hate me all you want, you can even fight me if it makes you feel better, but you will not talk to her the way you want to, like she’s some piece of garbage. You are not going to scare her or make her feel like shit either. You have no fucking idea what she’s been through. You can’t imagine the shit show I got her out of. You’re going to treat her with fucking respect. Are we clear?”
A smile forms on his thin lips. “I think it’s hilarious you think you can come into my fucking house and tell me what I’m going to do and not going to do.”
He’s pushing me, wanting to see how far I’ll go for her.
“Roman…” I exhale a ragged breath. “Please, just fucking do this for me… for Mira.” Saying her name hurts, it hurts really fucking bad, and I know hearing her name hurts Roman.
“She is not Mira. She’s not our fucking sister and saving her doesn’t bring Mira back. And none of this matters anyway, because I don’t give a fuck about her, or her happiness. I came down here to tell you that I’m not getting involved in your shit. Tell your fucking people to leave me alone. I answer to no one. I’m my own boss, Ivan.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? I have no people anymore. It’s just me now.”
“Really? Does Xander Rossi know that?” He cocks a brow.
“Xander? I have nothing to do with him. I worked for his father, not him, and up until a week ago, Xander didn’t even know his father was alive.”
“Well, he’s been asking around for you since yesterday.” Shit. What the hell does he want? Isn’t it enough have one criminal organization looking for me?
“Does anyone know I’m here?”
“Of course not. Do you think I’m stupid? I don’t want a fucking target on my back. I trust everybody who was at the gym yesterday. No one is going to say a fucking word, not unless they want to die.” A darkness cloaks his face.
With Xander and his father both looking for me, and a wound that’s still seeping blood, staying here is our only chance at making it out of this alive. I need to protect Violet above all.
“If you kick us out, we’re as good as dead, and we both know it.” I pause, gauging his facial expression. “If something happens, you’re not only going to have my life on your conscious, but hers too, and she’s done nothing to you. Fuck, she’s done nothing to anybody. They just plucked her off the street for no other reason than her being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She is innocent in all of this shit.”
I can see Roman’s struggling with this decision. He looks conflicted but I know he’ll make the right choice. Violet might not be Mira, but he, too, sees the connection. Mira was just as innocent. She had done nothing to deserve to die, and neither has Violet. I might have cost us Mira, but I’m not going to fuck Violet over. Not after all I’ve done to save her life.
“Fuck,” Roman finally huffs out. “Stay, if you must, but stay out of my way.” He storms off, a warning hanging in the air. As soon as he’s out of sight, I immediately grip onto the wall to steady myself. I stand there for a moment, catching my breath, when I hear a quiet sob come from the other side of the bedroom door. I walk back into the room and find Violet crying on the bed. She looks up at me, her blues rimmed red with tears.
“It’s all my fault. It’s all because of me,” she whimpers.
“No, Kitten, none of this is your fault,” I assure her.
“If you didn’t help me, no one would be after you right now, and you would not have gotten shot. Now, I’ve put even more people in danger. I’m just going to leave. You’ll be better off without me.”
I sit down on the bed next to her and cradle her cheek against my hand. She has no idea what she is saying. How much saving her saved me.
“Don’t say that, Kitten, I’ll never be better off without you. I needed this. I needed to break free from the hold they all had on me. You stumbling into my life just placed everything together perfectly. Saving you helped me save myself.”