Page 183 of Broken Pieces
And now I’ve got one more fight, and I pray to God I don’t fuck everything up by not telling Skylar about it.
It sits heavy on my chest, the weight of that secret, pressing harder with every hour that passes.
She trusts me. And I’ve already walked that line too close—between keeping her safe and keeping her in the dark.
Rainer’s no idiot. He took one glance at me and saw through the silence. Just stared me down like he’d already seen how this ends. That stare in his eyes wasn’t curiosity. It was history. The knowing that only comes from being knee-deep in shit and barely crawling out alive.
When he told me to make sure I get out clean, it wasn’t some throwaway line. It was a warning.
I knew at that moment he wasn’t talking about the fight. He was talking about her. About Skylar. About the girl who walked into my mess and didn’t run.
He was telling me not to drag her down with me and become the man who ruins the one good thing he ever had.
I toss the wrench back into the toolbox; the clang echoes through the garage. My shoulders roll with a low crack, muscles pulled taut. A reminder of every hit I didn’t dodge, every punch I took to stay standing.
But pain I can handle; I’ve had it all my fucking life.
The phone buzzes in my back pocket.
I almost don’t check it.
No one calls me unless they want something. And if it’s Griff again, trying to line up another fight or shove some dirty cash in my hands, he can fuck right off. I’m done with this shit. No more cage bloodbaths or shady deals with men who smile with perfect teeth and promise you glory before tossing you to the wolves.
I let the phone ring once.
Twice.
But when I pull it out and see the name lit up on the screen, my heart stutters.
Cassie.
What the fuck does she want?
She never calls me.
The only time she did was when she told me Skylar needed me. That was the night everything changed.
If Cassie’s calling, something’s wrong.
Something’s happened to Skylar.
I answer. “What’s wrong?”
All I hear is breathing… fast, panicked, broken, and a string of fucks tangled in it.
“Cassie,” I bark, already moving toward the door. “Breathe. Calm the fuck down and tell me.”
“It’s Skylar,” she chokes out, her voice cracked and shaking. “They’ve got her cornered near the alley behind Sanders Street. It’s Liam. And those two dickheads he hangs with. They…fuck, Zane…they’re surrounding her and I…I can’t get to her—”
My vision tunnels.
Every instinct in me snaps awake like a fuse lit under gasoline.
I don’t wait.
I don’t even register the rest of what Cassie’s trying to say.
My body moves before my thoughts can catch up. I’m out the door, heart pounding, legs already eating up the pavement.
