Page 167 of Only Fools Rush

If I got to choose a future where I was happy, I might not know exactly what that looked like, but I knew it had her in it.

“Yeah, give her the ring,” I said, leaning against the bookshelf again. “But fair warning: when the time comes, I’m buying her my own shit.”

She might wear his ring, but maybe she’d wear my collar. Everyone would see it and know she belonged to me, too. I smirked at the thought.

Cas breathed a sigh of relief with a nod.

“What about you, Obi?” I asked. He stared straight ahead, rubbing his chin like he was lost in deep thought. “Obi?”

He stood, a haunted look in his eye. “What?”

“Are you going to keep hiding shit and manipulating us?” Ciel asked.

“I will continue to do what needs to be done.” His response was like a needle to a balloon, popping the rest of us until we lay flat and sad on the floor.

Without another word, he left the library, and all of us, behind.

“Great,” I muttered. Ciel moved to follow, but I grabbed his arm. “No, no. He’s a stubborn fuck. He just needs time to feel bad, and he’ll come around.”

That look on his face…seeing the ring triggered something in him. I had no clue what that was, but he needed to figure out what he wanted, and fast.

“We’ll talk to her tomorrow,” Ciel said. “All we can hope is that Obi comes around before then.”

47

OBI

I’d only barely fallen asleep when the nightmares ripped me from unconsciousness. I’d dreamed of death and loss and all the things I feared finally coming to fruition. As much as I tried to avoid it, I could only watch as everything fell apart, like sand dripping through my fingers.

Leona. I could feel her, awake, waiting.

I needed to go to her.

Heart still thundering, pulse racing, I padded to the kitchen to find her seated at the island, her head on the countertop, pillowed by her arm. The dim light barely illuminated her form.

As if she, too, could sense me, she lifted her head, and turned.

“Leona,” I said finally. The sound was loud and soft at the same time.

“Obi.”

The two of us stared at one another. I remained frozen in place. Just as Ryuji accused, my skin did itch to touch her.

But the rift between us felt so impossibly large in that moment, the chasm couldn’t possibly be closed. My brothers and Caspian had tried to convince me my plans were wrong, yet wasn’t it worth securing the army we needed? Setting up the dominos that would fall as word spread of their engagement?

The mistrust in her eyes was like a dagger to my chest. The words she’d thrown at me earlier echoed in my ears. She was hurt.

Could I be right and wrong at the same time? And if that were true, whose responsibility was it to bridge the gap?

Usually, she was the one who spoke first, who pushed forward in conversation. But it was clear she was not going to cross the barren stretch of silence between us unless I did first.

“Nightmare?” I asked carefully.

She regarded me. “No.”

I blinked. Then why was she out here? Byrne and the other women hadn’t left yet. She should be in there, with them. She should be sleeping.

“You?” she asked.