Chapter 29 Definitely Not Saying You’re An Idiot
Raine
For one fragile moment, everything feels… light and possible. But like always, the universe has to remind me that’s not a possibility.
Emil stands at my door now, a new problem I have to face. At least with Bash, I knew what I was getting. I knew what buttons to press, how to toe the line just right. But with Emil, my blood runs cold.
This is so bad.
I want to yell at them for being so stupid, but I can’t because they thought they were doing something good. They did something irreversible for me, something that changed their lives forever, and not one of them seems to regret it.
No. I won’t be ungrateful.
Emil’s gaze drops to the lock on the door, and my stomach tightens. He knocks again, polite and patient, yet certain.
“Well,” Jax mutters under his breath, voice rough and humorless now, “that’s one way to kill a vibe.”
Elias doesn’t speak, but the way his body shifts closer to mine, the way his hand stays exactly where it is, says everything for him.
“I’ll get it,” I hear myself say, even as my pulse starts hammering like it wants out.
Theo turns sharply, tension snapping through him, worried for me. “Raine—”
“I’m fine,” I cut in, forcing my voice steady as I peel myself away from them. “I’ve got it.”
My legs still feel loose, but they carry me forward anyway. I don’t look back. I can feel all three of them behind me, close enough that their presence presses heat between my shoulder blades.
The lock clicks when I turn it and pull the door open. Emil steps inside without waiting, the door closing softly behind him as if he’s careful not to let a draft in.
“Raine, I presume,” he articulates, gaze sliding over me with clinical ease. “Thank you for finally answering your door.”
I cross my arms, anchoring myself in my own body. “Wasn’t expecting anyone important.”
A corner of his mouth twitches, not quite a smile but something close, like he appreciates that I can note his status. “Fair.”
He reaches into his coat and pulls out a folded document, setting it on the nearest workbench like he’s laying down a menu instead of what I’m sure is my contract.
“I’ve assumed control of Bash’s operations,” he continues, voice smooth and level, “including all outstanding debts.”
The words hit my gut hard, but I don’t let my face change.
Jax shifts behind me, just enough to put himself half a step closer. Theo exhales slowly, like he’s trying not to say something he can’t take back. And Elias doesn’t move at all, but the pressure of his hand at my back doesn’t ease.
I’m sure he’s feeling the worst about this, being the one who was owed the favor. Who probably called this man before me.
“So you’re the new owner of my problem,” I state, leaning my hip against the bench like I’m not as intimidated as I actually am.
He studies that phrasing for a second. “If that’s how you’d like to frame it.”
“Fair. So, what does that mean for me? What is it you want from me?” The question comes out even, but my jaw aches from how hard I’m holding it together.
“I want you to listen,” he replies.
I tilt my head, unimpressed. “Okay. I’m listening.”
“I won’t operate the way Bash did,” he promises, gaze steady, unblinking. “There will be no arbitrary increases. No interest that’s designed to keep you under my thumb. I have my own set of standards.”
Something tight twists behind my ribs before I can stop it.
“You’ll pay an additional three thousand dollars a month,” he continues, tapping the paper once. “Fixed. On top of your original contract payment of one thousand.”
Theo sucks in a breath behind me as Jax goes still.
“And in return?” I ask quietly.
“The terms won’t change.” He holds his hand up, all fingers stretched out. “Five years. At the end of that period, the debt is cleared and I’ll leave you alone.”
Five years.
It’s a lot, but it’s not as endless as it felt before.
“And if I miss a payment?” I ask, curling my thumb into my belt loop to keep from fidgeting.
“We’ll discuss it. I’ll warn you, though. If you miss two, the agreement changes.”
I unfold the paper and scan it quickly, seeing what he’s listed, among other things. But I know this paper is a formality to make things look legal and never actually means anything.
“Why?” I ask, lowering it back onto the counter.
His gaze shifts to Elias, gesturing to him with his chin.
“Because he saved my life. But this is the last of my kindness I will extend. I may be fair, but I am not someone to walk over. You’ll find I handle misconduct swifter than Bash ever would.
” His eyes lock on Elias as if his words are directed at more than just me.
“There will be no further favors,” he continues. “If you interfere with my interests, I will remove one of you without hesitation.”
Elias lifts his chin a fraction, voice steady as bedrock. “We understand.”
Emil nods once before turning back to me. “I don’t expect trouble from you, Raine.”
“You won’t get any, as long as what you’re saying is true,” I assure him, and I mean it.
“Don’t test me. I’m a man true to his word,” he replies before heading for the door, already finished with us, but then he pauses.
“For what it’s worth,” he adds without turning, “Bash would have destroyed you eventually. He enjoyed ownership.”
My jaw tightens.
“I don’t,” he finishes. “I enjoy closure.”
The door closes behind him, and I quickly click the lock again. There’s a long pause of silence as we all absorb what’s been said.
Theo lets out a breath that sounds like he’s been holding it for hours. “Holy shit.”
Jax laughs softly, disbelief threaded through it. “So. Still terrifying. But… survivable?”
I sink onto the stool behind me, legs finally giving out now that they don’t have to hold me upright anymore.
Elias steps in front of me, eyes searching my face, checking on me like always. “Talk to me.”
“I’m not breaking,” I say, throat burning. “I just need a second.”
He nods, thumb brushing over my knuckles, guilt written all over his face.
“We’ll figure it out,” Jax says, quieter now.
“Together,” Theo adds.
I look at all three of them, feeling less alone in this than ever before.
“I don’t love that someone else is holding the strings,” I admit, but it’s not bitter.
“I know,” Elias says, looking down for a brief moment before I grab his chin and tilt it up, forcing him to look at me again.
“But it doesn’t feel endless anymore,” I finish. “It doesn’t feel… hopeless. You did that.”
His mouth softens, and his shoulders ease. “Good.”
I know coming up with four grand a month is still going to cut it close with the way business is, but it’s manageable, attainable. And maybe now, the customers will come back. Maybe I can cut back on the fighting. Go back to doing it for the fun of it and not for the cash.
Although it is a nice bonus.
“We can do this together. Five years is nothing.” Theo wraps his arms around my waist from behind, tucking his chin into my neck and inhaling.
I ease into it, into the new terms, the fact there’s a light at the end of the tunnel now. It isn’t what I imagined, but it’s better than it was.
I’m still worried for them, for their safety should something go wrong, but I know I can do this. I can do four grand a month. I can keep fighting, keep going, keep them away from harm.
No. That’s wrong.
We can do this. It’s not just me anymore.
“Five years is nothing,” I repeat, showing them that I’m okay. That I understand. That I won’t push them away.
No more running away from them. No more keeping them at arm's length. From now on, I let us embrace this shit together.
It’s been two weeks since Emil showed up at the garage and laid down the new terms. Two fairly easy weeks since I already had the money, thanks to Bash’s unattainable goal of fifteen grand.
The guys are with me as we meet Emil at some small-bricked cafe in a neighborhood that knows better than to speak of the things it sees. We each hop off our bikes and pull our helmets off, mine now sporting cat ears because Jax thought it’d be funny to hide all other helmets from me.
I was ready to run him over with my bike if he didn’t change it back.
If it wasn’t for Elias whispering that I make a pretty kitty in my ear, I may have actually gone through with it.
He’d be fine with just a broken leg.
Theo promised to get me a demon-horned one next month instead, and I’m at least down for that one. For now, I’m a ferocious kitty. Rawr.
We walk inside, and the smell of coffee and baked pastries fills my lungs, waking my senses as we head for Emil through the kitchen door. No one stops us. They don’t have to, knowing where we’re headed.
Interesting place to ask for the money.
Elias has his hand firmly planted on my back like always, guiding me through the kitchen. Theo and Jax are behind us, each holding one of my hands as I tug them along. They’re attentive, watching everyone in the kitchen as if they’re expecting some kind of ambush.
When we get to the back office as Emil instructed in his text, we see he’s not the only one there.
There’s an older woman, probably late sixties, laughing with Emil like they’re old friends.
It’s offputting, not because it’s not a sweet scene, but because it is.
It throws us all off enough to make us stop and stare without a word.
“You’re here,” Emil notes as he spots us, ushering us in with his hand.
The office is small, hardly able to fit us all, so Theo and Jax wedge themselves in the doorway, refusing to stand even an inch behind the other.
They compete too much.
“I have your money.” I lift the small envelope in front of my face as proof, all four grand in hundreds.
He doesn’t say anything as he holds his hand out, palm up, and I place the rent there. He opens it briefly, flipping through the cash halfway out of the envelope, satisfied with the number of bills. Then he hands it to the old woman.
“Keep this place open.” It’s not a threat or a command. It’s kind, encouraging even.
What kind of backwards villain era did I enter?