The Moth and the Flame (When Rivals Play #2) - B.B. Reid Page 0,150

I shouldn’t care, not this much and not at all.

I cradled my hand against my chest, and Wren’s gaze followed and darkened. I could tell he wanted to comfort me but knew I’d scratch his eyes out if he tried.

He sighed and looked wary when he met my gaze again. “Fox talks small businesses into cutting him into their profits in exchange for protecting their interests. He’s the biggest threat to any of them, and they all know it, so they pay up. Usually.” He took a deep breath. “After I convinced Fox to let me work for him, I still had to prove myself like everyone else. Every initiation is different. Some have to complete a task, and some have to take a beating. It’s always their choice. I was the only one not given one. Fox had set his sights on your parents’ bodega, but they wouldn’t budge, so…he tasked me with convincing them to pay up.”

“And when you couldn’t, you killed them.” It wasn’t a question.

“I couldn’t convince them, but I didn’t kill them, Lou. I begged them to run, but when they told me they had a daughter, I panicked. I didn’t give a fuck about who they were leaving behind. I couldn’t have their blood on my hands. I pulled my gun out, and I tried to make them leave with me, but it was too late. Fox had been watching, waiting. He knew all along that I wouldn’t go through with it.”

“What happened?” I snapped when he became mute.

“Lou—”

“Tell me,” I demanded without mercy. There was nothing he could say or do to hurt me any more than he already had.

“Fox had them tortured, and he made me watch. He wanted me to remember their screams and how they begged for death the next time I chose mercy.”

“And you still worked for him?”

His eyes narrowed. “Do you honestly think I had a choice after that?”

No. I didn’t. The moment he’d gone to Fox, I knew he was already in too deep. Still, I wasn’t about to give him an inch. Compassion and understanding wouldn’t bring my parents back.

“What about the one-way ticket to Paris that the cops found?” I grilled. “What about my parents’ bank accounts that had been emptied? Did Fox do that too?”

He frowned, but when his expression cleared as if understanding dawned, he looked away. It was a few seconds before my heart sank.

They had been planning to leave me, after all.

I felt the wall behind me push in closer, ready to let me lean on them. I shouldn’t have been ready to accept them after my parents and Wren all let me down, but I knew I couldn’t go on never allowing anyone close. I had to leave my heart open to pain. It was the only way to strengthen it. Each lash was a lesson and each scar left behind a new stronghold. All the love I’d wasted on the wrong people was now returning to me tenfold.

“What do you want from me, Wren?” My voice reflected the weariness I held in my heart. I refused to cry anymore.

“You deserved to know the truth.”

“And you were expecting me to forgive you.”

I realized he left himself completely open as he gazed into my eyes. “Hoping,” he said the moment I felt my resolve melting.

“Let’s say I do forgive you…what does that mean for us?” My heart galloped in my chest as I waited for him to answer.

“Whatever you want.”

I chewed on my lip as I looked away. “You didn’t hurt my parents, Wren, but that doesn’t change anything. Not only did you lie to me for nearly three years, I know you’ll never let that guilt go, so…maybe you were right. Maybe we only stand a chance as friends.” I took a deep breath and faced him again. “And only friends.”

“Just friends?” He took a step that was threatening but somehow my pussy clenched and warmed, finding it promising. “Because of you, I stopped thinking of us as friends and started seeing you as mine.” His heated glare shifted to the three males hovering behind me, and the warning was clear. “Just mine.”

I heard a snort that I knew came from Jamie and was thankful when he chose not to goad him further.

I lifted my chin, and Wren paused in his tracks. “It’s friends or nothing, Wren. Take it or leave it.”

Later that night, there was a single, hard knock before the door to Four’s room flew open, and Jamie