Chapter twenty eight #2
“I don’t control her.” His eyes flick to me briefly, something unreadable passing through them.
“Never said I did.” That shouldn’t affect me the way it does. It’s sharp. Unexpected. I shove the feeling down before it can take shape.
“Then what is this?” Shane presses.
Riven doesn’t answer right away. And for the first time since I’ve known him, he hesitates. It’s subtle. Barely there, but I catch it. And it does something strange to my heart. Finally, he leans forward, forearms resting on the table.
“It’s mine.” Skylar scoffs.
“That’s not an explanation.”
“It’s the only one that matters.” He replies.
“That’s not how this works!” She snaps.
“You don’t just claim an LBC girl and expect that to not start a war!”
“A war already exists.” I cut in, voice flat.
“You’re just mad he crossed a line you didn’t think he would.” Her eyes snap to mine, furious.
“You think this is funny?” She glares.
“I think you’re loud.” I haughtily answered. She lunges forward again, but Shane holds her back harder this time.
“Enough.” He says sharply.
The room goes still. Heavy. Then, the front door creaks open.
No one turns right away. We don’t need to.
You can feel her before you see her. Slow, measured footsteps cross the floor behind us.
The faint smell of smoke follows. She doesn’t say anything at first. Just walks in, takes in the scene before her.
The tension, the distance, the way Riven’s chair is angled slightly toward mine.
The way I haven’t left. The way he hasn’t let me. A quiet hum leaves her throat.
“Well,” She says finally, voice surprisingly smooth as glass for a chain smoker.
“This is messy.” No one responds. She circles the table slowly, dragging her fingers along the back of Shane’s chair, then Skylar’s, before stopping behind Riven.
“And dangerous.”
Her gaze drops to me. It’s not anger nor fear. It’s calculation. That’s almost worse.
“You brought her into our home.” She continues.
“Sat her at our table.” A beat.
“Let her see where you sleep.” Riven doesn’t move.
“I trust her.” He says. I almost laugh at that. Delia doesn’t. She tilts her head slightly, studying him.
“No.” She corrects softly.
“You don’t.” His jaw tightens.
“You need to.” That hits harder than anything else tonight. Because it’s true and we all know it. Her eyes flick to me again.
“And you.” She says, stepping closer.
“You walked into enemy territory like you weren’t just handed every advantage imaginable.”
“I’m not here for your advantage.”
“No?” She smiles faintly.
“Then whose?”
I don’t answer. Because I don’t have one that doesn’t damn me. The silence stretches. Then she exhales softly, like she’s reached a conclusion.
“This ends one of two ways.” She says, almost casually.
“Either you both walk away now-” Her gaze flicks between us.
“Or this town burns trying to keep you apart.” My stomach tightens. Riven doesn’t even blink.
“Then I guess it burns.” Idiot. My head snaps toward him.
“You don’t get to make that call.”
“I just did.” He shrugs, like he could give less of a fuck.
“You’re not the only one this affects.”
“I know.”
“Clearly you don’t.” I scold.
“Clearly,” He leans in slightly, voice dropping,
“I don’t care.”
That’s a sledgehammer to everything I am. Because I know he means it. And that? That’s the problem. Delia watches us, something almost amused flickering in her eyes now.
“Interesting.” She murmurs. Shane shakes his head under his breath.
“This is a disaster.”
“No.” Delia corrects lightly. Her gaze settles on me one last time.
“This is a fuse.”
And just like that, I know. This isn’t a secret anymore. This is a countdown. One that I want no part of. Because this only ends one way. Riven’s choice may be to have the town burn, but my choice will have to be different. Either I choose him, or I choose the only family I’ve ever known.
Suddenly, I can’t breathe anymore. I jump up, not bothering to pick up the fallen chair, not bothering to spare Shane, Skylar, or Delia another glance.
I can’t do this. This is a choice I’m incapable of making.
“What have I done?”
Hands locked behind my head, I look up at the stars, searching for an answer written in the sky. I’m alone for all of five seconds before the door opens behind me, the smell of smoke and lavender telling me all I need to know.
“I didn’t say what I did to scare you.” I shoot her a disbelieving look. She chuckles.
“Ok, maybe I did. Just a little.” She sits down on the porch steps, stretching her legs.
“But you needed to hear it. To know what’s at risk here.” I hate that she’s right.
“You remind me so much of him.” She tilts her head.
“The way you carry yourself is so much like…” She trails off, but I know who she’s talking about. Pop.
“He’s the best man I know.” It’s the truth. Being compared to him, being half the person he is? It’s the highest regard.
“I’m sure you know by now that he once had to make a similar decision.”
“He chose you, but you chose… this.” I gesture to the Phantoms clubhouse. Delia smiles sadly.
“And look at us now. Is this gonna be you and Riven in a couple decades? And if you choose him, can you give this life up? Can you honestly say that you wouldn’t resent him later on for having to make that choice in the first place?”
“That’s not a fair question,” Riven interjects, sauntering out of the house, all suave and swagger.
He takes my hand in his, pulls me into his chest, and presses a tender kiss to my forehead. A promise. That it’s not over. That we’ll get through this, even if we earn a few more scars in the process.
“Because we’re not you and Clive. We’re stronger.” My heart stops pounding, easily calming in his presence.
Riven makes me feel safe, I realize. Just as I am his safe place, he too is mine. My protector and my ally. And he’s fighting for us, for me. Maybe it’s time I join him on the battlefield.
“Aunt Delia, if you’d be so kind and leave. I need a minute with my girl.” Delia gets up without question or protest, a soft yet hopeful smile on her face. Yeah, Delia, I have hope too.
“Well, that was a shitshow.” I break the silence. He huffs a laugh.
“What’s so important that you had to tell her to scram?” I ask, pulling back so I could see his face better, hands in the pockets of my leather jacket.
“I need you to help me figure out this… thing I’m feeling.” He answers, causing my eyebrows to furrow.
“Yeah, okay. What are you feelin’, Phantom?”
“It happens whenever I see you. Or think of you. I feel it for you, basically.” A small smile is drawn out of him.
“Oh?” I say.
“What else?”
“When I’m with you, it’s like I’m at peace.
All the thoughts in my head go quiet. We’re anarchy, but we just…
fit. We make sense. I feel you no matter where I go; I want you like I’ve never wanted anything else.
Every moment with you is a stolen secret, but this is a risk I’m willing to take.
Us. Because it’s you and me, Nadia. People like us don’t meet by accident. ” He cups my face.
“We’re crossing a line, aren’t we?” He laughs sardonically.
“We’re breaking all the rules by being together, but fuck ’em.
You have the power to ruin me, but I can’t stop.
Because even the slightest chance of us is worth so much fucking more than living an empty life without you.
Fuck, just the thought of you leaving me terrifies me.
Cripples me. I’d be hollow, an empty shell without you.
” I can’t look away. I lose myself in him, hanging off his every word because they’re beautiful.
It makes my heart melt that he’s choosing to give these words to me.
“So, I choose you, Nadia Slade. Now, tell me. What am I feeling, daredevil?”
“Sounds to me like love, phantom.” I put my hands on his chest, running them up to his shoulder.
“You’re in love.”