Cruz (Dark and Dirty Sinners' MC #5) - Serena Akeroyd Page 0,116
who'd overheard the conversation between Storm and Nyx.
In actuality, my sister-in-law was turning out to be a font of information. I guessed it helped she was as devious as me, maybe more so before it had been kicked out of me by life.
By the time I returned to West Orange all those years ago, after Shane, I'd just wanted a bit of peace and quiet.
Unfortunately for me, I'd attracted David before I left Nawlins.
Fuck a duck.
Maybe I needed to be with a biker because that was the only thing that would keep me free from these creeps who I seemed to attract like flies around shit.
"Should I take it as a good sign that you aren't throwing me out of the door?"
I didn't necessarily have an answer to that, because I wasn't sure myself.
I had no reason to toss him out. Nothing he'd said was any worse than what Nyx had done over the years. And he was here, hadn't run screaming from the hills even though I was getting a body count of my own.
One accidental death, a thrown-out manslaughter case that a surprisingly sympathetic DA had tempered as self-defense thanks to the defensive wounds on both mine and Shane’s body, was one thing.
Two?
That was when people started to get a reputation.
Running my finger along the outside of my lip, with my gaze trained on the desk, I asked, "Cruz?"
"Yes?"
"Want me to work on your back piece?”
He blinked. "I mean, not really, because of my ribs, but the bottom half… you can if you want to."
I heaved a sigh. "I do, want to, I mean. I need to clear my head."
"Sure. If that's what you need then we'll roll with it." He got to his feet, his desire to comply clear, and a sudden welter of gratitude hit me.
As well as the realization that I'd been a bitch.
He'd lost brothers, lost his home, lost his things, but he was here, consoling me, trying to bring me around.
I hadn't even offered to let him crash here, for God's sake.
Guilt and shame uncoiled inside me as I got to my feet, and when he strode over to me, I reached out, letting my fingers collide with his as he moved to tangle them together.
"Would you really have run?"
I knew he wanted me to say no, but I couldn't. So, instead, I asked, "If you could liken me to any animal in the world, what would it be?"
His surprise was evident, but he didn't dismiss the question as stupid. I could see the logical reasonings and rationale being deciphered before my very eyes, so I wasn't altogether surprised when he came up with, "A wolverine."
I hissed out a laugh. "Ouch."
His eyes twinkled. "Deadly when provoked, capable of hunting through frozen soil to reach their prey? Sound like anyone we know?"
"Well, you can think that, but I think of myself as a rabbit. Too scared sometimes, too stupid to live, to breathe. Never good enough, dirty, vermin—" I grunted. "Doesn't matter if you see me as a wolverine or a puma—which, FYI, I'd have preferred—but I don't see myself like that.
"I'm not strong, Cruz. I'm not."
He squeezed my fingers. "You're plenty strong, but when the cards fall, and you're left with questions that come with insane answers, you were always going to come out fighting. A puma, rabbit, and a wolverine all have the same thing in common—when they come face to face with a gun, they ain't gonna leap for the man wielding it. They're going to tuck tail and run."
"You don't know that."
"Don't I?" He smiled. "I just figure I have to give you a reason to want to stay around."
"You've given me that for a while, but that got blurred along the way."
"Only natural. After what happened."
"I-I should have asked you before, Cruz, but you must need somewhere to stay."
"I can stay with the other brothers. We just bought the Budget Basement Motel."
My eyes widened. "You did, huh? Interesting. Far as I knew, Jamie Peters wanted a crazy asking price…” He smirked at me, which gave me all the answer I needed. “Didn't know you could beat the shit out of someone with a concussion and taped up ribs,” I remarked wryly.
"Nyx and Link were more persuasive than me."
"I'll bet," was my rueful retort, well aware that both brothers were injured too. "But I mean it. You don't have to stay there. Please, I'd like you here. With me." It surprised me how much I meant that.