Page 112 of Savagely Yours
Dez never left my side.
He would have killed them first.
Also, I preferred to be conscious when he finally went off the deep end. I would never pretend it didn’t fill me with leg-kicking glee to have the heart and protection of someone like Dez.
“I don’t mean just me,” I went on. “I mean all the deaths you could have prevented in Sanitation.”
“The people we could treat, we did. Those with the infection…yes, we euthanized them, but there were no other options. Cerner and I are not the monsters you’re making us out to be. Even the dissenters, the rebels…don’t you think I knew they were escaping?”
“Then why not just let them go?”
“Image,Larke. Image. We’re not the only camp out here fighting for resources, and if Totten looks like the place whereuprisings and other bullshit won’t be tolerated, that makes us strong.”
“Or you’re turning Totten into you,” I argued. “You haven’t learned a thing. Instead of looking strong,bestrong. Take care of your people. Earn their trust and loyalty by being an actual leader rather than cosplaying as one.”
He didn’t comment.
By now, I’d expected Dez to show up when he didn’t see me at the gate. Although I had the knife, Neal was bigger. If a scuffle broke out between us, even if I won, I wouldn’t walk away unscathed. The last thing I needed was to be injured if the situation above ground was still what it was.
“I must say, this isn’t the way I thought this confrontation was going to go,” I said.
“What were you expecting?” he asked. “A fight?”
“A bullet, at least.”
“I don’t want to kill you, Larke.”
“Well, I’m leaving Totten. You’ll get to keep your empire.”
At least, what was left of it.
Based on the number of gray people I’d seen, I wasn’t sure what would be waiting for me once I left.
“You don’t have to do that,” Neal insisted. “Just stay out of my way and stop organizing people against me. We can find a way to make this work.”
“I’m still leaving.”
“It’s not safe out there.”
“I won’t be alone.”
“About that...do you know where Cerner is?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Do you know if he’s dead?”
“Not sure how I would know that.”
Dez could handle himself, and he wouldn’t care if I told Neal the truth, but I wasn’t going to snitch on my husband. Plus,it was self-defense. Technically, it was Dez’s definition of self-defense, but it was still a justifiable use of force in defense of a third party.
Me.
“I think it might be Ronan,” Neal said. “I think I got it in my head that I could control all of these Special Ops guys. That same night, Ronan and Cerner had a less-than-stellar exchange. Cerner wanted to use you as a means to essentially control Dez, and Ronan warned him not to mess with you. After Cerner went missing, one of the Class Fours told me that they saw Ronan following Cerner the night of the argument. It’s how Ronan operates: he plans, follows, and then executes.”
“Maybe Cerner should have listened,” I pointed out. “He probably showed up at my place that night with bad intentions, and Ronan followed him.”
The remaining pieces fell into place.
