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Chapter Ten Raya St Claire
We were driving homewhen Bear turns around in the front seat to look at me for the first time since this morning.
I glance out of the window, looking at the trees flying past us as we drove. I didn't want to look at him after he was being such an ass to me the entire day without a valid reason, and besides, he just wants to talk to me now because I got hurt tonight, and not because he wants to make amends for being an ass to me today.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
The question made me trail my finger over the cuts the sharp blade has caused against my neck, but this time, there was only a sting when my finger trailed over the cut, and the blood on my neck was already dry by now. My jaw hurt from getting punched in the face by Waylon's second in command, and it would bruise.
I nod curtly, never looking at him once.
"Why can't you just be vulnerable for one damn second?" He snaps, tugging his brown hair frustratingly at the roots.
I turn to look at him again, this time there was a frown settled between my eyebrows. Archie shoots him a death glare too, but looks back at the road again. He always left us alone to sort our shit out.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Bear?" I ask. "You're acting like an asshole."
"Why do you always act so damn tough around everyone?" Bear asks, his tone a little gentler than it was moments ago. "We all know that this is just one of your many facades to try and cover up the fact that you're really just broken inside."
"Where the hell is this coming from?" Archie was the one to ask him. "You know first-hand why Raya is the way she is."
"If you show your vulnerabilities to others, they're going to use that against you." I tell him, reciting the words Archie taught me when I was younger. "Never show your vulnerabilities to others because at some point or another, they're going to use it against you." He'd say to me. "Your enemies always look for weak spots, and once they find one, they would use that against you to take you down."
Bear scoffs and turns in his seat. He was looking at me through the rear-view mirror now instead of being turned to face me. "You're just paranoid, Raya. Not everyone is out to kill you."
His words are like a knife to my chest.
A blow to my gut.
It hurt more than the cut on my neck, more than the pulsing headache I had from being punched in the nose and cheek. It hurt a lot because I know what Bear was referring to. He knows that I'm always sleeping with one eye open after what happened to my family and my little brother and he used that against me, because he has some kind of chip on his shoulder for some reason unbeknownst me.
