Page 36 of Silent as Sin
Wren.
She sat at one of the tables, shoulders drawn tight but her hands moving slow and precise, paper birds scattered between her and Throttle like fragile white secrets. Throttle leaned back in his chair, arms folded, his stare steady on her like he belonged right there.
What the hell. I’d told Jewel to keep an eye on her.
Heat slid low through my gut. Wren wasn’t his to look after.
The room felt too small. Too many people watching her like she was some curiosity they hadn’t figured out yet. Maul and Rex were at the pool table, arguing over a shot, but their eyes flick her way. Holly walked through from the room with a tray of mugs, giving Wren a quiet smile as she passed. Even theprospects hanging by the wall had their eyes flicking between her and me.
My boots hit hard against the wood as I crossed the room. The noise dimmed, or maybe I just stopped hearing it. I set the bag from town down in front of her.
Her head lifted fast, eyes wide. Relief flickered across her face, and then—fuck—she smiled at me. Small, soft, and real. It made something warm ache inside me, and some of the fury I’d been carrying since that note eased, just for a moment.
“Where’s Jewel?” I asked, the words out before I could stop them.
“She had shit to do and I didn’t,” Throttle said, voice calm but edged. He gave me a look, hard as steel, warning me not to make a scene.
I took it, because Wren was still too fragile to watch me tear into one of my brothers over who got to sit across from her.
“Picked you up a few things,” I said, pushing the bag closer.
Her fingers curled around the handles, careful, almost reverent. She peeked inside—clothes, a brush, a couple of books I’d grabbed without thinking but figured she’d like. Small things, but hers. For the first time, hers.
Color rose high in her cheeks. Her lips parted, and her eyes warmed over with more than gratitude. Something in the way she looked at me rooted me to the spot. I couldn’t look away if I tried.
A loud bang shattered the moment.
Glass hit the floor near the couches, splintering across the wood.
“Just slipped from my fingers,” Roxy called out, her voice bright and edged enough to slice. She bent low to scoop at the mess, her arm draped over Wreck’s shoulders like a monkey hanging on a tree. Her laugh rang false, her eyes harder than the shards glittering on the floor.
She straightened, leaning into Wreck with a kiss that was all teeth, her gaze slicing across the room to me.
Her smile faltered when she saw Wren clutching that bag like it was treasure. Then it came back jagged, brittle around the edges, before she buried her face against Wreck’s neck, staking a claim I couldn’t care less about.
I turned back to Wren. Her shoulders had gone tight again, her fingers locked white-knuckled on the bag.
I held out my hand. “Come on. I’ll walk you back to your room.”
She stood without hesitation, slipping her hand into mine. Small. Warm. Trusting.
The room had gone quiet around us, just enough that I knew every set of eyes was watching. Scyth leaned on his cue stick, Hex smirking beside him. Jewel had appeared from the hallway, pausing mid-stride to give Wren a smile, and a once over to make sure she was alright.
And Warden.
He caught my eye from where he leaned against the far wall with Elara, his stare unwavering, unreadable. A look that said we needed to talk. Soon.
I gave him a short nod, the only promise I could make right now.
Then I guided Wren out of the common room, her bag clutched to her chest like it was a bag filled with money.
And to her maybe it was.
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE DOOR CLICKEDsoftly behind us, shutting outthe noise of the clubhouse. The sudden hush felt almost foreign after the laughter, clinking glasses, and loud rumble of voices that filled the common room.
Here, there was only the faint hum of air through the vent, the creak of the floorboards beneath our boots, and the thrum of my pulse in my ears.
