Page 124 of Disobedient Pawn

Before I could say anything, Myles eased back and released his hold on my hair. Taking a shuddering breath, I leaned into his hand as he rubbed his thumb along my cheek. The room was so quiet that the pounding of my heart filled my ears.

“Ya better get packed before I change my mind and keep ya here.”

Myles walked back to the table, but my feet were rooted to the spot, eyes glued to his back.

It was obvious now that I wouldn’t be free of these feelings. An ember had become a spark, and a spark, was now a small flame, but with each passing day, that flame grew. Soon it would be out of control, and that terrified me.

Still breathing hard, I turned around and packed my bag. Luckily, Vicky hadn’t bothered to touch the boy shorts I slept in sometimes. They would do until I got to Lizzy’s and we could go shopping. Myles turned on some music, and I glanced over at him as he stared at his phone, tapping his foot to the song.

“I think that’s it,” I said, stuffing the last sweater into the top and zipping it closed.

“So you remember what I told ya about where to go,” Myles asked.

He stood and walked over, taking the large suitcase from my hand.

“Yes, I need to follow the hallway that leads to Ivy’s room, but at the end, I make a right and follow it to the emergency stairwell. I take it outside, and you will be waiting for me.”

“Aye.”

“So tell me again why I’m going that way, but you’re going out the front?”

I slipped on my coat and made sure to grab my toque and gloves.

“I want them to see me leave and think I’m headin’ home. If we walk out the front door together and they’re watching ya as closely as I think they are, then they’re gonna have Sheriff Morrison on us before we make it out the gate.”

“I still don’t understand what my father could’ve done for all of this to happen, and he won’t return my texts. I hate this. I feel like I’m in an exotic cage filled with the offspring of killers.”

“It’s not just the parents that kill, Snowflake.”

My hands stilled on the large white button on my coat. Raising my gaze to Myles, I searched his face for an answer. Was he one of those people? He didn’t give anything away, but I already knew.

“Do I want to know how many names are on a missing list because of you?”

Fear should’ve been ravaging my body, but I still saw him the same. What that said about me was something I didn’t want to study too closely.

His eyes softened.

“Any is too many, but my father doesn’t see it that way. Are ya wanting an exact number?”

“No, I don’t think I do. I’m not sure how I feel about you taking someone’s life. You’re seventeen and don’t want to tell me how many people you’ve had to…you know. There is something messed up about that.”

“This is who I must be, Snowflake. I make no apologies for what I’ve done and will do. I’ve let ya into my world and told ya more than I’ve ever told anyone outside the inner circle. So if ya can’t handle being with me, all I ask is that ya forget what I told ya and never speak to anyone about it.” He sighed and looked down. “But I hope that’s not what ya decide. I really like ya, Snowflake.”

“So what would happen if I didn’t want to be with you and knew all this? Would Nash or someone else come for me?”

“Nash would say yes. My father would say ya should already be bleeding on the floor. I say I would rather have yer trust.”

There was so much weight to his words that I felt them pressing in on my heart, making my stomach churn. My life seemed so sheltered compared to his and Nash’s or really any of them. I couldn’t imagine the secrets they’ve had to keep or the things they’ve seen. Hearing the rumors about those born into a life like this was one thing, but seeing it with my own eyes was entirely different.

Our worlds were so far apart, yet they’d collided, and now I wasn’t sure I wanted to give that up, even knowing what I knew. I waited for the guilt of that knowledge to smack me in the face, but nothing happened.

Stepping closer, I slipped my arms around his waist inside his coat. Myles looked down into my eyes, and I felt compelled to ask a question I never thought would leave my lips.

“What would you do if someone hurt me?”

The dark gleam in his eyes made my blood quicken in my veins.

“I would knock on the Devil’s door and happily accept whatever fate awaited me if it meant it was my hand that stuck the blade in the fucker’s heart.”