She slid over until her thigh pressed against mine. I wanted to retreat, but the only place to go was off the bench entirely.
Then she wrapped her arms around me, giving me a tight hug, and I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to.
I wasn’t really a hugger. Had I ever hugged my sister before? Maybe in the immediate aftermath of the incident, but I’d mostly blocked out those moments.
“It wasn’t your fault those guys hurt me,” she whispered.
“They were a rival club?—”
She cut me off. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. They didn’t target me because of you. I’m absolutely sure of it.”
But it didn’t make sense. The things they’d done to her were heinous and vile. They had to have had a reason. It must have been a desire for revenge for a deal gone wrong between us.
“West, when you’re a woman, sometimes there isn’t a reason. Sometimes it’s just bad luck and bad people,” Violet whispered. “I was with them for long enough that I think I would know if there were any motives to it. Believe me, please.”
I didn’t want to believe her.
If I couldn’t blame myself and my associations, I had to accept that my sister was just… unlucky. The bad side of a statistic.
That was worse. I didn’t know why, but it felt so much worse.
Maybe because it meant that no matter what I did, I could never protect her from everything. It made it impossible to be the big brother I’d sworn I would be when I found out I had a sister.
“Fine. I believe you,” I mumbled.
She knew that I was saying it to placate her. There was no way she didn’t, but she didn’t call me out. She planted a kiss on my cheek and pulled away.
“Good. And I’m sorry for being upset about being brought here. I know you wanted to help me, and back then I wasn’t ready to admit that I needed help.”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
“I do. Just accept the damn apology.”
I snorted. “I accept.”
“Perfect. Now you need to tell Talia what happened back then so she knows why you constantly push everyone away.”
Considering we hadn’t grown up together, Violet was uncannily good at calling me out. Had to be sisterly instincts or something. It would be nice if she would stop doing it.
The way I was living was working just fine, for the most part. I had my pack—I didn’t push them away. They were all I needed.
A little voice whispered that wasn’t the truth anymore.
“I didn’t keep her safe either, Vi.”
“Not everything is your fault. Do you think she blames you?”
I knew she didn’t. Sheshouldblame me—that was the problem.
If I’d never tried to steal the damn ammo, the entire chain of events could have been avoided. Conrad might feel guilty about going feral and nearly hurting her, but ultimately even his injury was my fault.
“Did you know you’re the most stubborn person I’ve met in my life?” Violet asked. I hadn’t answered her previous question yet, but my silence was apparently telling enough. “Talk to her, West. Just talk to her before you lose her. Ideally, right now.”
Standing up from the bench, I brushed the dust off the back of my sweats. I’d go find her, but only because that was what I was already doing. Not because we needed a conversation.
“You said she’s on the roof?” I confirmed.
“In the rooftop garden, yeah.”
