Page 89 of Broken By Silence
“Roman,” Pacheco answers on the third ring.
“We’ve got a problem. Lorenzo needs to be neutralized. He’s getting reckless. We need to talk face-to-face. Tonight.”
A pause. I hear a faint click of glass, a murmur of his men in the background. “Is it public?”
“It is. The Velvet Room. Ten o’clock.”
Another pause. “I’ll be there, and a few others. We’ll listen, but I’m telling you this out of courtesy, Roman. Your father has burned a lot of people. They want blood…”
“Good.” I let the word hang.
Chapter 30
Lottie
“Ican’t go out there looking like this.”
The words are a choked whisper, barely making it past the lump of pure fear in my throat. My reflection shows the truth of them. Mottled purple and blue blossoms around my neck, a brutal necklace left by hands that shouldn't have been on me. I trace the marks with a trembling finger, the skin tender and hot.
The bedroom door opens without a knock. I don’t have to look to know it’s Archer. Only he moves with that kind of silent, solid certainty. The floorboards don’t even creak under his weight.
“Lottie.” His voice is low, a rumble that vibrates right through the panic threatening to swallow me whole.
I can’t turn around. I just stare at the girl in the mirror, at the evidence of today’s terror.
Archer is behind me in two strides, his big hands coming to rest on my bare shoulders. His touch is impossibly gentle, a direct contrast to the memory still burning my skin. His eyes meet mine in the glass, his gaze hard and protective.
“He won’t get near you again,” he promises.
The door opens wider and Oscar slips in, closing it softly behind him.
“I’m okay,”I lie.
“You’re not,”Oscar counters. He comes to stand beside Archer, forming a wall of solid, furious male between me and the mirror.“You’re shaking, baby.”
I am. A fine, constant tremor runs through me. The adrenaline from this afternoon has long since burned off, leaving me hollowed out and raw.
Archer’s thumbs rub slow, soothing circles on my shoulders. “You need to get out of your head. You can’t walk into the club like this.”
“I don’t know how to turn it off,”I admit.
Oscar exchanges a look with Archer, some silent communication passing between them. Then his eyes flick to the armchairs in the corner of my room. “They can go if you want them to,” Archer offers.
I follow his look. Elijah and Roman are there, sitting stiffly, their expressions a mix of guilt and hunger they’re desperately trying to hide.
My trust in them is still frayed, a torn ribbon… but sending them away feels wrong.
“Are we still getting revenge?”Oscar asks me.
I nod.
“Have you forgiven Crew enough to let him join?”
A shiver, one entirely separate from the fear, races down my spine. I give a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
“Then this is their punishment. Watching. Wanting, but not allowed to touch. Not until you say so.”Oscar smirks when my eyes flick to his.“Make them suffer, baby.”
“They can stay,”I sign, my eyes still locked on theirs in the mirror. A flicker of hope ignites in Roman’s eyes. Elijah’s jaw clenches, his hands gripping his knees.
