Rose pov

The sound of him high-fiving/catching my hand resonates through the building.

Ryder looks at me with warning in his eyes.

He interlocks his fingers with mine, then pulls me close.

"I said, don't do anything stupid, I'm their King, if they see me get hit, threaten, or hurt, they come after the person responsible, no matter who they are." He whispers harshly in my ear.

I shudder.

Me against a gang this large?

I don't think I'd make it.

But it doesn't matter, does it? Cause it's all over now.

They probably already know I'm here.

Damn.

I fling Ryder's hand off of mine.

"You don't know what you just did to me." I snarl in his ear.

Ryder eyes fill with confusion as I back away from him.

He looks at me slowly, his gaze lingering on my eyes, then turns to his gang to begin their meeting.

What do I do? What do I do?

I sit on the balcony, pull my knees to my chest, and put my hands in my hair.

Breathe.

All these years of wearing stupid glasses, and a dumb ponytail to conceal myself, and within seconds I'm exposed.

Where did my glasses go?

And my hair tie?

I never really thought about it until now.

And look at what happened.

Gosh why'd I want to face my demons, anyway?

Ryder pov

Wrapping up the meeting, I turn to Rose.

What was she talking about before?

Is she in danger?

The thought makes my fist twitch and my mood turn sour.

"What's going on, Rose?" I ask, walking over to her, crouching down next to her.

"None of your damn business." She says, glaring up at me.

I feel my mood turn even more sour.

"Rose I know I've been nice to you, and maybe that's why you think you can talk to me like this, but let me get one thing clear, if you're in danger in any way, it's my business, and I won't have you disrespecting me in front of my gang."

She scoffs and gets up.

I follow her lead.

"Just...fuck off, ok Ryder, I don't have time for you right now."She says, leaving the balcony going back to the car.

I jog to her and grab her right upper arm.

"Rose, tell me what's going on!" I shout.

"Ryder, MY DAD IS FUCKING EVIL! He has his own little 'mafia' that I had to grow up with." She screams.

Her outburst has me taking a step back.

"And I ran away from him, a couple years ago, but now after you brought all that attention to me, in front of your gang, I'm sure he's going to find me. He has spies everywhere." She breathes heavily with panic in her eyes.

"I can help you, my gang can-" She cuts me off.

"I said mafia, Ryder. Your gang might be powerful around the world, but my father's men are trained killers, not hesitant to destroy anything in their way. Including you."

I see the panic in her eyes turn to desperation.

"I don't want to go back. The things he did to me, the things he did to my mother, I'll never forget the terror in her eyes whenever she saw him. He's a monster."

She grabs on to my shirt and puts her forehead on my chest.

"Don't let him take me Ryder." She says weakly.

A girl who's been nothing but strong since the day we met, now has her head on my chest and is asking me to protect her.

I wrap my arms around her.

"He won't even come close to you, ok Rose."

She tightens her grip on my shirt.

I won't let him take away what's mine, never.

Over my dead body.

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