Page 104 of Slayin Villain
“You know things, Rachel.Things the club can’t afford walkin’ out the front door.”
“You think I’d talk?”I asked, heat crawling up my spine.“To who?About what?”
“I don’t think you’d mean to,” he said calmly.“But people like you, civilians, get scared.You run.You tell someone just to feel safe again.Even if it’s just your mama or your boss at the salon.”
“Salon?I’m a nurse.”
“Whatever…”
I bit the inside of my cheek.
“I’m not trying to threaten you,” he said.“I’m asking you.Are you stayin’?For real.Are you gonna be his Ol’ Lady?Or do I need to start making other plans?”
I folded my arms.“He hasn’t asked me.”
Kingpin’s brow ticked, but he didn’t look surprised.“You waiting on an engraved invitation?”
I didn’t answer.
He stepped closer, his voice lower now, like he was handing me something sacred.“You wanna protect that baby?Be part of this club?Then say so.Stand up and claim what’s yours.You can’t have one foot in and one foot out.”
He looked toward the hallway where Villain lay passed out in bed.
“He’s not the type to beg,” Kingpin said.“Even when he should.”
Then he left.No goodbye.Just a creaking door and the sound of his boots hitting gravel.
It was late afternoon when I spotted her, Ember, standing by the side porch talking to Eve.Her face was pale, like she hadn’t slept in days, and she had a red handprint blooming across her arm like a reminder of what Rome had done.
I didn’t want to talk to her.Hell, I didn’t want to see her.
But fate’s cruel, and paths cross where they shouldn’t.
“You moved in,” she said flatly, eyeing the grocery bag in my hands.
I didn’t answer.Just adjusted my grip and kept walking.
“I’m a prisoner here, you know,” she said, louder now.“You think you won some prize, but you’re not free either.Not in this life.”
I stopped.Just for a second.
Then I turned around slowly.
“I’m here because I want to be,” I said, keeping my voice calm even as my blood pounded in my ears.“You want to call it a prison, fine.But no one dragged me back.I came for him.Not you.Not drama.Not this sad little contest.”
She jutted out her chin.“He only came back to you because I didn’t want him anymore.”
“No,” I said, stepping closer.“He came back to me because he never stopped wanting me.You were just a distraction.A mistake he was willing to own up to.Can you say the same?”
Eve raised her brows, slowly stepping between us with a polite but deadly smile.
“Alright now,” she said in her sweetest Southern drawl.“This ain’t the place for a catfight.Rachel, go tend to your man.Ember, your tea’s getting cold inside.Let’s all remember who the real enemy is.”
I nodded once and walked away, not sparing Ember another glance.
She wasn’t my concern anymore.
When I got back to the house, Villain was awake, shirtless, and trying to limp to the kitchen like he wasn’t recovering from getting jumped by a pack of bastards just days ago.
