Cruz (Dark and Dirty Sinners' MC #5) - Serena Akeroyd Page 0,155

lullaby just for her. The tiny twitches of her muscles, the way she would lock up, her whole body clenching and releasing, started to fade. The small sounds that came from the back of her throat, petrified pleas, desperate noises, had me wanting to drop Kevin into a bathful of acid alive.

I was almost jealous that Nyx took the chance away from me, but I knew he'd had to avenge Carly, and rumor had it, that Kevin had also threatened him. If anyone deserved that righteous kill, it was Nyx, but I was still jealous.

So fucking jealous.

"Cruz, Cruz, stop him. Please?"

My eyes flared wide in response, because I realized I was in her nightmare. Having never expected that, I froze, then because this might be one way of gradually liberating her from these dreams, I squeezed her tight, and deep in her ear, whispered, "Indy, I'm here. Come back to me. I'll keep you safe. I love you. Come to me."

She didn't.

But her response made me happier still.

She relaxed against me, completely and utterly at peace, no more twitching, no more fidgeting or jerking against me, she grew slack with sleep, and stole my heart a little bit more.

Rolling us so that we were on our sides, I wasn't sure if she'd wake up, but she didn't. She stayed asleep, and I watched her for a while.

The gentle fans of her eyelashes against the upper curve of her cheeks, the way her lips would purse into a moue of annoyance, the glitter of freckles on her chest. The way her cheeks turned concave thanks to her bone structure. The silk of her hair and how it gleamed in the harsh lighting.

She was mine.

All those months ago, I'd never imagined she would be. Never imagined seeing her clean would lead me here.

But it had. And I was hers. Hers as much as she was mine.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead, and carefully untangled myself from the knot we were laying in on the narrow chair. It was awkward as hell, but I needed to do it. Needed to get to my phone.

I managed to maneuver her, releasing myself without waking her. I wanted to cover her up, stop her from getting cold, but I knew how she’d react to being covered, so I reached for the shirt I’d discarded earlier and draped it over her legs before I wandered over to where I'd dropped my jeans.

Looking down, I grabbed my cell, saw that I had a few missed calls and some messages.

Most of them were from Rex, and I knew why.

Because it was easy for me to do now, I tried to call my mom, but yet again, she didn't answer. And it had nothing to do with being late. Mom answered her phone whether it was 5AM or 5PM.

Something was going on with her, something that wasn't necessarily good. I knew that, wondered if Rex did too, but I wasn't about to say anything to him. He was already a man on the edge, and I didn't need to be the one who pushed him into a freefall.

I tried twice more, and when I got no answer, I composed a new message to him.

Me: Rex, just tried Mom a couple of times, but still no answer. I'll keep trying.

What the council asked of me last week, I've decided I can't do it. I won't do it. I won't be that man again.

I understand if you think that means I need to leave the club, but I'm hoping you understand that I can't be the one to reap that level of devastation again.

When I hit send, I didn't feel like I'd just started slashing at my wrists as I cut off one of my lifelines. Writing about leaving the MC left me feeling all kinds of choked though, but I didn't want to be involved with people like Dean.

Crime was one thing—I'd gone into this knowing what it would lead to. But I needed to walk away from my past, needed for my future to be different. If the MC didn't want that for me, then they were as toxic as Dean. Bombs killed too many people. They didn't disparage between innocent and criminal. I knew no weapon truly did, but a gun couldn't wreak the havoc one of my creations could in a split second. I couldn't hurt another bystander again.

My soul wouldn't take it.

A Famiglia-owned joint might have some pizza delivery guy driving down its road, a kid