Page 77 of Slayin Villain
“You sure about staying here?”she asked gently.“It’s not far, but it’s… far enough, I guess.”
“It’s enough,” I said, placing a framed picture on the nightstand, me and Mama at the county fair, years ago.“He won’t come looking.That chapter’s closed.”
She nodded.“Good.Then it’s time to start a new one.”
That night, after dinner, I sat on the back porch with a cup of peppermint tea and my hands over my belly.
It was small now.Barely a bump.But I could feel the change inside me, the pull of something bigger than heartbreak or biker drama or patch-overs or club wars.
This was real.
This was mine.
And maybe I was doing it alone.But I wasn’t afraid anymore.
Let Villain chase ghosts and guilt and girls who didn’t stay.I’d be over here, building something solid.Something sweet.
The next day I’d call around, start job hunting, maybe register at that little OB clinic near the Kroger.I didn’t need much.Just peace.
And maybe a crib.
And maybe a rocking chair.
And maybe, just maybe, a little hope.
Because it only takes a day to disappear.
But it only takes one heartbeat to change everything.
Chapter 34
Ember
The second I pulled up to Rome’s place, my hands started shaking on the steering wheel.
It wasn’t fear.
It was relief.
I’d done the hard part, said goodbye to the man who made my pulse race but never made me feel safe.I’d stood between two roads, one full of fire and chaos, and one full of something real.
And I chose love.
Rome opened the front door before I could even knock.His hair was still wet from a shower, curling a little at the ends, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt, just jeans slung low, his tattoos catching the hallway light like inked armor.
“You came back,” he said, voice low and almost unsure, like he thought I might vanish if he said it too loud.
“I told you I would,” I replied, and before I could second-guess it, I walked into his arms.
He caught me like I weighed nothing, like I belonged there.
His mouth met mine in a kiss that wasn’t rushed or rough or messy.It was deep and warm and slow, like we finally had time.Like everything we’d been dancing around had landed right here in this moment.
He pulled back just enough to brush his forehead against mine.“I don’t need you to wear a property patch.I don’t need a promise.I just need you.You understand that?”
I swallowed the knot in my throat.“I want it.All of it.You.The life.Whatever this turns into.”
He studied my face, his brown eyes softer than I’d ever seen them.“Even if the kid’s not mine?”
