51. Chapter 51
Chapter 51
DECLAN
I lie with Vivian until her breathing evens out, and I just hold her and look at her for a while. I have to go. I have to meet my brothers. But I can’t tear myself away from her. I have always been aware that having the type of business we have comes with enemies, but this Lexington thing is a whole other story.
I get my phone out and I take a picture of Vivian asleep in my arms.
I slowly extract myself from her, and her whimper at the loss of my heat breaks my heart. I grab a throw blanket from the closet and cover her with it. I heave out a sigh and walk out of the room backward.
I go to her bag and riffle through it, grabbing her cellphone and her old Tracfone. I take a new minute card out of my wallet and leave it next to the Tracfone, along with my phone number and a message on a note. Smart phones can be tracked, Axel has told me, but the Tracfone can’t.
She is going to hate you for this , a voice down deep tells me. But once I get everything back to normal, once I get everything settled, she will understand. I am doing this to keep her safe. I’d rather she was mad at me and safe than any other scenario. She might not get it now, but she will—eventually. I wish she could accept it all now, but there’s no way she could when she doesn’t even know everything about my world. It’s my fault, I know. I kept some of it shaded from her. I wanted her away from the gray area that is my life. Now I see that wasn’t right, but I can’t fix it now. I have to figure this shit out first.
In the meantime, she’s safe.