Chapter 8
LILLITH
It had been one month since Tank took off. One month of worrying about a man she barely knew, and one month of hoping like hell that he was okay and she’d see him again someday. One month was exactly how long it took for something that felt like everything to turn into nothing.
Tank was gone, and Lillith told herself she shouldn’t be surprised since men like him didn’t stay in one place for very long. He had warned her. Hell, he practically beat it into her head with every look, every word, and every step he took away from her. It still didn’t make it hurt any less.
“Hey, you planning on sanding that same spot all day, or are you gonna help the rest of us?” Ember called from across the room.
Lillith blinked, realizing she’d been staring at the same patch of wood for who knew how long.
She shook her head and dragged the sander across the beam again, watching the dust kick up into the air.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “I guess that I zoned out.”
“No shit,” Josie said, laughing. “You’ve been in your own little world all morning.” If only they knew. Lillith forced a small smile and set the sander down, wiping her hands on her jeans as she glanced around the old church.
It didn’t look like the same place anymore.
Where there had once been dust and decay, there were now fresh beams, clean floors, and actual progress.
The Royal Harlots had thrown themselves into rebuilding the place like it meant something—like it was theirs.
And maybe that was what pulled Lillith in.
They had something. They had each other and a purpose.
The club was loud, chaotic, and a little unhinged. But somehow, it worked.
“You good?” Ember asked, stepping up beside her.
Lillith nodded automatically. “Yeah.” Ember just stared at her. Lillith sighed. “Okay, no. Not really.”
“Tank?” Ember asked, blunt as ever.
Lillith huffed out a humorless laugh. “Who else?”
“I figured,” Ember said. Silence stretched between them for a second. “You knew he was gonna leave,” Ember said, not unkindly.
“Yeah,” Lillith whispered. “I just didn’t think it’d be that easy for him.” That was the part that got her—how easy it seemed for him to just walk away when she knew that he felt the same connection that she had.
Ember nudged her shoulder. “Guys like him aren’t easy to be with. If he left, it’s because he thought he had to.”
“That doesn’t make it better,” Lillith muttered.
“No,” Ember admitted. “It doesn’t. You’re still here, though,” Ember added. Lillith glanced around the church again at the women laughing, and the space slowly turning into something real.
“Yeah,” she said softly. “I am.” And for the first time in her life, she didn’t feel like she was just passing through. “I was thinking,” she started, then hesitated.
Ember arched a brow. “That’s always dangerous.”
Lillith rolled her eyes. “Shut up. I’m serious.”
“Okay,” Ember said, crossing her arms. “Hit me.”
“I was thinking maybe I could stay,” Lillith said. “Like, for real. Not just crash at your place and figure things out, but actually stay.” Ember’s expression shifted. She didn’t seem shocked by what Lillith had said.
“You talking about joining the Royal Harlots?” Ember asked.
Lillith swallowed. “Maybe,” she admitted.
It felt big, saying it out loud. Like she was choosing something instead of just reacting to life for once.
The women in the club had come to mean something to her.
And being with Ember and Jack felt like she finally had family again.
It had been a long time since she felt that way.
It was nice. Plus, she liked being a part of something again, and the Harlots gave that to her.
The Royal Harlots were starting to feel like home to her.
Ember nodded slowly. “We can talk about that.” That was it. There was no pressure and no big speech. Her sister was giving her an in, and she knew that she wanted to take it.
Lillith smiled back at Ember. “Okay then.”
Later that evening, Lillith walked back from the small grocery store a few blocks away, a bag slung over her shoulder.
She’d insisted on going alone, claiming that she needed air, but really, she just needed some space to think.
She needed to feel like she wasn’t just hiding behind Ember and the club all the time.
The street was quiet—too quiet. Her footsteps echoed just a little too loudly against the pavement.
Lillith frowned, glancing over her shoulder, but saw nothing.
It was just her imagination running wild again.
Ever since Tank left, warning her not to go anywhere alone, she felt as though she was constantly looking over her shoulder.
“You’re being paranoid,” she muttered to herself.
Still, the feeling didn’t go away. If anything, it got worse, like something was just out of sight—watching and waiting.
She picked up her pace slightly, trying to hurry back to Ember’s house when a car door slammed somewhere behind her.
Lillith jumped, her heart kicking up hard in her chest as she turned.
“Hey there,” a man’s voice called. Every instinct in her body screamed at her to move.
“Sorry,” she said quickly, stepping back. “I don’t—”
“You don’t what?” he asked, closing the distance between them too fast. Lillith’s pulse roared in her ears.
“Back off,” she snapped, trying to sound stronger than she felt. He didn’t budge. Instead, his hand shot out, grabbing her arm hard enough to make her gasp.
“Let go of me,” she hissed, trying to yank free. He just smiled, and that was the moment she knew that this wasn’t random. This wasn’t some creep taking his chances. This was something else—something worse.
“Got you,” he muttered. Fear slammed into her chest.
“Let me go!” she shouted, struggling harder now, panic clawing its way up her throat. His grip tightened, and pain shot up her arm.
“Stop fighting—” The words cut off, because suddenly, the man wasn’t touching her anymore.
Lillith stumbled back, blinking in confusion as the guy was yanked away from her like he weighed nothing.
And then she saw him—Tank. He came out of nowhere.
One second, she was alone, and the next, he was there.
All hard lines and fury, his hand fisted in the man’s shirt as he slammed him into the side of the car.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?
” Tank’s voice was low and deadly. The guy tried to recover, swinging at him, which was a big mistake.
Tank dodged it easily, his fist connecting with the man’s jaw with a sickening crack.
Lillith flinched as the guy went down hard, but Tank didn’t stop.
He grabbed him again, hauling him up just enough to slam him back down.
“Who sent you?” he demanded.
The man groaned, blood already spilling from his mouth. “I don’t—” Tank hit him again, this time, harder.
“Wrong answer,” he breathed.
“Tank!” Lillith shouted, her voice shaking. He stilled, but only for a second—just long enough to glance back at her. And in that moment, everything hit her at once—relief, shock, and even anger.
“You’re going to kill him,” she said, breathless. Tank looked back at the man and then released him. The guy crumpled to the ground, barely conscious, and Tank stepped back, his chest rising and falling as he dragged a hand through his hair. Then, his eyes locked on her.
“You okay?” he asked, like he hadn’t just disappeared for a month. Like his leaving hadn’t wrecked her. He had just shown up out of nowhere and turned her world upside down again.
Lillith stared at him. “You don’t get to ask me that,” she said, her voice shaking despite her best efforts.
Tank flinched. “Lillith—”
“Don’t,” she snapped, taking a step back. “Don’t say my name like that, like everything’s fine.”
“It’s not fine,” he said, his voice rough. “That’s the problem.”
“Yeah,” she laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I’m starting to see that.” Silence fell between them, and the man groaned on the ground, but neither of them looked at him.
“Why are you here?” she demanded.
Tank’s jaw tightened. “Because they didn’t leave,” he said.
Her stomach dropped. “They?” she echoed.
His gaze didn’t waver. “The people I told you about,” he said. “They’re still here.” She wasn’t sure that she heard him correctly, but if she had, then she was in more danger than she imagined.
“How did you know that they would come after me?” she asked.
He shot her a look and she wasn’t sure if he was going to tell her the truth. “Because I never left either,” he said. “I’ve been hanging around to make sure that you were safe. I had a feeling that they wouldn’t take off when I supposedly did.”
“And you never thought to call me or text me?” she asked. “You just stalked me to make sure that I was safe?”
“Yeah, well, when you say it that way, it sounds bad,” Tank said.
“Listen, you can be mad at me later. I need to get you out of here before someone comes looking for him,” he said, nodding to the guy who was still lying on the pavement.
He grabbed her arm, tugging her over to his truck, and she pulled away from him.
“I’m not going with you, Tank,” she hissed. “I’m going home to Ember’s, and she can help figure this out.”
“If you go back to her house, you’ll be putting her and everyone else around her in danger,” he insisted.
“Please, I know that you don’t have any reason to trust me, but I need you to do just that.
” She looked him over, trying to figure out if she wanted to trust him or not.
She was mad as hell, but if someone was coming after her, she didn’t want to lead them to her sister or Jack.
Honestly, she had no other choice but to follow Tank and hope that he’d be able to keep his word and keep her safe.
“Fine,” she breathed. “I’ll go with you, but I want to call my sister to let her know that I won’t be home. ”
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll get you a burner phone once we’ve put some distance between us and this damn town.” She wanted to protest, but there was nothing more to say. She’d have to go with Tank until she could figure out plan B—because there was always a plan B.