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“I know you’re mad,” Nico says. “But I did what I had to do, and I won’t apologize for it.”
I whirl on him, stabbing a finger at his chest. “Mad? You think I’m mad?” I laugh bitterly. “I’m not mad, Nico. No. I’m fucking furious!”
“What do you want from me?” he asks calmly, which only ignites my fury more.
“Iwantyou to not have gone without me. Iwantyou to not have lied. Iwanta lot of things.” I take a deep breath. “But it isn’t about what I want, Nico. It’s about what I need.”
“What do you need?”
My anger deflates. He’s too little, too late. And I’m not angry about that. I’m sad.
“I need a partner,” I whisper brokenly. “I need the man in my life to treat me as his equal. I’ve been made to feel like I’m less than by my parents. I don’t need it from you too.”
I storm out of the room and down the stairs. Nico’s footsteps thud behind me, but I ignore them, ignore him. I head outside and straight to my Harley. I need to get out of here, away from him.
“Don’t do this,cuore mio,” Nico pleads. “Don’t walk away.”
“I’m going to stay with Harlow and Malachi for a while.”
I fire up my bike and ride away. I let the wind dry my tears and pray it can heal my soul. As I ride around absently, Nico’s face flashes. I see him smiling and laughing. I see him angry and hurt. It’s the hurt that sticks with me, the hurt that, in turn, hurts me.
Two hours later I knock on Harlow’s front door. Within seconds, she’s there pulling me in for a hug. We stand in the doorway for what feels like hours but is only minutes. Harlow lets me cry it out.
“C’mon, Pep.” She pulls me inside and closes the door. “I take it things didn’t go well?”
“They went as well as you’d expect. We fought, he refused to apologize, I left.”
“Well, you know you’re welcome here for as long as you need.”
“Thanks. I know I could’ve stayed at the clubhouse, but I don’t need everyone’s pity. This just feels…” I shrug. “Safer I guess.”
“I get it.”
I look around the living room. “Where’s Malachi? You didn’t kill him, did you?”
Harlow’s face hardens. “No, the fucker is still breathing. But I sent him to your place. I couldn’t look at him.” She rolls her eyes. “I told him he could come back in the morning, but that for now, I needed space.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“You and Malachi should be enjoying your honeymoon, not sleeping in separate houses because of mine and Nico’s demons.”
“Pep, nobody in this family faces their demons alone. Ever.”
“Still…”
“Stop it.” Harlow urges me toward the couch. “Sit. I’ll get us some ice cream and we can watch movies or something. Get our minds off reality for a while.”
“Yeah, okay. That sounds good.”
“It’s ice cream and movies. Of course it sounds good.”
* * *
Nico
The gaslight on the dash comes on just as I turn onto my road. I had over half a tank when I left the clubhouse, but I’ve been driving around for hours, not wanting to come home to an empty house.
