Page 45 of Don’t Hate Me (Secrets of Ravens Hollow #2)

“You can’t save everyone,” comes Onyx’s voice from the doorway of the spare room.

“Why not?” I mutter, not bothering to turn back toward him. I’m now snuggled into Reef’s chest, my tears staining his shirt as he strokes my hair tenderly and makes me feel safe.

“Some people don’t want to be saved,” Reef agrees with Onyx.

I sit up, pulling my knees into my chest and hugging them protectively.

Reef keeps an arm around my shoulders, sitting with me, like he’s scared to let go of me in case I try something else.

“Orlando did. That’s why he had me here.

That’s why he had all of us here. He wanted you all to know who he really is.

He’s not some fucking mob boss like his cruel papa. ”

Onyx shrugs, but it’s not as if he doesn’t care, more that he doesn’t agree with me.

“Maybe he is, Sloane. Just like you’re the daughter of the vice president, Reef is the son of a prostitute, and I’m the son of a thug who sold me out for fame in one of the most notorious mob families.

We might not like it, but our past defines us. ”

Irritation crawls under my skin at his words.

“It doesn’t have to. I’m not defined by mine, I’m a fucking biker chick who owns a sex club, not some spoiled high-society girl.

” I glare daggers back at him as he takes a seat beside me on the bed, leaning his back into the plush pillows as if I exhaust him.

“You can be whoever you want to be, trouble. But while you’re running from your past, it’s always going to define you in one way or another. You will forever have to live in the shadow of Ava Kingsley and who you really should have been.”

“There will always be some cop looking for you, wildcat. And Orlando would have been hiding the rest of his life if he didn’t confront his papa and take his rightful place in the family,” Reef agrees with him, annoying me even more.

“Maybe.” I sniff, still feeling way too emotional about it all.

I’m never going to see him again, and it feels like someone is strangling the life right out of me.

I glance at Onyx. “Onyx, how does your past define you? You said your father sold you for fame?” I ask.

He’s made me wait, but now I need to know the truth, who he really is.

I don’t miss the look he gives Reef, a silent message passing between them.

“Tell her,” Reef finally says.

Onyx lowers his head, sucking in a deep breath as he scrubs a hand through his stubble.

“My piece-of-shit father worked for the Morettis. He was a low-level thug at best, but he dreamt of something more. To work his way up to the top, and he thought I was the key to his success. So he started putting me in these underground fights against other boys. I have always been kind of huge, and even at twelve I was a head taller than the others and built. He made me work out every fucking day of the week, and then every Friday night there would be some new kid I would have to fight. I was unstoppable. Unbeatable. And it went to his head.”

My eyes meet with his, seeing how haunted he is thinking back to that time. I’m crushed for him. “That’s seriously fucked up. You were just a kid. You should have been in school, not fighting to line greedy mobsters’ pockets.”

“Like I said, we’re all defined by our past. I was brought up to be a fighter, ruthless, cold, and vicious as hell.

One night when one of my fights went too far and I nearly killed some other kid, my mother tried to put a stop to it.

She went behind my father’s back to the person organizing the fights, Emilio Moretti, and begged him to cancel, to get me out of it somehow, but they were already proving to be way too lucrative for the family.

So instead, he killed both my parents and put me in that fucking group home. Where he had all the control.”

My mouth nearly drops open. “Romeo and Orlando’s dad killed your parents as well.”

I feel Reef’s arm tighten around me, and I glance back at him, knowing it’s all true. We have all lost so much because of that man. “His goons would have done it. That man never gets his own hands dirty, that’s what makes him so damn untouchable.”

I find Onyx’s hand and lace my fingers with his. “I’m so sorry, Onyx, I don’t even know what to say.” He squeezes my hand back. But I see how much this shit still tears him up. He’s so strong, but his past defines him, like he said. “How did you end up with my family?”

He looks away, and I know he’s trapped back there. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked, maybe it’s all too much to talk about. “It was a few years later. Syd was at one of my fights, the one where I went too far and killed the guy I was competing against.”

I cover my mouth as a gasp escapes. He killed some other kid?

His dark eyes meet with mine like he wants me to see his pain.

His truth. He’s hidden it from me for so long, but now he’s finally ready.

“Emilio and he cut a deal on the spot. I don’t know the details, just that he wanted me to disappear so my fuck- up couldn’t come back on him.

Syd needed some extra security around the club, so I was shipped halfway across the country and ended up with your family. ”

“Are you happy working for my family?” I ask, wondering if he wished for another life. Not the one he was trapped in.

He lifts a shoulder. “Your brothers are good to me. That club is the only home I have ever known, Sloane, and your family is like mine.”

“You’re like family to them as well.” I smile softly at him. When I look at him, I see my home, and I know that’s strange, but he is. “And I’m sure Reef and Romeo feel like you’re family to them as well.”

“We do,” Reef agrees.

I move in between Onyx’s legs, placing a soft kiss to his lips, my beautiful broken man.

Then I cup his face, staring right into his stormy eyes.

“We’re all like broken pieces of the same puzzle.

Emilio Moretti has fucked up all of our lives in one way or another.

I hope they make him pay. Kill him slowly and painfully. He deserves the worst.”

Onyx’s lips twist up at the sides ever so slightly. “I like you best when you’re talking like a fucking psycho, trouble.”

“It’s sexy as fuck,” Reef agrees, lightening the somber mood.

“Is that right?” I smirk back at them. My face flushes with the way they’re both looking at me now.

Gone is the sadness, and it’s replaced with dark lust. They are done talking about their past, and I get it.

This shit is depressing, and the truth is there is nothing any of us can do to change what we went through to get here.

My teeth sink into my bottom lip. “Since you both find the psycho in front of you so enticing, maybe we should stop talking and do something else instead.”

Reef’s lips twist up at the sides playfully. “What did you have in mind, wildcat?”

“A distraction?” I answer, unbuckling the top button of Onyx’s jeans. Just to test the waters to see what he’s going to let me get away with. With Romeo, I know this would be a given with Reef here as well, but Onyx is different. He wants the control.

“Did I say you could touch me?” His voice is a low growl, but his eyes flash with desire.

I shake my head, not stopping as I slip his fly down, his cock straining against the fabric of his pants.

Reef smirks at me cheekily, and I can see he’s so ready for whatever I have in mind. He shifts his head to the side. “Get your dress off, wildcat,” he demands, his voice sexy as all hell.

Smirking at the two of them, I sit back on my heels and tug my dress off over my head.

Onyx runs a finger over the lace fabric of my bra, tugging the material down so my tits push up and out, exposing my nipples to the cool air.

They pebble immediately, begging to be touched.

But he moves his hands away, his eyes raking over me instead.

Can’t he see how desperate I am for him to touch me?

Reef eats me up as well, his tongue running over his lips as if he’s imagining tasting me.

“You can take my pants off now,” Onyx instructs.

I bite into my bottom lip cheekily. Reaching for his pants, I drag them down his legs, then I waste no time in pulling down his briefs. His cock springs free, long and thick and just begging for me to touch. I lick my lips. “I need to taste you.”

“Do you?”

“Yes,” I breathe, my voice a whisper.

He considers me, and for a second, I think he’s going to deny me. “Taste me then,” he finally says. “But I want you on all fours so Reef can devour your sweet cunt at the same time.

With a silly smirk, I lean forward on all fours. Taking his cock in my hand, I stroke him as my tongue flicks out and licks the pre-cum from the tip. A guttural groan leaves his lips as he grabs a handful of my hair.

Reef moves off the bed, coming around behind me, his hand runs over my back softly until he makes it to my lace panties. He strokes my pussy, feeling me through the fabric. “Our girl is soaking wet already.”

“Good, she’s going to need to be with what I have planned for her,” Onyx agrees, his cock hitting the back of my throat as he uses my hair to get traction and thrust inside of my mouth.

I groan around his cock, not sure what he means, but I’m totally here for it.

Reef pulls my panties down just enough to expose my ass and pussy to him. I can feel his eyes on me. “So fucking perfect for us, aren’t you, wildcat. Pretty and pink and dripping.” He dips a finger inside of me, twists it, then pulls it back out. My pussy clenches, wanting more.

Onyx pulls my mouth off his cock so I can answer Reef. “Yes. I want both of you.”

Onyx chuckles. “Of course you do, greedy girl.” He pushes his cock back between my lips, and I suck him all the way down my throat till I gag.