Page 20 of Ghost

“You lied to your club for me.”

He doesn’t respond.

“You brought me here instead of turning me in.” I take a step closer again, and his jaw tightens at the movement. “But you barely pay attention to me, so why would you risk it?”

“Would you rather I have left you in New Mexico?”

“That’s not an answer.”

Ghost stares down at me silently. The warmth of our bodies nearly touching gives me a head rush, but I don’t step back. I look up at him and wish he would stop throwing up walls just so he doesn’t have to face what’s on the other side of them.

“Please, Ghost.” I press my lips together. “Tell me the truth. Why would you do that for me?”

He grinds his teeth, and I sense everything he’s holding back when I wish he’d just crack open.

After a long pause, he drops his chin and shakes his head. “You were innocent. I couldn’t let them hurt you.”

He doesn’t clarify whether he’s talking about the Merciless Skulls or the Twisted Kings. He doesn’t need to.

Ghost was protecting me.

Flirtation might not have brought us together, but I’m not imagining this—he cares. He brought me here to keep me safe, and if he thinks I’ll let that go, he’s wrong.

6

Ghost

It takes Luna thirty-twominutes to leave the bathroom, and when she finally does, her nails are a shade of lavender that matches her hair.

The patch bunnies hide their nail polish under the sink in the communal bathroom since theirs is packed to the brim with makeup and whatever crap they put in their hair.

Luna purses her lips, walking down the hallway and blowing on her nails to finish drying them. She pauses at the door to my office, and I don’t move so she won’t hear me.

Clicking the screen, I zoom in to get a better angle of her face, but I can’t read her expression. She stares at the wooden door, and I swear the heat of her body radiates through it.

The faint scent of acetone creeps through the crack, and I try to hold my breath and keep quiet.

But I don’t close my eyes.

I don’t blink.

If I do, I might miss something.

Like how her shoulders deflate with her thoughts. How her eyebrows furrow the longer she stares. How her teeth sink into her plump lower lip, and how her hand hovers when she considers knocking.

If I wasn’t paying attention, I wouldn’t see the defeat in her eyes as she turns and walks away, starting on the path that leads to her bedroom.

The sadness in her gaze is one more reminder that I’m failing her, and I wish I wasn’t.

But tonight, she saw too much, and if I let her stew in that, she’ll think something could happen between us. She’ll get it in her head that I care about her. Watering those thoughts will only lead to bad things.

People who hang around the club too long get into trouble, and people who associate withmeend up dead.

I switch cameras and follow Luna through the clubhouse. She ignores Soul fucking a patch bunny on top of the pool table as she makes her way to her room.

I should stop here.

Shut it down and go to sleep.