Page 99 of Slayin Villain
“You got jumped,” she said.“Rome and his boys were waiting.Ember never showed.”
I let my head fall back against the pillow.“Figures.Should’ve known it was a setup.”
“She texted you like she wanted to talk.”
“She did,” I muttered.“I thought it was about the baby.Thought maybe she had something to say.”
“She did.”Rachel’s voice cracked.“She got tied up in a van.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
Rachel nodded, trembling.“Rome.Pagan found her.Sweet Tea messaged me while you were under.She’s at Cece’s now.”
I sat up too fast, pain lancing through my ribs.“She okay?”
“She’s beat up.Not broken,” Rachel said.“But she’s not staying with Rome.Not after that.”
I let the news settle like dust on fresh blood.
Ember.
The woman who’d lit me on fire just to watch me burn, she’d been the one in danger this time.Rome had snapped.Gone too far.And I hadn’t been there to stop it.
“Why the hell would he do that?”I asked.
Rachel shrugged.“Maybe because she told him the truth.Or maybe because he knew you still mattered.”
That hit me right in the bruises.I sank back into the bed, covering my face with one arm.“This is a fucking mess.”
“Yeah,” Rachel said quietly.“It is.”
The silence stretched thick between us.
Then I dropped the arm and looked at her.“But you’re still here.”
Her eyes met mine.“For now.”
My chest squeezed.“Rach, I never meant to…”
“Don’t,” she cut in.“Not unless you mean it.Not unless you know what you want.”
“I do,” I said, hoarse.“I didn’t before.Not really.But seeing you here… waking up to you…again and again.You’ve always been here for me.”
She sniffed, blinking fast.“You need to heal.Not make promises you’ll break again.”
“I won’t break this one.”
“You might.”She stood, pacing.“You didn’t pick me.Not when it counted.”
“I was trying to do right,” I said, throat tight.“I thought Ember was pregnant.I thought I had to do something about it.”
“You thought.”Rachel spun on her heel, fury flaring in her eyes.“You let yourself fall for her the second you thought she was carrying your kid.Meanwhile, I am pregnant.There’s no guessing.No paternity test needed.And you still looked at her like she was something special.”
I sat there, helpless, stripped down and exposed in a wisp of a hospital gown and a paper-thinner excuse.
“I know,” I whispered.“I know I fucked up.I thought I could keep it all separate.I thought I could be two men.”
