Twist of Fate (Kings of Chaos 6)

“No.” He moves too fast and gasps.

I take a deep breath. Despite his lies, I don’t want to see him in pain. I struggle to rein in my anger and hurt.

“You have to take it easy.”

“How can I when you’re looking at me like that? I know you have a lot of ideas swirling around in your head, but they’re wrong. You don’t know anything about this life.”

“No, and you made sure I stayed that way, didn’t you?” I hiss. It’s like trying to stem a tide. “Look, we need to call a truce while I monitor you. It seems like your family has their hands full.”

“I can’t talk to you the way I want to right now ’cause the damn world is spinning, but you’d best believe when this wears off the conversation we’ll have is going to look and sound very differently,” he mumbles.

“Why? You think you can charm your way out of this?” I ask sarcastically.

“No, but I can set you straight. There’s a lot you don’t know.”

“Maybe I don’t want to,” I whisper.

“So that’s it?”

“If I was a smarter woman, yes it would be. But you’ve gotten under my damn skin, and I want this to be more than what it seems.”

His heart monitor begins to beep faster. I shake myself out of the loop of feelings I’m being spun on like laundry set on tumble dry as my emotions tangle.

“Only you’ll be able to judge that.”

I hate the ugliness that’s crept into the beautiful thing we’ve created together. Or maybe that was a lie, too. I want to tell him to go to hell and walk away, but I need him. We’re slated to start the contest in another week. I won’t lose everything. Wait. I don’t know his side of the story yet. I promised myself I was done making excuses for people.

“Just tell me one thing, and we’ll drop this for now.”

“One thing,” he agrees.

“Is what happened between us a lie?”

“No, Xi. You’re the realest thing in my world right now. I swear that.”

I accept his words and take a deep breath. “Let’s get you signed out and headed home with some meds.”

***

Shayne

“You going back with her I assume?” Stone says.

“Unless you need me.”

“Can’t do us no good if you get dizzy and pitch over. We’re waist deep cleaning up after the mess left.”

I hear what’s he’s not saying. The trouble makers are being taken care of by whatever means necessary. I know Big’s gone. It saddens me. I understand the reasoning, but losing a brother is never easy. The men set in their old ways are meeting grizzly ends.

“You decided to come clean,” Stone guesses.

“She’s smart enough to put two and two together. There was no point in continuing the ruse.”

“I’m not talking about the club.” He stares me down.

I hesitate.

“You haven’t. Didn’t you learn anything from this?” He sighs.