this.” Somehow. Not sure how yet. But somehow.
“You can’t.”
“I won’t let anyone take you, goddammit.” I swallow desperately, my mouth dry like the desert. “I said I’ll fix this.”
“Or you can let me go,” she says.
“I can’t.” It’s clear to me now, and I know how stupid that is, but what the fuck, I don’t care. “I can’t let you go. I’ve tried. Please stay with me, Ray. I’ll kick Rook’s ass out of here. I’ll even get you a fucking cat. I’ll buy you ripped jeans and blouses with sequins. Whatever you want. Just stay.”
She says nothing, but her face crumbles. I open my arms for her, and she burrows in close. We cling to each other, her slight body shaking against mine. Her tears soak my shirt, and her small sobs are caught in my chest, in my throat until I can’t breathe.
I love her.
I don’t know when it happened, and I don’t fucking care. Even when I’m not sure how to save her, when I know I should keep her away for her own sake, when I know she will leave, sooner or later, I can’t shake off the truth of that feeling.
She belongs with me. And I’m not sure I can survive without her anymore.
***
Not sure which is safer—leaving Raylin at home while I go to the law office to sign the paperwork for my inheritance and then to the company to meet the Board of Directors, or taking her along.
A no-brainer in the end, because I can’t leave her out of my sight and not go insane with worry: she’s coming with me. The apartment is full of insurance people, and I don’t trust anyone right now.
Except Rook, a bastard though he is, whom I’d trust with my life.
“You don’t take your eyes off her, you hear?”
“I thought you didn’t want my eyes on her.” He grins and winks, and seriously, the guy is going looking for it.
“You want my fist in your face? Is that it? Ran out of whips to lash yourself with?”
That does the job. He shuts up. Looks like I’ve hit a nerve, because he falls silent after that and follows me sullenly to the elevator.
