Page 111 of Slayin Villain
Chapter 49
Ember
Rome had been chasing me for months.Showing up around corners.Leaving notes.Sending messages I never answered.
And the worst part?The club let him.
Apparently, if you rat out a rival MC and survive a beating bad enough to leave you with bones poking through the skin and scars like road maps, you get a seat at the damn table again.
They said Kingpin liked to gamble.And Rome?Somehow he lucked out.Crawled his way back into usefulness.
But me?
I was just the girl left behind.The girl with a baby belly and too many broken promises.
Thorn found me by the firepit that night.
It was a party, but I didn’t feel like celebrating.My belly stuck out round and proud, my boots were tight, and every time someone looked my way, I saw pity in their eyes.
All except his.
Thorn leaned against a beam, arms folded, eyes dark and steady like he saw me and not the mess I’d made of things.
“You’re glaring holes in that fire, darlin’,” he said, a slow grin tugging at his mouth.“What’d it ever do to you?”
I snorted.“Same as every man in this club.Burned me.”
Thorn chuckled, deep and slow.“You let the wrong ones get close.That ain’t the fire’s fault.That’s yours.”
I turned to him, narrowing my eyes.“You callin’ me dumb?”
“I said wrong, not dumb,” he replied, stepping closer.“You ain’t dumb.Just...tired of games.”
“Don’t come over here trying to analyze me like you know me, Thorn.”
“Oh, but I do know you.I’ve known you since the day you showed up, all fire and lip gloss and too much attitude for one girl to carry.”He cocked his head.“Thing is, I liked you back then.”
I blinked.“What?”
“I still like you.More now that you don’t take no shit.”
I stared at him, trying to read between the lines.Thorn was the cleaner, the guy they called when things got messy.The man didn’t talk much.Didn’t get involved.Always had blood under his nails and secrets in his back pocket.
He didn’t have a tattoo on him and always wore a cowboy hat, dark as his skin.
“You’re just sayin’ that ‘cause I’m a trainwreck.”
“Nah,” he said, leaning closer, voice dropping.“I like trainwrecks.They’re the only things worth slowin’ down to watch.”
I choked on a laugh.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“And you’re beautiful.”
I glanced down at my swollen belly.“Yeah, real pinup material here.”
He stepped closer, brushing a knuckle under my chin, tilting my face up to his.“You ever see a wildfire, Ember?Big, bright, dangerous.Leaves a path of ruin behind it but somehow manages to be the most beautiful thing anyone’s ever seen.”
