Page 18 of Forged in Rain

“Why?” Hate turns to me. “What’s so special about you?”

“He asked me the same thing,” I say dryly, stiffening when he grabs my arm.

“This isn’t a joke,” Hate says coldly.

Beside me, Jig goes rigid, and Cyn growls, “Hate.”

Hate drops my arm with an impatient look for Cyn before turning back to me. “Well?”

“I don’t know,” I mutter, “but you have bigger issues than me.”

“Really? How do you figure? My cousin over here is pussy whipped, and my boss is out for his blood.”

“Fuck off,” Cyn growls.

“Because,” I say, “Iris set me up to get to Cyn. Rather convenient considering Jagger’s so chummy with Saul.”

“What?” Jig says.

Cyn pushes his way through and grabs my cheek. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“You heard me,” I whisper, pulling away.

“And you think now is a good time to tell me?” he bellows.

“I did tell you, you dick! It’s not my fucking fault you didn’t believe me! You’re lucky I’m telling you again now!”

“Definitely shark week,” Jig murmurs, and I turn to him with a vicious stare.

“What’s this about Saul? I assume we’re talking about Razor?” Hate says.

“Yes,” I say wearily, dropping into a chair and curling in on myself. Fuck if the cramps aren’t particularly brutal this time. “I overheard him speaking to Jagger at a party. I didn’t know who he was then, but they seemed real chummy and mentioned both of you and taking over your territory.”

Hate turns to Cyn with a severe frown, and Cyn sighs. “I told you what I knew.”

“Get your bitch in line!” Hate roars.

“Fuck off! I’m so tired of being called a bitch,” I holler before I fold over and moan, but in the next moment, I’m racing down the hall and hovering over the toilet just in time to vomit.

“Fuck,” I moan, writhing on the floor until Cyn appears and picks me up, depositing me on the bed we slept in before.

He doesn’t say anything, just pulls the covers to my chin, and after, I fade in and out as I ride out the waves, before I finally pass into oblivion, cold without his embrace this time.

Chapter Three

The sun shines brightly on my lids, and I open my eyes slowly, glancing around. Cyn is sleeping soundly beside me, his face relaxed and I trace the peaks of his face, admiring the beauty before me, wishing for things better left alone.

Would we be here now if I hadn’t lied? I don’t know because all signs point to him using me until he got what he wanted. But I still regret the action because if not, I ruined something that made me feel alive for the first time in my life.

Rubbing my chest, I turn over and pull my phone out of my pocket to check the time with a frown.

It’s five a.m., I never went home, and even though I don’t have to worry about John anymore, Pam’s still at the house.

Speaking of which, I need to find those damn pictures before anyone else does, but she hardly leaves her room, and I can’t imagine they’d be anywhere else unless he was lying.

Cyn plucks my phone from my hand and rumbles in a sleepy voice, “What’s this?”

Ignoring the shiver at his sexy tone, I turn to him with a bitchy retort, only to smile when he shows me my background picture. After throwing the original in the river, Jig gave me the replacement phone, and it had Cyn’s sexy picture set as the background. Annoyed, I searched out a hunky actor and saved it in place of Cyn.

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