Pretty Little Sins (Kings of Bolten 2)

Levin shook his head. “I know, but you know Bianca. She’ll make it worse if I show up, hurting or not.” His phone buzzed, and he snagged it off the dresser, frowning. “I need to go. I have to meet with Celeste this morning.”

“You’re fucking kidding, right?” Dom’s face morphed into the one he wore right before he shot someone in the head.

I cast an uneasy glance between them and got to my feet, the very real thought of having to potentially stop a murder in my mind.

“Look, I can’t do this shit anymore, all right? I’m fucking tired of it. I can’t do anything right by her, but I can do this. I can fucking walk away and give her what she wants. As long as you guys are with her and I’m here, shit’s just going to get worse. I need to be done with all of it.”

“You don’t fucking walk away from this life,” Dom growled, advancing on him. “The only time you leave is in a body bag.”

“Then shoot me, Dominic. Fucking put a bullet in my head. I’ve done all I could for her. I saved her fucking life and the life of that piece of shit she was fucking behind our backs. What more can I do? If I show up tonight, she could end up dead or worse. You fucking know it. You know how she is. She cannot be controlled, man. Stop trying. Stop trying to control everything. Everything fell apart when she got here. She’s going to get herself killed. She’s going to get you killed. I can’t be the reason for it. We have a lord trying to worm in with us now. I don’t know what the fuck you expect me to do—”

“I expect you to stick by the kings through thick and thin. Through heartache and love. I don’t expect you to walk out on us when we need you. You love her. You fucking love her, but you’re stubborn and refuse to just say the words to her. You refuse to make her believe them.” Dom let out a loud breath. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe this isn’t going to work. But here’s the deal. Tonight, I’m taking my wife to my father’s to celebrate our nuptials. She’s probably going to be forced to fuck my father. And I’m probably going to be forced to watch with Vincent beside me. I’m probably going to kill some people tonight, and I might even fucking die myself. Tonight I might lose everything. But you know what I’m not going to do? Be a fucking scared pussy about it.” He shook his head and backed away from Levin. “Vincent, let’s go.”

I followed Dom to the door. He didn’t stop. He slipped through without a goodbye.

“Do you remember when you and me were with B that night? Do you remember what it felt like?” I asked, turning to look at Levin as I paused in the doorway.

He stared back at me with his brows crinkled and his lips parted.

“Do you remember never wanting to leave her side? Do you remember wanting to do anything to make her happy? And then we did?”

His bottom lip trembled.

“If you walk away, it’s gone. All of it. Break things off with Celeste. Forget the fucking weapons deal. Forget making her old man happy. Tell B you love her. You know you do. Don’t live in anger, man. You’re going to regret it. Come be where you know you belong.”

He stared back at me, unmoving. Sighing, I left him there, really fucking hoping he’d make the right decision.

Our lives probably depended on it.