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And now it was cold, and my brother ruined it like always.

He took the cat, tossed it unceremoniously into the dumpster, and walked away whistling.

The big, silent man came up to stand beside me.

“He’s the reason I don’t have any animals,” I mumbled as I watched Leo walk away. “As much as I would’ve liked to have that horse at my place, I can’t chance it. Leo is messed up. And he’s so good at hiding how messed up he is that no one would ever pin it on him.”

Twenty-Three

I’m not arguing. I’m just explaining why I’m right.

—Jessamy to Black

Black

And suddenly I wanted to know everything.

I wanted to know about her childhood. Her teenage years. Her brother. Her life. Then I wanted to slay every single demon that threatened her.

“My hamburger is cold,” she grumbled as she stared at the greasy paper bag.

She threw it into the dumpster that we were standing next to, her shoulders slumped.

“I’m going to go home,” she muttered. “Bye, Black.”

I didn’t stop her from walking to her vehicle.

I watched her get into her car and drive away, my every instinct telling me to follow her.

The bar behind me got a little loud, and I looked behind me to see some of my club standing at the mouth of the bar door watching me.

I jerked my chin up at them, then made possibly the worst decision ever.

I followed her.

She didn’t notice me behind her.

She didn’t notice me pulling down her street.

She was out of her vehicle and in the house before I pulled into her driveway before the gate could close.

I was parking my cruiser at the back of her house and knocking on her back door in under two minutes.

She opened the door to me with a frown.

I didn’t give her time to think.

Not to second guess. Not to anything.

I made my move.

“From now on,” I said against her lips. “I get to make the decisions.”

She wilted, as if that was the exact thing that she wanted to hear. “That actually sounds like paradise.”

I pulled back with a question on my face.

“I just want to exist for a little bit,” she admitted. “I’ve made decisions for so long on my own that I’m just overwhelmed. Please, please make them for me.”