“Do you want those six weeks back? Do you want the isolation, the distance, the hard sex without an inkling of a connection? Do you want to feel like you have no way out? Do you want to feel forced and used? You might have come every time I touched you, but I know what it did to you, and if I pushed for a little more, you would have broken.”

He grabbed me by my waist and yanked me to him without warning. “Give me the word, and I can make you feel like that again.” He bent low to whisper against my lips, “Helpless…” He took my bottom lip between his teeth. “And thoroughly fucked.”

My earlier resolve began to melt away with a whimper. “You are my scared little girl, Lake.” I melted more at the sound of my name on his lips. Using my first name was a clear indicator I was affecting him at this moment—as much as he was affecting me. “And I am your big, bad wolf.”

He kissed me for the second time today, and I let him.

In his arms, I didn’t have the strength to fight him. I didn’t have the strength to care that he was a monster carved from a past that was undoubtedly dark. I Just. Didn’t. Care.

“Every time I get near you, I can’t remember why I have to stay away,” he groaned when he finally released my lips with a final nip.

That makes two of us.

“Are you staying away because you’re mad at me or because you think you are protecting me?”

“I am protecting you.”

“Yeah. Almost being kidnapped was a clear indication of that.” I rolled my eyes. Did I blame him for almost being kidnapped? No. I blamed the people who he came into this world blindly trusting to protect him.

“So what are you saying?”

“I don’t know what I’m saying. When I woke up this morning, I hated you, and I wanted nothing more than to see you behind bars. I went to Detective Daniels and Detective Wilson offering to get evidence of everything.”

I chanced a look up at his eyes, expecting anger but seeing only questions. “And?”

“And nothing. The first time I went, they turned me down saying it was too dangerous, and they couldn’t risk me as a witness.”

“And the other?”

I took a deep breath. “I went after school today.” I waited for a reaction, but he only nodded and remained silent. “They told me they weren’t pursuing you anymore.”

“I made a very detailed confession today, but they are willing to overlook it.”

“So long as you help them catch Mario and Arthur.” His eyebrow shot up in surprise. “I kind of wrestled it out of them with guilt.”

“Nice,” he praised.

“Do you know they will pursue the death penalty if you don’t bring them in?”

“Yes.”

I ripped myself away from him and pushed him back. “Why are you so calm about it? They are going to kill you. You’ll die. ” I wanted Keiran to pay for many wrongs, but I didn’t want him dead. I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I didn’t realize I was crying until he wiped away one of the many tears from my face.

“And that scares you?”

“Doesn’t it scare you?”

He laughed. The fucker actually laughed. “I’m not afraid to die. I’m just unwilling.”

“So what are we going to do?”

“We?” His smile was radiant, and his eyes twinkled as he stared down at me.

“You know what I meant.”

“I love it when you pout.”

“I’m not pouting.”

“First, you are going to have to stop trying to set me up to go to jail.”

“It’s not a setup if you actually did it.”

“I didn’t kill them, Lake.”

I tried not to smile at him saying my name and asked, “Well, then who did?”

“Mario.”

“Mario?” It only just occurred to me that I never met the mysterious man who brought Keiran to Six Forks and helped him to seek revenge against me. “But I thought he was like a godfather or mentor to you.”

“We were both a means to an end for each other. He just wasn’t honest about his end. I thought we wanted the same thing, but he just wanted to make more money.”

“He used you.”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to kill him?” A small part of me hoped he would say yes—then I realized Keiran might have actually succeeded in corrupting me.

“Bloodthirsty, aren’t we?”

“You’re one to talk.”

“I won’t kill him if I don’t have to. There is a lot more at stake.”

“What?”

“The day Arthur tried to take you, he offered to help Keenan get a lung if I gave him Mario. He knew I was working with Mario to set him up.”

“How can he get Keenan a lung?”

“He wouldn’t say, but it’s my brother—I have to believe it because I can’t lose him.” I didn’t miss the vulnerability and sadness in his eyes when he spoke about Keenan. I knew he missed him. I did, too.

“You have to save your brother.”

“I will.”

“But how are you going turn Mario and Arthur in and keep your promise to Arthur?”

“I’m going to turn them in together, but not before I get that lung.”

“Keiran—”

“I know it sounds complicated and probably won’t work, but I’ll die trying before I let my brother die.”

“This isn’t just about your need for revenge then?”

He picked me up and laid me on the bed again, laying me down before crawling in between my legs. My hair had unraveled from its bun and fallen in my face, so he brushed it back while staring into my eyes. “Not anymore.”

I let him remove the remaining clothes on my body, and after he had removed his, he hooked my thigh in the crook of his elbow and lined his body with mine.

“Do you remember the night I first took you? It was right here, baby. Do you remember?”

“Yes.”

“Did you want me?”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“You always had a choice and you made it.”

“I don’t see how any of it matters now.”

“Answer me.”

“Yes.”

He lowered his face to gaze at my breasts before meeting my eyes again while he sunk into me slowly. “And do you want me now?”

“Yes.”

He spent the rest of the night swallowing my screams with his mouth while my unassuming aunt slept down the hall.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Keiran

The perfect way to end a school week was having Lake pinned against the side of her ride while trying to suck her face off. It had been a week since we called a truce, and since then, my hands had been glued to her body.

“Keiran,” she moaned. It came out muffled because of my tongue halfway down her throat, but if there was anything I recognized it was the sound of my name coming from her beautiful- lips. She managed to wrestle her face away from me earning a hard look. “Don’t look at me like that. You need to go to practice or you’ll be late.”

“They can start without me.” I looked down at her attire and cursed the person who invented jeans for women. Then again, I didn’t like other men looking at her bare legs either…

“You’re the Captain.”

“I know,” I said and went for her neck, but when a worried look flashed across her eyes, I stopped. “What’s up?”

“Is Dash okay with you taking the spot back?”

“Yeah… Why wouldn’t he be?” She fidgeted against me, but when she ducked her head, I guessed why. “Dash doesn’t care about all that, and frankly, neither do I. It’s just a title, babe, and I trust him with my life.”

“Okay.”

“Now go before I teach you how to fuck in the backseat of a car.”

“Keiran!” I rolled my eyes, lifted her, and placed her in her seat before buckling her in. When she continued to stare at me with a mixture of disbelief and curiosity, I took her keys from her hand and placed them in the ignition, starting the car. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll still teach you—just not here.” I quickly kissed her lips and slammed the door. I hung back to watch her drive off.

When the taillights of her car were no longer in sight, I turned to head for the gym. A steady buzzing sound filtered up from the inside of my jeans so I fished my phone out. An unknown number flashed across the screen and my entire body instantly went on alert. I might never understand why I answered.