Black

Rex reaches for me, but I flinch back, refusing to let him touch me, though I know the feel of his skin against mine would soothe the darkest parts of my soul.

“Dante, give us a minute alone, please?”

Dante glares at his brother but complies, storming from the room without a glance toward me.

Rex sighs, dropping his head.

“Don’t even bother wasting your breath, because you can’t change my mind.”

His eyes lift. “Listen to me, okay? I promise I won’t touch you, but you have to listen. I just figured out who you are. I would’ve said something this morning, but you told me before that you don’t remember much from your past, and I wanted to talk to Dante, figure out a way to talk to you about it and keep you safe at the same time.”

I shake my head, not wanting his words.

“Dante didn’t kill Cami, Shae, my father did.”

“You delivered her to him,” I hiss.

“No, baby, that’s not how it happened.” Rex’s eyes grow suspiciously bright. “I’ve relived that day a million times—in my thoughts, in my dreams. Each time I wonder what I could’ve done differently, if the outcome would have been the same. But the truth is, I have no idea where I would be right now had it not been for you and your sister, which is why I can’t let you do this. You saved me, Shae, and now it’s my turn to save you.”

“I don’t want you to save me.” Fed up with his useless words, I hold my hands out. “I’m done, Rex. Just tell me where your mother is.”

“What?” His back stiffens. “She’s at Ambrosi’s. Why do you need to talk to my mother?”

“Don’t fucking worry about it.”

“I will worry about it. She’s my business. You are my goddamn business.”

My nostrils flare as I hold my chin high, determined not to let his words distract me. There’s only one thing I need to do right now, and it starts with Isabella.

“Fuck you, Rex.” I spit the words out with more venom than a snake bite, and the tension in the air crackles.

I can see the shift in Rex’s demeanor.

He’s done trying to talk to me.

Pushing to his full height, he squares his shoulders. His jaw ticks, and then he says, “Don’t you dare walk away from me, Shae.”

“I don’t have a choice.” My voice breaks, along with the delicate foundation Rex and I have spent so much time building. Amazing how something you thought was solid can collapse so easily.

“You do have a choice, and I will help you. But if you seek revenge against my father, you’ll force me to do things I don’t want to do.”

“I get it, Rex. You want to protect your fath—”

“I want to protect my family,” he growls, taking a menacing step toward me. “And I will do anything—at all costs, without hesitation—to ensure the people I love stay safe.”

That doesn’t include me. He doesn’t need to say the words; I can hear it in his voice. If it comes down to me or his father, Rex will choose his father.

I turn around, walking toward the door.

“Where the hell are you going?”

With my hand on the knob, I look over my shoulder one last time at the man who helped destroy my life, only to unknowingly put it back together.

The man I hate.

The man I love.

Dante storms into my office as soon as Shae is gone.