Chapter Fifteen

Kylie

I stand on the side of a massive stage, the electric energy of the crowd vibrating through me as I watch Memphis performing with his band. He's a force to be reckoned with as he counts off with his sticks held over his head before launching into the next song. He plays as if he were born to do it.

The music is so loud, I can feel it thumping in my chest, but I can't tear my eyes away from him. A steady beep sounds beside my ear, but when Memphis turns to look at me, I forget about it.

His smoldering cobalt eyes lock with mine for a moment, a half-smirk playing around his lips. My heart flutters wildly at the sight.

The beeping grows louder, more annoying. I turn my head, trying to focus on Memphis and that wild grin. How he manages to stare at me and play at the same time, I don't know, but it's like his body knows exactly what to do.

God, he's incredible.

"I love you," I mouth.

His gaze flickers over my shoulder, his expression morphing into pure horror.

I glance over my shoulder on instinct.

My blood runs cold as I see Venom stalking toward me, his denim eyes narrowed and a gun in his hands.

No. No, no, no. He isn't supposed to be here.

I scream, terror firing through me as I scramble backward, trying to get away from him.

The beeping grows faster, drowning out the sound of the music.

"Kylie," Memphis says, his voice distant and desperate as Venom closes in on me.

Hands grasp my shoulders suddenly, pulling me away from danger. The beeping grows louder, an unbearable cacophony, until… silence.

My eyes flutter open, locking with Memphis's devasting cobalt eyes. Intense relief washes over his handsome face, and I forget how to breathe for a second. He's so beautiful, and somehow, so broken.

"Toto," he chokes.

"Memphis." My throat feels like it's been shredded by razor blades. I grimace, fear trickling through me. He must see it because he gently cups my cheek.

"It's okay, baby," he whispers. "You're okay."

"Where?" I ask.

"Hospital," he replies softly, his thumb caressing my cheekbone as he reaches for a cup on the table beside the bed.

The hospital? Why am I in the hospital?

Memories slowly creep in. Venom and Shelby. The accident. Everything I never told Memphis. Tears well in my eyes as I realize how close I came to losing everything.

He turns back to me with the cup in his hand, sees the tears in my eyes, and hisses a breath.

"Don't cry, Toto." The cup in his hand trembles as he reaches for the straw, his concern evident in the furrow of his brow. He holds it to my lips, allowing me to take slow sips, feeling it soothe my burning throat.

As the last sip trickles down, he sets it aside and carefully pulls me into his arms. My entire body feels as if it's been used as a battering ram, but as soon as his arms close around me, the intensity of the pain fades, no match for the way he makes me feel—alive and on fire. As if I'm home, safe, and nothing can touch me.

"Please don't cry, baby," he pleads, desperation in his voice as his lips brush my temple.

"Venom." I choke on his name.

Memphis's arms tighten around me protectively. "You remember?" he asks, his voice heavy with pain.

"I remember everything."

"He's gone and he won't ever hurt you again," Memphis swears, iron in his voice.

"Did you—?" I can't finish the question, afraid of the answer. Afraid of what it might mean for us…and for him.

"No. Had he still been alive when I got there, I would have, Kylie," he says, the truth ringing in his voice. He means it. "But he died in the accident."

I take comfort in the fact that Venom is dead, and in the fact that Memphis isn't the one who killed him. I know he would have done it—without hesitation or remorse. And I think it would have destroyed any hope of a future for us if he had. He walked away without legal consequence from what he did once. I don't think he would have been so lucky a second time.

"Shelby?" I ask.

"Shelby is going to make it," he says after a pause. "But it's not going to be easy for her. She was thrown from the van. It'll be a while before she walks again."

I process this, unsure how to feel about it. I don't want her dead. I just want her far away from us. So I nod, accepting what I can't change.

"She said she tried to warn me…" I whisper, licking my lips. They feel dry and cracked. "She wanted me to stay away from you so I didn't end up in the middle." Her warning might have been more effective if it hadn't been delivered wrapped in so much poison, but I doubt it. I don't think there's anything she could have said that would have kept me away from him.

He runs a gentle hand down my arm, choking on a groan. "God, I'm so fucking sorry, baby," he murmurs, his body trembling against mine. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" My gaze flies to his in confusion, only to see unshed tears and agony burning in his eyes.

"Everything." His voice cracks on the word. "I'm so goddamn sorry for everything."

"You didn't do anything, Memphis."

"You could have died because of me. Because I…" he groans as if he's being torn apart. Pain flashes in his eyes, deep and infinite. "Christ, they took you because of me. Because of what I did."

"Memphis." I swallow hard, reaching up to touch his face. "They took me because Venom's brother helped kill Jayson and twelve other people. Maybe what you did was wrong, but you didn't start that war. You didn't ask him to come after me." I pause, taking a deep breath. "And he didn't wreck the van, Memphis. Um, I did."

His eyes widen as he takes in my words. "Why would you do that, Toto?"

"I knew you would come to rescue me," I whisper. "If you did, he was going to kill you. I couldn't let that happen, so I made sure he didn't get a chance."

"Jesus, Toto," he rasps. "You could have fucking died. You almost did."

"I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I had to make sure that you didn't die."

"Why?" His eyes bore into me as if he's trying to see all the way to my soul.

"B-because there's nothing left in this world for me if you aren't in it," I whisper, my heart thumping unevenly. "Because I love you." I lick my lips. "Because you're the only piece of my brother that I have left." I meet his gaze, too damn afraid to breathe. "Jayson was my brother, Memphis. I…"

"I know," he whispers when the words stick in my throat. He brushes his thumb over my bottom lip, his touch soft and healing. "I know, Toto."

"You know?" My brows furrow, disbelief and confusion mingling. "But…"

"I found out who you were right before the accident," he admits. "Figured out who the fuck Venom was right before, too. I wish to hell I'd known sooner, princess."

"I'm sorry." Biting my lip, I brace myself for the question that threatens to tear me apart. "Are…are you going to break up with me now?"

His brows furrow, and he growls as if the question pisses him off. "I should be the one asking you that question."

I stare up at him, searching for answers in his eyes as shock ripples through me. "Why would you even think—"

"Because I've been fucking up your life since you were a little girl," he whispers, the pain in his voice cutting deep. "You lost your brother because of me. Grew up without him. And you nearly lost your own life. I don't deserve you. Never fuckin' will, Toto."

He's wrong about that. He deserves the world. He always has. He's just spent too long listening to ghosts that tell him lies.

He shifts closer, his muscular frame trembling with need. "When it comes to you, I'm so fuckin' selfish, Kylie. You deserve someone better than me, but I'm here anyway, begging you not to leave me. I've never needed anything, but I need you. I can't take back what I've done, but I promise you, I'm not that man anymore."

"Memphis," I whisper. He's breaking my heart because there is no one else for me. I'm beginning to think that maybe there never was. Maybe I was always supposed to belong to him. I didn't just come here for answers. I came here for him, because this right here is where I'm supposed to be—with him. At his side. In his arms.

His thumb traces along my bottom lip, his eyes locked with mine. "I'll spend the rest of my life working to be a man worthy of you. I'll spend every fuckin' day proving to you and your brother that I can be good for you. Just don't leave me, baby." He exhales a shaking breath. "Don't make me haunt you to the ends of the earth, chasing off every motherfucker who even looks your way. You know I'll fuckin' do it, Kylie."

A smile tugs at my lips despite the situation because he's just crazy enough to do exactly that. Because he's mine. And because I wouldn't have him any other way.

"I'll make you a deal," I say, my voice soft. "You don't haunt me to the ends of the earth, and you can stay as long as you want. Forever, even. But you owe me a favor."

His eyes light up with hope, a familiar spark igniting in them. "What kind of favor?"

I smirk, meeting his gaze. "You'll just have to wait to find out," I say, the exact same thing he said to me the first night he spoke to me in his bar—no, in Jayson's bar…where my life finally began.