Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 63608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Chux turns to me. “Riot. You need to listen carefully.”
The tone of his voice sends alarm bells through my skull.
“What.”
“You can’t let Kelly out of your sight. Not for a second. Not for a breath.”
“I know,” I snap.
“No,” Chux says, stepping closer. “You don’t. Because once these bastards realized she lived, and we’re onto them, they’re gonna double down. They’re gonna escalate.”
I freeze.
“And if they get their hands on her?” Chux lowers his voice. “They’ll use her to bleed you.”
A chill cuts down my spine.
“I won’t let that happen,” I growl.
“Good,” he says. “Then you need to understand something else.”
“What,” I hiss.
Chux holds my gaze. “You’re compromised.”
My jaw tightens. “The hell I am.”
“You are,” Stunt backs him. “Because you care about her.”
“She’s under my protection,” I snap.
“You care,” Stunt repeats.
“Yeah, I do,” I snarl, finally letting the truth burst out. “And if you think that makes me a liability—”
“It makes you human,” Chux interrupts. “And dangerous.”
He steps closer until he’s inches from me.
“Use it,” he says. “Because they will.”
Silence falls again.
Tension so thick it feels like humidity on the skin.
Finally, Stunt straightens. “Go. Get back to her.”
Chux nods. “Take the evidence. Take Nitro on tail detail. And Riot?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t let anyone near her who doesn’t bleed Kings.”
My throat works. “I won’t.”
I take the evidence bags, shove them under my arm, and storm back toward the safe house..
The lights glow soft through the evening sky. The rain has started soft at first, then thick, pounding sheets that hammer the roof and drown out the fear in my chest.
When I swing the door open, Kelly jumps slightly on the couch where she’s curled under a blanket.
Her eyes widen at my expression. “Ledger?”
I stop.
The whole world stops. She’s in one of my old hoodies, too big, sleeves covering her hands, and her hair is messy from running her fingers through it in worry.
Her eyes are wide. Soft. Terrified. But knowing.
She inhales slowly. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
I close the door behind me and lock it.
Then I drop the evidence on the table.
Her gaze flicks to it but she doesn’t move.
She watches me. Like she’s memorizing my face. Like she remembers something she hasn’t told me yet.
“Riot?” she whispers. “Talk to me.”
I cross the room in three long strides.
I sit down beside her, closer than I should, until our knees touch.
I take her hands gently, slowly, giving her time to pull away.
She doesn’t. “Kelly,” I state it direct, “they didn’t hit you because of who you are.”
She blinks. “What do you mean?”
“They hit you because of who I am.”
Silence thickens around us.
“What?” she whispers.
“They wanted me,” I tell her the truth. “And they used you to send a message that they could get to me.”
Her breath shakes. “To you?”
I nod once.
“Because of the club?”
Another nod.
“Because you matter?”
That one guts me.
“Yeah,” I rasp. “Because I matter. And because you matter to me.”
Her lips part.
Her voice breaks. “Ledger.”
“I should’ve kept you away from me,” I state. The truth burns my throat. “I tried. But I wasn’t good at it.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “I don’t want you to keep me away.”
“Even now?” I ask quietly. “Even knowin’ what it cost you?”
She reaches out, slow, trembling, and sets her hand over my heart. Right over the place that hasn’t beaten steady since the moment she forgot me.
“Ledger,” she whispers, “I don’t remember our past. But every time you leave, it feels like losing something I never got the chance to keep.”
My breath catches.
Her touch tightens.
“And every time you look at me,” she says, “I feel like I’m on the edge of remembering everything. Even if I don’t get the memories back, being near you feels right in a way I have never experienced, that I know to my core.”
I grab her wrist gently, holding her hand against my chest, too overwhelmed to speak.
“And if someone is coming after me because of you?” she continues, voice stronger now, “then they’re going to have to deal with more than just the Kings.”
I shake my head. “Sunshine—”
“No,” she states, eyes fierce. “No more protecting me from the truth. I want to remember. I need to remember.”
Lightning flashes outside.
Thunder rolls.
Her face is lit for a split second, fierce, brave, heartbreakingly soft.
I lean in before I can stop myself.
Not to kiss her. Not this time.
But I rest my forehead against hers again.
Her breath shivers.
“Kelly,” I whisper, “I swear to you nothing on this earth is gonna take you from me again.”
Her lips brush mine.
Not a kiss.
Just a soft, instinctive push of her body toward mine.
A seeking.
A remembering.
I pull back just enough to breathe.
“We’ll get your memories back,” I murmur. “Piece by piece.”
“And if I don’t?” she whispers.
I cup the back of her head, thumb stroking slow circles.
“Then I’ll give you new ones,” I say. “Better ones.”
She exhales a shaky breath relief, want, fear all tangled together.