Page 50 of Vengeance (Ruthless MC 4)
My breath stops when, instead of launching into third person like Hyena and Des-E, he looks straight at me and confesses, “I try to stay removed. Tried to play it cool when you shot Hyena down. You said you didn’t want us, and they didn’t understand how it feels to lose somebody you love. So I told Des-E and Hyena to leave you alone. I knew that would be safer. But they couldn’t. And when you offered us your virginity…”
He looks away, as if he’s ashamed to admit, “I couldn’t say no. It felt like you belonged to us. And no matter what you said your reasons were, it felt like you saved yourself for us—that deep down inside, you knew, like we knew, from the start, that you were meant to be ours.”
He does that almost-smile thing, but then he frowns. “I can’t just love someone like I wanted to love you, though. It’s not that simple for me. After what happened to Elissa—what almost happened to you—I needed to protect you. I couldn’t stand the idea of you doing things like walking home alone or being somewhere where we couldn’t look after you.”
He hits me with a stern look. “I also didn’t trust your easy acceptance of our rules. But the thing is, I wanted to. Because I was falling in love with you. And I thought you were falling in love with us. But that’s not what—"
Hyena interrupts. “Remember the punishment. We can’t write her story. We can only tell ours.”
Vampire grits his jaw. “Okay, then. I’ll just say I wanted to believe you were falling in love with us. And I was a whole lot of things—disappointed…heartbroken…really pissed off—when you ran. That’s what I think happened.”
Finally, they all go quiet and turn to look at me.
And I finally have the opportunity to tell them, “Your stories…they move me. Thank you for telling me about them. But I don’t understand why you did.”
Real fear quakes my voice as I ask, “Is this some kind of lead up to my punishment?”
Des-E jerks his head back. “No, this isn’t the lead up. This is the punishment.”
Hyena throws me a half-cocked smile. “You ain’t got no choice, Doc. You’re going to have to talk to us. Share your story, like we just shared ours.”
“Yes, it’s your turn now,” Vampire tells me, his expression as cold as a Nebraska winter. “What do you think happened?"
CHAPTER 23
ALLIE
“This…this is my punishment?” I have to repeat what they just told me because it doesn’t sound right. My heart is still pounding, but a tentative relief joins the staccato.
Of course, I’m not going to point out that this isn’t really a punishment.
But Hyena smirks at Vampire, as if he’s read my mind. “She thinks we’re letting her off easy.”
Again, not going to point out the obvious. But they are letting me off easy—way easier than I anticipated when Hyena cuffed me naked to the bed.
“You’d rather lie, trick us into believing you’re into a real relationship, and hide a whole kid than actually talk to us. So yeah.” Hyena tilts his head and flashes me one of his more mysterious smiles. “We figured handcuffing you to the bed and making you actually talk to us would be your version of hell on earth.”
“Proceed with your punishment,” Vampire says with a nod. “Tell us what you think happened.”
I flare my eyes, like, Seriously?
But of course, I’m not going to fight them on this. If they want me to tell them my story and that’s all.
“Whatever. Fine,” I answer out loud. Easy. But when I open my mouth, nothing comes out.
“Need help?” Hyena asks with a cruel taunting note in his voice.
“No, of course not,” I answer, scrunching my brow. “But just to clarify, where do you want me to start?”
They all exchange looks. The serious kind Reapers tend to give each other right before they know somebody’s about to get punched, stabbed, or shot.
And, for some reason, Hyena’s expression softens. “Why don’t you start with when you were a kid, like I did.”
My childhood…it drives everything I do and every five-year plan I make. But I swallow with the realization that I’ve never actually talked about it.
A flare of resentment mixed with fear sparks in my chest. Part of me—like, a lot of me—wants to hold back. Why should I tell them anything about me?
But then I think how hard it must have been for them to bare their truths to me and make themselves vulnerable. As I stare at Vengeance—the smile on Hyena's face, the stiffness in Vampire's shoulders, and the hope in Des-E's gaze—awareness goes through me. They wanted me to understand them…and now they want the same from me.
They want to communicate—actually communicate like we never have before. That awareness produces the oddest ache in my heart, which pushes me to speak….
