Page 64 of Waging War
Hurt her. The cackling of my demons has my eardrums ringing.Then she’ll leave us alone.
“You’re right.”
Her shoulders relax a touch, and I take one last mental image of her before I obliterate what we’ve built in this home.
“I should have never come here. You’ve been a distraction from the beginning—one I need to free myself of if I’m going to see this through.”
She reels back as if I’ve physically slapped her. “How dare you blame me. I was drugged, kidnapped, and taken back to those very same kidnappers by the likes ofyou. And in case you’ve forgotten, my father was nearlykilled. So, if you’re going to blame anyone, then you can blame yourself for this whole damn thing.”
Jaw grinding, I glare down at her. “How about I let you in on a little secret?” Her eyes darken as I stoke her anger. “I’m the reason you were taken from Lucky’s in the first place.”
“What?”
“I’m the one who told Bruce about your relationship with Kenneth and told him we should use you as leverage to control the Wolves.”
A lone hand finds its way to her throat. “You’re lying,” she says quiet enough that I barely hear her.
God, how I wish I was.
I nearly drop to my knees and beg her to run away with me. I imagine the effort it would take for us to go on the run, and for a single fleeting moment, I almost think it’d be worth it.
“I’m not.”
In a moment of rare weakness, Hazel’s lip trembles.
“Ben… don’t say that.” She blinks. “Don’t tell me something like that after what you’ve done to me.”
What I’ve done to her? Even as I push her away from me, I know that it’s she who has ruined me.
“We’re done here.”
I watch as the armor she reserves for the outside world settles into place, covering every inch of her body.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because it’s necessary.” We wield our words like clashing steel swords. “I hurt people, Hazel. It’s what Ido, and I’m not going to stop. You should be with an honorable man, and that man isn’t me.”
“Is that honestly supposed to scare me?” It should, but of course, it wouldn’t. Her father killed a man right in front of her, and there’s no telling how many more deaths she’s witnessed being the daughter of a former gang member.
“We were never meant for the long haul.”
“Looks to me like you’re just a coward.” Reaching for the door, I yank it open, pausing only to glance over my shoulder when she adds, “Whose side are you really on here?”
It’s the same question I’ve asked myself since my first taste of blood as an enforcer.
“Do as you’re told for once, and stay here where you’re safe.”
The door slams behind me before she can argue, and I collapse against it.
If I was so against Bruce and everything he stands for, then why am I running away from sanctuary and right back into hell?
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Ben
Lucky’s is mostly barren except for three cars parked in the back. I cross the gravel parking lot to the front door and swing it open to find the place just as empty inside as it is outside.
Odd.
