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What I was feeling wasn’t anger The pain ripping through me was a thousand times worse than the many tiliest of ways

“I trusted you,” I cried out “You made me trust you!”

A big hand cahn ainst my ear

Like how he’d whispered to me on that beach… the one in my head

My safe place

The safe place that no longer existed

The endearh, and for the second tiht I shoved back frootten some of my sick on him and I could still taste it in my mouth, but he didn’t seem to care

“Aleks, listen to me!”

“No!” I shouted “I trusted—”

“Just fucking listen, Aleks! And I swear on my life, I’ll call Dante for you myself when I’m done if that’s still what you want!”

How many times had I heard that before? That if I just did what I was told, Dante would coet me It had all been a lie I was about to tell hiently by the back of ainst hn Covello and I orking for Marcus Parks in the hopes of finding someone… someone as taken just like you”

I stilled at that and sucked in a breath

“Please, Aleks… please, just listen”

Chapter 3

Vaughn

He was breathing so hard I orried he was going to pass out I’d closed ainst his in the desperate hope of getting him to listen I was reluctant to open them because he was finally still in ood I’d never allowed et out of control, not only because he was just so young, but also because he wasn’t in any position to deal with any of it But admittedly, it was hard not to respond to his closeness

I openedat sful of air, probably to try and calers over the back of his neck He remained stiff for several beats, then suddenly let out a whoosh of air and closed his eyes as he relaxed a little My other hand was on his upper arers up and down his spine in the hopes of cal him more I wanted to offer him the water so he could rinse hissick had left behind a sour taste, but I was too afraid I’d lose hi And I sure as shit didn’t care that so the scuffle