Page 91 of Silas

She nods. “I know. I just…the thought of having to figure out my life without you…I can’t. I just can’t.”

“Youcan, sweetheart.” I hold her gaze, emphasizing my words by squeezing her hands in mine. “You’re strong. You’re smart. You’re resilient.”

“I don’t feel that way, right now.”

“Strength isn’t feeling strong all the time, it’s keeping going even when youdon’tfeel strong.”

She turns her gaze away and to the middle distance for a moment. “I guess that makes sense.”

Our food arrives just then, and we let the topic fall by the wayside as we tuck into our lunches.

My mind is occupied, though.

I’ve never been needed. Never been wanted. I mean, sure, Sax and Sol are my brothers and they love me, and they’d do anything for me. We’ve been to hell and back together, Sax and I especially. And the other Arrows are my brothers too—they’d all go to war for me just like I would for them.

But it’s not the same. Having a woman like Naomi tell me she needs me, she can’t imagine her life without me?

That changes shit, man.

I’ve always been pretty reckless when it comes to combat because I didn’t really care too much if I lived. I mean, I’ve got a hell of a strong survival instinct. I’ll fight like a cornered badger, no matter the odds. But deep down? I knew no one would really care all that much if I died. I mean, again, yeah, Sax and Sol would be pretty upset, but they know the score. They know how shit goes, what fights are like. If I died, they’d mourn me, but they’d be okay. They don’tneedme.

What hits me like a freight train is the understanding that I need her, too. Since joining the Broken Arrows, my days have just been…existence. Workouts with the guys, hang out in the common area, go to work up in the club, and visit Hel once in a while to get my needs met. Rinse and repeat, day in and day out.

Naomi makes me want more. Makes me feel like more ispossible.

How can someone so completely change your outlook on life in the span of…how long has it been? Four days? It’s kind of a blur, the time since I drove past her on the side of the road in West Virginia.

We finish the meal, I pay with cash, and we amble lazily around the little town. I’m wearing a black ballcap and my sunglasses, which hopefully do a decent job of hiding my identity. I don’t see any of Malik’s men, and they’re not typically subtle—they dress in the same black suits as the rest of the Cabal’s soldiers.

We mostly window shop, enjoying the sunshine and blue skies, and the chance to stretch our legs after so many hours in the car.

We pass a little mom-and-pop jewelry store with a window display of diamond earrings, engagement rings, and diamond tennis bracelets. I notice how Naomi slows as we pass, the way her eyes fix on the earrings.

Her ears are pierced, but the earrings she’s wearing are plain, tiny little silver hoops, the kind of thing little girls get when they first get pierced.

I tug her hand. “Come on.” I pull her toward the entrance.

She resists. “I was just looking, Silas. I don’t need anything.”

I silence her with a kiss. “Every girl needs a pair of diamond earrings, babe. It’s the law.”

She sputters another protest but allows me to pull her into the store. There’s a little old man behind the counter, holding a diamond up to the light as he examines it with a loupe.

At the sound of the bell, he lowers the loupe and grins at us. “Welcome in, you two.” He looks at our joined hands, at Naomi’s wide eyes. “Shopping for an engagement ring, perhaps?”

Naomi’s blush stains her cheeks bright red, and she ducks her chin to her chest.

“Not quite yet,” I say. I press my palm to her lower back and guide her to the counter, gently thumbing the cheap earring in one earlobe. “Looking for replacements for these.”

His frown is disapproving. “Replacements? Or upgrades?”

I grin at him. “Upgrades, my friend.Significantupgrades.”

“Significant, is it?” He rubs his hands together, and then withdraws a black velvet tray littered with diamond earrings, which catch the light and sparkle brilliantly.

Naomi squeezes my hand with a crushing death grip. “Silas. No. These cost afortune.”

I press my lips to her ear. “Babe. You have no way of knowing this, but my brothers and I just inherited seventy-five million dollars in liquid assets, a ten-million-dollar estate, and another twenty-five million in investments. Plus, we get paid at the club while incurring nothing in living expenses.” I pluck at her lower lip with my teeth. “All you need to worry about is picking which you like best.”