The Rebel of Raleigh High (Raleigh Rebels #1)(62)

“You really are, aren’t you? Fearless,” I say.

Alex turns, bowing his head forward, letting his chin drop to his chest. He sighs, wrapping his arms around me. Leaning my forehead against him, we stand like that for a long time before Alex whispers gently into the dark. “Not nearly as fearless as you. Take me to bed, Argento. I wanna hold you.”





22





ALEX





“He’s fucked in the head, just like his mother was. Little prick. If I don't curb that shit now, he's going to end up hurting someone one of these days, just you wait and see. Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. If the belt doesn’t work, then my fist sure as fuck will.”

I jolt awake, disoriented. A second ago I was crying in a closet, listening to Gary tell his brother what a worthless, vile little cretin I am. Now, I'm cocooned in a blissfully soft bed, staring into the face of the most beautiful fucking girl I've ever seen.

Silver’s still sleeping. Her hair is loose, fanned out around her face, golden and warm in the early morning light. Her lips are slightly parted. Her eyelashes are so long that they’re resting on the top of her cheekbones. From the serene look on her face, the dreams fluttering through her subconscious are nothing like mine were, and for that I am glad.

I never told her, but I vowed to myself about three seconds after I met Silver that I was going to make Jake and anyone else who had a hand in hurting her pay. I’ve already plotted a few unique and interesting ways to make that happen, even with the promises I made to Silver tying my hands. But none of that matters if I can’t protect her from the monsters if they visit her when she closes her eyes to sleep. I can’t keep her safe in there, and that makes me sick to my fucking stomach.

She stirs, nestling down into the covers. Her eyes stay closed, but I know that she’s woken up. “You know how to work a Keurig, Alessandro Moretti? Or are you more for decoration?” she mumbles.

I smile. Really smile. Maybe it’s easier because she can’t see me with her eyes closed, but it feels natural—a normal thing to do, and not like some breach in my defenses. “Yes,” I whisper, leaning in to kiss her on the forehead. “I know how to operate a Keurig. I’ll be right back.”

She moans, reaching after me, grabbing for my hand as I climb out of bed. I laugh under my breath all way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Without the fire burning in the living room, it's fucking freezing in the cabin. Should have put some clothes on before I came down but fuck it. As soon as I have some caffeine for Silver, I'm fully planning on getting back into bed and staying there with her for the rest of the morning. I already got my shifts covered at the Rock, so I don't have anywhere else to be.

The pods for the coffee maker take some tracking down. After rummaging through every cupboard and drawer I can think of, I eventually locate them in the freezer of all places. I fill up the water reserve on the machine and stand, hands braced against the kitchen counter as the thin stream of black gold begins to pour into the mug. It’s only halfway done when I hear the rumble of an engine approaching the cabin. Instantly alert, instantly aware that I’m half fucking naked, I peer out of the kitchen window, straining to see who’d be coming up here at this hour in the morning.

I don’t need to wait long. A silver van breaks through the tree line, careening toward the cabin, and a sinking feeling hits me square in the gut. Shiiit. I recognize the van. I last saw it parked in the Parisi’s driveway as I pulled away from their house. It’s the vehicle Silver was driving when she took her brother to soccer practice.

“SILVER!” I yell.

A woman scrambles out of the van. Her hair's the same color as Silver's, and her features bear a marked resemblance, too. She's young. Younger than I expected, but she's obviously Silver's mom. I'm about to bolt out of the kitchen and up the stairs in search of my clothes, already trying to figure out how I'm going to explain why the fuck I'm here, alone with her daughter, and why the hell I thought I'd get away with defiling her, when I watch the woman go down. She collapses into the mud, sinking to her knees, then landing on her ass, and she's…she's fucking crying.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck.

I’m out of the door and running towards her before I can assess the situation or decide if it’s even a smart thing to do. The woman looks up, but I can tell she doesn’t really see me. A loud, harrowing sob echoes through the trees. Her face is a rictus of pain. “Mrs. Parisi? Shit, Mrs. Parisi, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

I pat down her shoulders and arms, trying to see if she's injured or something, but she jerks away from me, tucking herself into a ball. Uhhhh…shit. I'm at a loss. I do the only thing I can think of and scoop her into my arms, picking her up out of the mud. She doesn't even question the fact that a strange, half-naked guy is carrying her inside her own cabin. She wraps her arms around my neck and clings to me as I take her up the steps, kicking open the door that almost closed behind me when I rushed outside.

“SILVER!”

In the living room, I gently lay the woman down on the sofa, and she curls up into a ball again, sobbing in a gut-wrenching, horrible way that makes me want to rip my own ears off.

Momma, why are you crying? It’s all right. Everything’s going to be okay. Momma. Momma!

Footsteps thunder down the stairs. Silver arrives in a whirlwind panic, her hair all over the place, wearing nothing but a vest and a tiny pair of shorts. We pose a pretty fucking damning picture, but it doesn’t look like her mom’s paying any attention. Her eyes are screwed tightly shut, her mouth drawn down in a mask of misery. Silver shoots me a bewildered, scared look, and I just stand there, numb, not knowing what the fuck to say.