Page 61 of Broken Truths

I shake my head. “Not at all. I just mean, what’s happened to you—to us,” I finally say. “All the death, the grief, the shit, everything. What’s left for us after this?”

He places his hands on his hips, his tattoos rippling with the movement. The way he’s backlit, I can’t tell if he’s a messenger from God or the flames of hell are calling him home…and I fucking love that about him.

I want to live as fiercely, love as deeply, because we all know Leo doesn’t do anything unless it’s full tilt, balls to the wall.

He shuffles forward and curls his fingers around my ear, taking a few blonde strands with it. “Everything, Eden. There’s everything after this.”

“How can you be so sure?”

His thumb traces back and forth over my temple, and I lean into his hand. “Because of you. I don’t know how you do it. You’re like a magnet for the lost and broken, and all I see is light. And that spot far off in the future? It’s brighter than ever.”

I lift my hand and place it over his on my cheek. “I like the sound of that.” Taking a deep breath, I relax in the moment. “I was thinking about Leon Forbes. What if he killed Delilah and my dad?”

He swallows, and his pecs flex for a second before relaxing once more. “I thought of that, too. If he did, it means we need to stop him.”

“But the Knights…”

“One step at a time, babe. It’s who killed your sister first. Then we’ll figure out how deep it goes.”

“Do you think your grandfather knows who killed her?”

“Absolutely. Nothing happens in the Knights without him knowing about it.”

“Then we’re fucked,” I say, dropping my hand. “Franklin won’t let us do anything to another member of the Knights.”

“Not unless it looks appealing to him, but you’re still getting ahead of yourself. One problem at a time.” He pauses for a moment, then sits next to me on the bed so our knees touch. “I want to pull you from the Knights.”

I swing my gaze toward him. “What?”

He holds his hands up. “We have the file. You have me and Alaric now, and we’re both in it. Hell, even Oliver is still in it. I want to pull you. No one will think it’s odd. Anne-Marie left.”

“Yeah because her fiancé told her to.”

He grips my thigh. “I’m not controlling you. I’m thinking ahead. I’m thinking about you getting the fuck out of the Knights when all of this is over—if there is still a Knights to be in. No one would think anything of it. Your dad just died. You’re my fiancée. There’s no reason for you to continue to pledge. In fact, I think it’ll be more suspicious if you stayed.”

I clamp my jaw down, listening to his words and hating every one. My fists curl into the side of the mattress. I don’t know why I’m so pissed—the Knights wasn’t my thing, it was Dee’s. I only came here to find out who killed her, and Leo is right. I don’t need to be in it, as long as they’re in it…and we do have the file. We might have the thing that leads to the smoking gun already in our possession. “Fine.”

“I know—” His mouth snaps shut, and he stares at me. “Really? Fine?”

I swallow my pride. “It was never about the Knights for me. I despise the whole fucking idea of it, but what I despise more is someone telling me what to do like I’m a little girl who can’t handle herself.”

He grins. “I know you’re not a little girl, Eden Astor. And when we’re done with this, you can join any other ruthless, cutthroat secret society you want. Just not this one.”

“I mean, I can,” I say.

“No.”

“I mean, I can,” I say more vehemently. “I’ll do what I want.”

In one swift movement, he pins me to the bed. “You say all that, and yet you let me take control when we’re this close.”

His chest skirts across my raised peaks, and I try not to let it affect me but fail. “But I still can be a Knight if I want,” I say, breathless.

“Yes, Eden, you could.”

I give him a small smile. “I feel better about that decision now.”

He drops his gaze to my breasts and then back up to stare into my eyes. “You never answered me before. Why this room?”

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