Chapter Seventeen
Demi
I found myself walking across the street toward the garage again, with my head high, heart pounding, and every nerve screaming that this was reckless, insane, and suicidal.
But I didn’t stop.
I felt their stares like knives.
But I kept walking.
Because if I showed fear, they’d eat me alive.
Werewolf was there, and the second he saw me, his jaw clenched and his shoulders stiffened. He muttered something to the brother beside him, then stalked toward me with the kind of deliberate stride that made people get the hell out of his way.
When he reached me, his hand wrapped tightly around my arm, his voice a low growl. “What the fuck are you doing here, Demi?”
I met his glare. “Stepping into your world.”
His eyes flashed, fury sparking. “You told me the damn ball was in my court.”
“Yeah, well, I’m taking the ball back.”
The men around us shifted and watched with open interest.
Werewolf swore under his breath and dragged me toward the back and into the office where the walls still remembered our kiss.
The door slammed behind us.
He spun on me with his eyes blazing. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
I lifted my chin. “No.”
“You don’t get it.” His voice cracked, raw. “These men, they see you here, and they start asking questions. They start wondering why I’m protecting you. That makes you a target. Makes you leverage. And if anyone gets the idea you mean something to me—”
“You already told them I was yours,” I snapped.
He froze.
“She’s mine.”
My chest heaved. “So stop pretending it was just to keep me safe. Stop pretending you don’t want this.”
His breath came sharp. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re asking for,” he said.
“Yes, I do.” I stepped closer. “I’m asking for the truth about my brother, and I’m asking for you.”
His jaw tightened, his nostrils flared, and his eyes burned with fire I could feel in my veins.
My body leaned closer, like his heat pulled me in like gravity.
I thought he was going to kiss me again.
I wanted him to.
But he turned away, slamming a fist against the desk hard enough to rattle papers to the floor.
“Demi, if I give in, if I let this happen, it won’t just be us who pay. It’ll be everyone. My brothers. My club. You.”
My voice cracked, soft but steady. “I don’t care.”
His head whipped toward me, eyes blazing. “You should.”
“No.” I stepped forward, and my hand brushed his arm.
“I should care that my brother’s dead and no one will tell me why.
I should care that the only person giving me even a sliver of truth is the man who terrifies me more than anyone.
I should care that I can’t stop wanting the monster who keeps saving me. ”
His breath caught.
We were too close now. My chest brushed his, my hand still on his arm, and his eyes locked on mine with a hunger that burned through every barrier he tried to throw up.
“Demi…” His voice was ragged, desperate.
“Yes?” I whispered.
His hand lifted for a second before he dropped it back to his side with a curse. “This will destroy you.”
“Then let it,” I said.
The silence that followed was suffocating. His eyes searched mine, raw and wild while his chest heaved. His fists curled like he was holding back something bigger than either of us.
Finally, he spun away and raked both hands through his hair. “You don’t belong here,” he muttered.
“Maybe not,” I said. “But I’m not leaving. Not until I have the truth. Not until I know what happened to Tyler. And not until I know what this is between us.”
His body stilled, his back to me, his breath sharp.
“You don’t quit, do you?”
“No.”
For a long time, he didn’t move. Didn’t speak.
Finally, he turned, his eyes dark, his face hard. “Then God help us both.”