Crash and Burn (1)

he's trying to turn the whole city against me

**Yo. You see how unimpressed she is in that gif. Yeah. This man drives me crazy. I wanted to kill him during this chapter. Literally, Lacey was ready to tear her hair out, but I was just like...girl, kill him. Ditch the body. Leave it. Burn it. Run. Your life would be easier without him.

But then I was like...but your life would also be worse without him. ☺️

♚ ♛

WITH A SMUG SMILE, Soren took off from the garage.

"Why'd you make me be quiet if you were just going to tell him anyway?" I asked bitterly, shooting him a glare.

Soren chuckled warmly, reaching for my hand. He had no shame. "I wanted to see if you could. Who knew you could be quiet?"

I groaned, looking away from him. "You're an asshole, you know that?" He didn't deny it. "Who is he anyway?"

"Just like he said, Lace, he used to be a member. Not anymore."

I hadn't even tried to look for the tattoo. They could've been lying to me. What if he was a cop?  "And he doesn't hate you?"

Soren shot me a strange look. "You say that like everyone should."

"Well..."

"Oh, please. Lacey, you know I'm very likeable."

I nearly scoffed, but I stopped myself. I'd already told him several times that I liked him. "So who was he really? How do you know him?" For Soren to still be friends with him, he had to have been close.

"Don't worry about it."

I groaned again, but Soren only tightened his grip on me. He wasn't going to tell me anything.

"Where are we going?"

"We...are headed to Bushwick." Soren said softly.

"Oh? We're walking there?"

"Mmm."

So casual. Not like someone had been playing target practice with him in the middle of the city this morning. I ground my teeth before asking, "Can I ask you a very real question, Soren?"

He seemed to slow momentarily, his eyes darting down to meet mine. They were dark with caution and it made me nervous. "You might not get an answer." I pulled my lip between my teeth and looked away. "Go ahead, Lace. Give me your best question."

There was defeat in his tone that made me happier than I'd expected. Before I could gather any of the millions of questions I still had for him, I blurted, "do you have a death wish?"

Soren froze on the sidewalk, nearly yanking me back into his body. "What?"

"Do you...do you have a death wish?"

His perplexed expression told me that I'd asked the wrong question. One brow quirked higher as he shook his head. "No?"

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, looking down. "You...you just tend to do reckless things. You don't think before you act." And yet, he was still alive.

"You'd be surprised how many of my actions are premeditated, Lacey." Soren drawled, pulling me into his chest lightly. "Like this."

He placed his lips on mine softly, humming appreciatively. "You think I didn't think about that before I did it?"

"I..." No. I guess not.

His hands came up to brush my hair back and I couldn't help but look up at him. It was so natural, just tilting up to meet his eyes. They were dancing with something cryptic, something that just never came up for air. Soren roped his arms around me before he said, "I think about that a lot, princesa."