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He pulled her hand from the wall, taking it in his as he wrapped an arm around her waist. If she was going to lean on anything for support, he selfishly wanted it to be him. He still couldn’t believe this slip of a woman had that kind of incredible healing ability. And that she’d chosen to use it on him, completely boggled his mind. “No,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. He remembered every promise he’d ever made, because he never made one he didn’t keep. But staying away from her or AJ was definitely not something he’d ever agree to, let alone promise. “But I do remember a few other things, and I think it’s high time we talk about them.” His tone brooked no argument, and she seemed to pale at his words. “Not here,” he quickly added, hating that she thought he was going to embarrass her in front of her friends. If she regretted the kiss, he wouldn’t hold it against her, but he needed her to confirm what her role was in the Deathly Hollow MC, and tell him what they had over her that allowed them to keep her on such a tight leash. “Go back to the room and I’ll bring you something to eat.”
Skyla released a breath she’d seemingly been holding, then turned and walked back down the hallway, disappearing into his guest room.
Without meeting Caden’s gaze that he felt burning a hole into his back, Blake went to his fridge and pulled out some sliced cheddar cheese and cold cuts. He arranged them on a plate, along with a variety of crackers from his pantry. Then he poured her a tall glass of orange juice. It was all he really had on hand.
“She should be talking to both of us,” Caden said, unmoving from his chair at the table.
Blake shook his head and turned to face his friend. “Look, thanks for coming to get us. But you trusted me with this, so I need you to keep trusting me to see this through.” He waited until Caden gave him an almost imperceptible nod, then proceeded down the hallway to his guest room where he found Skyla sitting on the bed, the blanket pulled up over her legs. “I hope this is okay,” he said, offering her the plate and juice. “That's all I really had. I’m more of a fast food and microwave dinners kind of guy. Not that I can’t cook, it’s just hard to cook for one.” He had no idea why he’d launched into that explanation, but he didn’t want her to think he couldn’t make a decent meal.
Skyla gave him a weak smile and took the plate. “This is great, thank you. Food actually really helps after I - well - you know.” She averted her eyes, as if she was ashamed of her secret. How could she not see how completely in awe he was of her? Unless her gift had become a burden, much like Orly and Hallie felt about theirs. “Yeah, we’ll get to that,” Blake said, placing the glass of juice on the bedside table and lowering himself to sit on the edge of the bed.
He drew in a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. She needed to eat and rest, not be interrogated right now. But there were some things that just couldn’t wait. He’d spent months thinking she was involved with the business aspect of the MC, doing illegal things and using Madigan’s to cover it up. How could he have been so wrong about someone? She might still be involved with the MC, but he had a feeling it wasn’t anything like how he suspected. “Is that your connection to Arlo J?” He asked, needing to get that cleared up immediately. “You heal him when he gets hurt?”
Skyla bit into a cracker covered with cheese and gave a slight nod. He tried not to stare at her as she ate, wanting to give her a few minutes to collect herself and nourish her body after it had so clearly been depleted of energy. “Is that what happened tonight? Arlo J needed you to heal him?”
“Yes,” Skyla said. “But that was just tonight. I’ve healed a lot of his guys. It’s an arrangement, I guess you could say.”
Blake’s skin heated with anger. She’d been putting herself in danger right under his nose and he’d been none the wiser. There had to be more to this story. “Why? What does he have on you?”
Skyla went quiet, and Blake shifted on the bed, angling himself to better face her. “Now isn’t the time to shut down on me. What does he have on you?” He pressed, needing her answer almost more than he needed oxygen right now.
“It’s not me,” she shrugged. “I’m just the bargaining chip.”
A vile feeling of disgust choked Blake from the inside out as realization struck him. Skyla obviously didn’t tell a lot of people about her gift, which meant there were only a few who could use her in such an awful way. He remembered how she’d talked of her mother dying, and the way her relationship with her father wasn’t great. “Your dad,” he bit out.
Skyla took another big bite of her cracker, almost as if stuffing her mouth was easier than admitting that the one person in her life who was supposed to be protecting her was actually the one selling her out.
“Why?” Blake demanded. “Why would he do that to you?”
She swallowed, then looked at him as if the answer was obvious. “Money,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Isn’t that why most people do everything? It’s always about the money.”
His hands fisted and he quickly loosened them, not wanting to scare her. “Your dad is rich enough. He doesn’t need to be selling out his own daughter to a motorcycle club.” He didn’t bother to hide the fury in his voice.
“I never said it was his money.”
That confused Blake even more. “Explain,” he said, taking a cracker from her plate and shoving the whole thing in his mouth.
Skyla looked away for a long moment, as if stealing herself for what she was about to say. Her color was slowly coming back, and he made a mental note to always have food and easy to make snacks in his apartment for her, in case this ever happened again and she needed something quick.
“After Mom died, Dad found himself in a kind of depression. He used to sulk around the house aimlessly, drinking and blaming me for her death. Then one day, one of his old friends invited him to a poker game, and he suddenly found his new passion in life. Only he never really figured out how to win, so he spent nearly all of his own money until we almost lost the house, and then he figured out how to gamble using other people’s money. Only, he hadn’t thought far enough ahead on how he would pay them back.”
“And that’s where you came in,” Blake supplied.
“Yeah. Every healing I do is worth a thousand bucks to AJ.”
“And how many healings have you already done for him?”
Skyla shrugged. “A lot. But it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Blake took her hand, cradling it in his. “You said that right after you healed me. I tried to pick you up to carry you out of that house, and you told me to leave you. That it didn’t matter anymore. What did you mean by that?”
Skyla shook her head. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Look, the important thing is that you need to stay away from Madigan’s, and me. AJ doesn’t like when -”
“I don’t give a shit what Arlo J likes. Now, you told me before to leave Madigan’s and never come back. Right after you kissed me. Is that why you kissed me? To make it awkward between us? Were you hoping the kiss would suck, and I would lose interest in you?”
“Did it work?” Skyla asked with a shy grin.
“No. What about you? Did you get what you wanted out of it?”
