Page 90 of Jett

“I lost my child.”

“I know.”

“No! You don’t. You don’t have any fucking idea what it’s like to feel a life growing inside you. You weren’t there when those men attacked me, when they killed my neighbour. You weren’t there in that hospital when they handed me a tiny baby whose face was magic, whose fingers and toes were so perfect, and whose skin was as cold and dead as that club made my heart. So don’t you dare sit there and fucking tell me that I don’t know what I’m walking away from.” I gasp for breath as I get up and put some distance between us.

“You’re right. I don’t know. All I can tell you is that the club isn’t the same without you, thatheisn’t the same, and neither am I.”

Grim climbs to his feet, his large body towering over mine. He pulls me to him and I struggle in his grasp, but when he wraps his arms around me, I give in. I lean into him and sob.

“I don’t know what else to say but my door is always open, my phone is always on, for you.Fuck. I love you, Raine. Not in any way that a friend should love you. I love you like you hung the moon, the stars, and the whole fuckin’ galaxy, and I know I’m not what you want. I know you belong to him, but I’d give my fuckin’ soul for just one ounce of what you and Jett have.”

“Grim,” I whisper and he pulls me toward him, planting a kiss on my mouth. I blink in shock as he pushes me back against the wall and shoves his tongue in my mouth, silently begging me, pleading with me, to kiss him back.

I turn my head and he gives me some room.

“Sorry.” He scrubs a scarred hand over his beard and then turns his angry gaze on me. “No. You know what? I’m not sorry. I know I’m not him. I’m not the man you want, but I’m in fuckin’ love with you. I love you, Raine. It destroys me to see you like this over a man who doesn’t deserve you.”

“You’re my friend, Grim. I—”

“I don’t wanna be your fuckin’ friend. Jesus, do you know how hard it is not to throw you down right now and fuck the shit outta you to show you what you’re missin’?”

I suck in a sharp breath and try to quell the fear rising in my gut. Grim eyes me like a predator, and my knee-jerk reaction is to get as far away from him as possible. Before I can get any of my faculties under control, I reach out and slap him. The sound rings in the empty room.

His mouth twists into a sneer as he presses a palm against his cheek. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You should go.”

His voice is a growl, low and menacing when he says, “Yeah, I guess I should.”

He grabs his keys from off the table and heads to the front door. I don’t follow. I just stand there shaking, staring at the floor.

How do we come back from this?

“He isn’t the man for you, babe.” Grim shakes his head. “You’re never gonna be safe with him.”

“I never thought I wouldn’t be safe with you either, and look how wrong I was.”

He walks through the door, slamming it behind him so hard that the stained glass rattles in its led inlay. I exhale and sink to my knees.

I’m surrounded by men who love me, by men who hurt me time and time again, and I’ve never been so alone.

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