Page 106 of Ghost

But looking at him now, I see the ripple effect of those small actions. Of taking and taking, not considering who is on the other end of it.

Grimm cracks his knuckles again, and my gaze drops to the patch on his cut.

“You’re an Iron Sinner.”

“Thought you were the only one who made new friends after you disappeared, doll?” He smirks, and my spine tingles with the nickname. “Who do you think led you to them?”

“You’re the one who hired me to hack the Twisted Kings?”

“Titan asked if I knew anyone as good as I was since we couldn’t risk the Twisted Kings chasing it back to my club at the time. So I looked you up. It’s too bad you ended up being such a disappointment. I thought I taught you better than to get caught.”

His words sting, even if they shouldn’t. Steven doesn’t know me. What little hacking we did when we were younger is nothing compared to what I was up against in Ghost’s system. I doubt he could have gotten in either.

Still, it stings, drawing out the insecurity I had back when I lived with his family. I was a fifteen-year-old girl who didn’t know what she wanted or where she belonged. Someone who relied on Steven to help me through it. I thought it was because he cared, but now, I’m starting to think it was manipulation. He weaponized my insecurities to make me compliant, and I fell for it.

“You surprised me with one thing though.” He steps closer, wagging a finger at me. “I didn’t expect you to follow them back here. Thought you’d wait for me.”

“I didn’t even know where you were. We haven’t spoken since your father kicked me out.”

“You mean since you left.” He storms forward, grabbing the back of my head and pulling me closer so I’m forced to smell his cigarette breath. “I offered to help you. Remember?”

Steven offered to get an apartment together, but all I wanted to do was get away. And now, looking back, maybe I suspected this side existed in him all along. I considered being his roommate, but it always gave me a bad feeling. Now I know why.

“We needed to move on.” I swallow hard.

“Move on? Like I’d ever forget you. You were the only good thing in that hellhole, Luna. You might have disappeared on me after high school, but I was always going to find you again.”

He dips his face by my neck and breathes me in. I try to push him off me, but he laughs when I shove him back a step.

“You always were feisty. Happy to see the Twisted Kings didn’t beat that out of you.”

“They’d never do anything like that.”

“They’re bikers, doll.” He hitches an eyebrow. “Or do you think your boyfriend actually likes you just because right now he’s treating you okay? I guess you always were a sucker for someone willing to save you. I’m sure you’re a good fuck, but he’ll get tired and move on. That’s what they all do. That’s why you’ve always belonged with me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I saved you first, Luna. I stopped my dad from beating on you… or doing worse.” He steps toward me, and I mirror him with a step back. “You weren’t my first foster sister, you know? You should have seen what he did to them. He kept them quiet, but they were thin walls in that apartment. And they felt even thinner in the silence of the night.”

Tears sting my eyes when I realize what he’s saying.

“You’re lucky I was older by the time you came around. And he was drunk more often than not, making him easier to control. I redirected him for you. I took those beatings for you. I kept him in line for you because you were mine. And now you owe me.”

His gaze roams over my body, and I process the altered version of the life we shared. Grimm’s memory of those years is different from mine, and I see how it could have been worse. But if he thinks he’s owed me because of it, he’s wrong.

Grimm drags his dark hair off his forehead, and his nearly black eyes have my stomach in knots. Any kindness that once existed in him has hardened.

“You were like a brother to me, Steven.”

“Grimm.” His frown deepens.

“Grimm,” I repeat, stepping back. “You were my brother. That’s it.”

His fingers wrap around my wrist so hard it hurts, and he’s nothing like the boy I remember.

“Don’t lie to yourself. We weren’t actually siblings. This is okay. You’re allowed to like me.”

“Like you? I don’t even know you. Not anymore.” I try to pull away, but he won’t let me go. “I’m in love with Ghost.”