Page 69 of Slayin Villain
“Of course you would.”He leaned back against the dresser.“Club voted.Kingpin made the call.Said if I couldn’t keep my shit together, he’d force it.”
“Heard you got in a fight,” I said, trying not to cry about it.
“Yeah, we fought.So now me and Rome are under one roof.”
“You fought over Ember?Why not toss Ember in here too?”I snapped.“Make it a damn party.”
He flinched.
Good.
“You both sleeping with her here?”I asked, quieter.“Now that I’m outta sight?”
His face dropped.“I haven’t…” He stopped himself.
That wasn’t a no.
I turned for the door.
“Wait,” he said, coming after me.“Rachel, just stop a second.”
I stopped but didn’t face him.
“I was gonna patch you,” he said, voice softer now.“Before everything.I had Blitz drawing up the design.I even talked to Kingpin.I wanted to give you the damn world.But then…”
“But then what?”I hissed.“You met the girl who plays the violin like a stripper pole.”
“That’s not fair.”
“No?What is fair, Villain?You bouncing between us like we’re beds in a whorehouse?”
His voice dropped.“She asked me to pretend, so she could get back at Rome.But when I thought Ember was pregnant, I panicked.Then I felt something.Something I didn’t expect.I let myself… think there might be something real there.”
I spun around, stabbing him with my stare.“You let yourself catch feelings for someone who might’ve been carrying your kid.Well guess what?I am carrying your kid.There’s no might about it.”
Silence.
“You’ve never once questioned it,” I continued.“You know for a fact it’s yours.You didn’t doubt me.But you didn’t show up either.Not like I needed you to.”
“I’ve been showing up,” he growled.“Fighting for the club.Holding this whole fucking mess together.Without the club, I can’t take care of you or our baby.”
“And when you’re not doing that, you’re tangled up in her sheets,” I snapped.“Admit it.”
He opened his mouth.Closed it.
I stepped closer, fury trembling through me.“You can’t patch me and fuck her.You don’t get to have both.This baby deserves better.”
He stared at me, eyes bloodshot, mouth a tight line.“You think I don’t know that?”
“I think you don’t care.”
He looked like I’d slapped him.Then his shoulders dropped.
“I care more than you know.But I’m fucked up, Rach.I didn’t come from good.I don’t know how to do this the way you deserve.”
“You think I want perfect?”My voice cracked.
“I think I care too much about you.”
