Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
Sparkle’s body is relaxed, head tipping back against my shoulder as I navigate the dimly lit back hall of the club.
Levi’s laughter echoes down the hall as Ezra, who is supporting most of his weight, practically drags him along.
Koen strides ahead, pushing open the back exit to get the Bronco and drive it over to us.
Ezra grunts, adjusting Levi’s arm around his neck as they stumble toward the passenger door. “Get in, you adorable disaster,” he mutters under his breath, helping Levi into the back seat, still laughing at whatever joke he’s stuck on in his drunken haze.
When Ezra pushes the seat back and steps aside, I shift Sparkle, easing her into the car. She sighs as I pull the seat belt across her, and I press a light kiss to her forehead, the corner of her mouth quirking up as she murmurs, “Hottie…”
God, she’s going to be the death of me.
Koen glances at me as I back up, reluctantly releasing my grip on her. “So… we’re taking her to our place?” he asks casually, but there’s nothing casual about how he looks at her.
Ezra runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t want her in the house.”
“She’s staying with me,” I announce, cutting off whatever lecture he had ready, then fold my arms across my chest defensively. “She’s been through enough shit tonight. No way in hell I’m letting her wake up alone, not after everything…”
Ezra’s jaw tightens. “You know why I—”
“I know.” I cut him off again, giving him a hard stare. “And you overdid it. Now shut the fuck up.” His answering flinch is almost imperceptible, and he drops his chin to his chest to try and hide it. For a second, I almost feel bad. Almost.
He put a fucking dent in a star.
“I’ll be back in a minute…” I lean into the car, brushing my knuckles over Sparkle’s still-red cheek, “… all right? Just hang tight for me.”
As I close the passenger door, she mumbles something incoherent, making me chuckle. Adorable.
Without looking back I move toward my bike to put on my helmet, ignoring the urge to toss it aside and crawl into the Bronco with her. Ezra hovers, looking as if he wants to talk or maybe argue, but I don’t give him the chance. The engine roars to life under me, and I roll out behind the Bronco.
“Sy.” Ezra’s voice comes through the helmet’s com, too close, too soon.
I’m so fucking pissed at him.
He should be glad Koen held me back. I don’t know if I could have stopped myself from punching him senseless for hurting what’s mine. I grit my teeth, barely containing the anger simmering beneath my skin. “I don’t wanna hear it, Ez.”
There’s a pause, the sound of the Bronco rumbling just ahead of us on the road. “I apologized to her.”
“I fucking hope so.” A bitter laugh slips out before I can stop it. “You fucking hit her, Ezra. Twice!”
“To make sure she won’t rat us out,” he snaps back. “To keep us out of jail… or worse.”
“Rat us out?” My pulse pounds in my ears, fury sharpening every word. “She’s my fucking person, Ez, and you hurt her.”
Ezra’s silence hangs heavy through the line, and when he finally speaks, it’s low, defensive. “I didn’t know. Hell, I didn’t even know you knew her! And now she’s your person?” He sounds almost incredulous. “I thought I was your person.”
“You were,” I bite out. “Before you stopped being it three months ago when I needed you.”
Ezra’s breath catches. “Sy…”
“Yeah,” I continue, my voice trembling as the words spill out, ones I’ve been swallowing for too damn long. “And you needed me too. But no, you buried yourself in work. Left me to deal with my shit.”
“You think you’re the only one grieving? He was like a fucking father to me,” he fires back, his voice cracking through the line. “I was drowning too!”
“And I wanted to be there for you!” My voice softens a little. “You didn’t let me.”
“I’m sorry, Sy. I—”
“I know.” I let out a long breath, my grip loosening on the handlebars. “I’m sorry, too, all right? Maybe I should’ve tried harder. It’s fine.” The weight between us shifts, something loosening a bit. “I love you, bro. I know you can’t always be the strong one.”
The silence stretches, the roar of the road the only sound between us for a moment.
“Sy…”
“It’s okay. Touch her one more time, though, and I swear, I’ll pummel your head in.”
“You’re…” Ezra lets out a shaky breath, his tone colored by something I can’t quite place. “You’re in love with that girl? She’s here to do a job. There’s no way you know her that well. Not yet.”
“I’ve known her for months! For you, maybe she’s a means to an end. But she fucking owns me.”
The words come out unfiltered, raw, and I feel a strange mix of relief and dread the moment I say them. Ezra is quiet on the other end, the static crackling between us as if he’s trying to process what I admitted, maybe realizing how serious I am about her.
“Did you see how Koen looks at her?” he finally asks, sighing so loudly that the sound vibrates through the helmet speakers. “And how she looks at him?”
My jaw instinctively tightens underneath the helmet as I clench my teeth together, but when I examine my actual feelings, it’s not what I expect.
Instead of jealousy, there’s a strange kind of pride when she lights up around Koen.
The possessiveness I feel for her isn’t the kind that pushes me to control her.
It’s one that wants to see her as happy as possible, even if it means I’m not her entire world.
A smirk tugs at my lips. “Yeah. And it was hot as fuck.”
Watching the way she and Koen challenge each other, as they did tonight, the way their energy bounces off each other as though they’re sparring in some unspoken game, it’s thrilling.
Ezra wouldn’t get that. He’s too focused on keeping everyone in line, making sure no one risks too much, as if that’ll somehow keep us all safe.
As if that’s even possible in this twisted game we’re in.
I want to shake him, to make him see she’s not some tool we’re using to get to Veronica.
I look up at the Bronco’s taillights.
In a world of illusions, she’s something real.
And maybe she’s the only real thing I’ve got left.
Ezra doesn’t respond right away, and in that silence, I feel the weight of what he’s probably trying to work out in his head.
He thinks she’s going to be a weakness for Koen and me, that this thing we have for her will put us all in danger or make us fight, but he’s wrong.
It’s the opposite. She’s the only thing keeping me grounded, and hell, if she wanted every part of me, I’d give it all up without thinking twice.
Maybe he knows that too.
Ezra huffs, a reluctant chuckle slipping out, but his next words are still full of concern. “She’s going to hurt you, Sy.”
“Maybe,” I admit, watching the Bronco in front of me as we near the estate, the lights from the mansion lighting up the driveway. “Even if she does… my pain belongs to her too.”
I slow as Koen pulls up to the gate and leans out to punch in the code. The heavy iron swings open, and we caravan inside, the mansion looming large against the night sky.
I ride in close behind Ezra, feeling the weight of what’s been done and said, settling in. Parking the bike, I swing my leg over and pull off my helmet. Placing it on the bike, I head straight for the Bronco, where Sparkle is still nestled in the passenger seat, her head tipped to one side.
She looks so serene, completely lost to the night’s madness, her long lashes casting shadows across her cheeks. I stand here, watching her, feeling a strange sense of peace settle over me from seeing her like this. Then I reach for the door, opening it as quietly as I can.
She stirs, murmuring my name or what she calls me anyway.
Her voice is sleepy, and the sound tugs at something deep in my chest. I lean in, unfastening her seat belt, careful not to wake her too much, but as I do, she starts to slump forward.
Before she can fall, I slip my arms around her, pulling her close.
Her warmth seeps into me as I lift her, her head coming to rest against my shoulder once more, and I swear she breathes me in and sighs like she knows she’s safe here, in my arms.
Holding her like this, I feel as though I could carry her through anything.
Koen’s voice follows me as I turn toward the house. “Where are you going with her?”
“Where do you think?” I shoot him a look over my shoulder, barely slowing my stride.
He catches up to me and raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. “We’ve got plenty of guest rooms, you know.”
“Fuck off, brother,” I mutter, adjusting her in my arms as I make my way up the steps and through the front door. I’m not putting her in a damn guest room. She’s sleeping in my bed tonight.
I carry her up the staircase, her even breaths warm against my neck. My room is down the hall, and when I open the door and turn on the light, a rush of clothes, empty energy drink cans, and various scattered items greet me.
Damn. I didn’t think this far ahead.
I lay her on my bed and indulge in another moment to look at her. She’s small, vulnerable in her sleep, and I brush a few stray hairs from her face. I then turn and start grabbing the mess around my room, throwing crumpled shirts into the corner and scooping up cans to take downstairs.
“I’ll be back in a second,” I assure her as I turn off the light again and slip out of the room.
When I get to the kitchen, Alaric glances up from where he’s leaning against the counter with a full glass of water.
“Hey,” he says, eyes flicking to the cans in my arms.
“Hey.” I dump the cans in the trash and turn to him, plucking the glass of water he was about to sip from straight from his hands.
He rolls his eyes at me and goes to the cabinet to fill a new one, more than used to my shit.
“You look like a teen who just got told to clean his room by his mom.”
I shrug. “Guess I haven’t been acting my age with all this.”
“Could’ve fooled me with that wardrobe.” He grins. “How’d it go tonight?”
I shake my head, jaw tight. “Shit, man. Ezra hit her.”