Page 150 of Riot

He followed me over, my name on his lips like a prayer and a curse all at once.

We stayed like that, foreheads pressed together, breathing hard. His hands were gentle now, smoothing over my skin like he was checking for damage.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked quietly.

I shook my head. "No. I needed that. Needed you."

He kissed me softly this time. "You have me. Forever."

"Promise?"

“I promised.”

“My brother?—"

"Will be handled," he finished. "But not tonight. Tonight, you're safe. We're safe. That's all that matters."

He carried me to our bedroom, and we made love again. Slower this time. Like we had all the time in the world.

Maybe we did.

The monsters from my past were dead. The ones still breathing wouldn't be for long.

And I had Riot.

That was enough. More than enough.

It was everything.

Chapter 51

HAVOC

I wasn’t built for this.

That truth hit me like a bat to the ribs the minute I left Carmelo the other day. At first thought I could do this but now, I don’t think so. Shit, my hands were still shaking from the nightmare that was King’s Vine. From the screaming. The chaos. The failure.

And that’s what it was, a failure. I’d let Carmelo down. I’d let Mimi down. I’d let myself down.

I thought I could take Riot out. Thought I had it in me to stand toe-to-toe with the men who looked at me like I was always a few steps behind. But I didn’t. I never did. That kind of killer instinct? It ain’t something you can fake. Either you got it in your blood or you don’t.

And me?

All I had in my blood was fear. I was barely Silas’s son. Maybe, it was the nasty shit he did to me that robbed me of it. I hated him and I still wanted them to pay. But I just wasn’t the man for the job.

Carmelo wasn’t gonna be happy. I could feel it coming. The man was unhinged on a good day. And now that he knew Allure was with Riot, that she’d turned on the only family she had left? He was gonna burn the whole damn city down to prove a point.

Which meant I was next.

Me. Mimi. Our son.

That’s why I packed the duffel bag. Quiet. Fast. Threw in cash, burner phones, IDs I’d been saving for an escape that always felt hypothetical. Until now. Now, I had to go.

I zipped the bag and looked up—and there she was.

Mimi.

Blocking the door like she knew.

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