Page 68 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two

In the morning, I get up after Elliot is already gone. Wren is still sleeping, so I leave her be, wanting her to get some more rest. I slept like shit, which is typical when one of the guys is away for the night. I only hope Wren slept better than I did.

As I make myself coffee, I notice movement on the balcony outside. Rhett is pacing, his head bowed. He looks like shit. I’m pretty sure he didn’t come back last night, so odds are, he didn’t sleep at all.

Abandoning the coffeemaker, I head outside. When I open the sliding door, Rhett pauses and looks up. Yep—I know that look in his eyes. He’s had no sleep and too much time alone with the things that haunt him.

I don’t even get a word out before he says, “Please don’t lecture me.”

I bite my tongue before I make a joke about that being Ell’s job. This isn’t the time for that. “Are you going to fix things with Wren?”

He turns away.

“Rhett, come on. You can’t say what you said last night and just leave her like that. It’s cruel.”

“I need Sammy to be my priority,” he says darkly.

“That doesn’t change the fact that Wren’s logic was solid. She was afraid of what you’d do. None of us like that she lied.Shedoesn’t like that she lied. But she’s still new to this. To us. And she did her best.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he grits out.

“It does.”

He shakes his head.

“Don’t be an asshole, Rhett. You can’t expect her to be perfect.She did her best.You can’t tell me that doesn’t mean any-”

“It doesn’t matter because she’s right, goddammit,” he yells, whipping around to face me. “I’d ruin everything for her. For any of you.”

His admission takes me by surprise. Avenging Sammy’s murder has been his one and only life goal since we were teens. I know Rhett would never sacrifice one of us for our plan, but sacrificing the plan for one of us? When we’ve all worked so hard to get here? I don’t want him to have to do that.

“Sammy deserves better than that.” Rhett’s voice is laced with a cocktail of shame, defeat, and disappointment. He turns around again, gripping the railingand lowering his head. “She deserves better than what we’ve given her. It’s beenten years.She shouldn’t have to wait that long.”

When I step up next to him, he tilts his face away from me. I don’t force him to look at me. It’d only push him further away. “Sammy will get her justice. And if you think she’s up there somewhere, looking down on us and wondering why we haven’t taken Ludo out yet, I guarantee she’s not.”

“What if she is?”

“Rhett, if she’s watching you, there’s no doubt in my mind that she doesn’t give a shit about Ludo. I’ll never forget the way she looked at you. You were everything to her. And if she could see you right now, she wouldn’t be disappointed in you. She’d be worried that her big brother was making himself miserable. She’d want you to focus on trying to be happy.”

“I can’t, O. I can’t move on while he’s still alive.”

Fucking hell.I can’t even fight him on that. I’ve thought the same thing too many times myself.

“I’m worried about you,” I say softly.

“By this point, I’d say we’re all worried about each other.”

“That doesn’t make it any better.”

He shrugs. Typical—his default setting is deflecting. Over the years, he’s come so far in managing his anger and sharing his burdens. But my god, at times like these, I wish he was further along.

“You can’t avoid Wren forever.”

“I’m not planning on it. I just need a little more time.”

“How much?” I don’t want her to be miserable all day.

“I… I don’t know. Elliot texted me and said Wren has more to explain, that he was thinking we could do an early dinner once he’s done with Aubrey. That’s, what, six hours from now? Seven?”

“She thinks you hate her, Rhett.”