Page 13 of Colt
“What the hell was that?” I demanded. “You made me look like an idiot in front of her.”
“I saved you from making an even bigger idiot of yourself.” Glitch didn’t look up. “Something’s wrong, Colt. Something’s very wrong with this whole situation.”
“Wrong how?”
“Give me an hour.” His eyes were locked on the screen, reflecting strings of data I couldn’t interpret. “Maybe two. I need to dig deeper.”
“Deeper into what?”
Glitch finally looked up, and I didn’t like the expression on his face. “Into the story your Death’s Head brothers told you seven years ago. Because I’m starting to think it was all bullshit.”
Fuck.
Chapter 6
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— Lilac —
Imade it three blocks before I had to pull over. My hands were shaking too badly to drive. In the back seat, Luca and Knox sat in terrified silence, watching their mother fall apart.
“Mama?” Knox’s voice was small. “Are you okay?”
No. I wasn’t okay. I wasn’t anywhere close to okay.
I turned off the engine and dropped my forehead against the steering wheel, letting the sobs come and not trying to stop them.
I’d married him. That man—that cruel, hateful man who’d grabbed my arm and looked at me with disgust—I’d married him. I’d loved him enough to say vows, to build a life, to get pregnant with his children.
And even now, even through the terror, my brain had noticed things anyway. The broad sweep of his shoulders beneath the leather. The way his voice, underneath all that anger, had a rasp to it that made something in my chest tighten. The surprising gentleness of his grip before he’d remembered to be cruel.
What did that say about me? About who I’d been before?
Had I been like them? Cold and vicious, part of that gang who’d surrounded me on the street? Had I looked at other people the way they’d looked at me—like prey, like something they’d wipe off the soles of their shoes?
Or had I left because of his cruelty? Maybe I’d finally seen him for what he was and run. Maybe that’s why I’d ended upbeaten and broken at Betty’s door—because I’d tried to escape and he’d punished me for it.
The thought made my stomach lurch. Had Colt done this to me? Had my own husband put me in that coma?
“Mama, please don’t cry.” Luca’s voice came from right beside me. He’d unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed into the front, wedging himself between me and the steering wheel. His small hands cupped my face, wiping at tears with his thumbs. “Please, Mama. You’re scaring us.”
“I’m sorry, baby.” I pulled him into my lap and held him tight, breathing in the familiar scent of his hair. “I’m sorry. I just need a minute.”
“Is it because of those bad men?” Knox had climbed into the front too, pressing against my side. “The ones who were mean to you?”
“They scared me,” I admitted. There was no point lying—they’d seen everything. “I don’t like when people yell.”
“Luca yelled at them,” Knox said. “He was so brave.”
“I punched that man.” Luca’s voice was fierce even muffled against my shoulder. “The one who grabbed you. I punched him, and I’m not sorry.”
“Oh, baby.” I kissed the top of his head. “You shouldn’t have to protect me. That’s not your job.”
“Yes it is.” He pulled back to look at me, his green eyes—Colt’s eyes, I realized—fixed on mine. “You’re my mama. I’ll always protect you.”
Knox nodded solemnly. “Me too. Even if I’m scared.”
I looked at my boys—my fierce, brave, beautiful boys. They were the only good thing to come from whatever nightmare my past had been. Whatever I’d done, whoever I’d been, I’d gotten them out of it.
