Cruz (Dark and Dirty Sinners' MC #5) - Serena Akeroyd Page 0,115

the side.

“I wish it was."

"Who?"

"David wasn't my first stalker."

His eyes flared wide in genuine surprise—who the hell could blame him? "You're kidding?"

"No. Apparently, I attract a certain type." I cocked a brow at him. "You gonna turn into a bunny boiler as well?"

"Well, I boil something, just never innocent bunnies."

I smirked. "Good to know."

"I mean, Indy, don't get me wrong, you're fucking beautiful, but why do you get stalkers? One is nuts, two? Insane."

"I'm nice to people. It causes problems.” Of course, Shane hadn’t been like David at all.

He’d been aggressive.

Things always turned out that way, didn’t they? Until I ended them.

"I knew you were too at ease with that fuck." He blew out a breath. "Of all the things that's happened today, that messes with my head the most."

Amused, despite the situation, despite the chatter about something that had caused me a lot of distress for a long time, and despite the fact that Shane had managed to hurt me, badly, which was why I hurt him first, I murmured, "Glad to be of service."

He studied me, a little like I imagined him studying a problem he needed to solve and couldn't. Now I knew about his education, it fit.

Cruz was a cut above. Calm, not because it was in his nature to be restful, but because, I recognized, he was analytical. Chasing answers and finding solutions when I’d just thought him to be a lowly bartender who didn’t have many outside concerns.

“Nyx told me something about you today. He said your mom dying brought you home, but you were different. Changed. And he didn't think it was to do with them."

"I had to grow up a lot when they died," I corrected. "Caleb needed a sister, not some lunatic. But you're right, it happened about a year earlier. Shane..." I cleared my throat. "Died."

"Scissors again?" he queried. "Should I start hiding them from you?"

My nose crinkled. "No. A car jack."

His eyes flared wide. "A car jack?" He leaned forward at that, his curiosity clear. "What the hell happened?"

"He slit my tires and when I was changing them, offered me a ride home. I told him where to go, he tried to drag me in the car so he could… I was having an issue getting the jack in place anyway, and it was the nearest thing on hand."

"What happened?"

"He died," I repeated stonily. "But that time, I contacted the cops and told them everything. It wasn't as bad as I thought, not at first, then after a while, they started saying I was known for leading guys on."

He hissed at that, then growled, "Fuckers."

"Yeah. I was nervous with David, because I knew the cops would look at my record, at my ties which weren't well known by the cops down in the South, but I just knew it wouldn't look good.

"They'd call me a Black Widow, when it wasn't my fault." Because I couldn’t deal with those memories today, blurted out, "Do you think Tatána was the one spying on the Sinners?"

He nodded. "I do. It fits. Ties shit up neatly too. I mean, if she hadn't died, and she was the one spying, there's no way the MC would have let her live."

That had me grimacing. "Such a shame. He was using her, and she was probably looking for what Ghost has found in Mav."

"I think it's more likely she was looking for a green card," he said wryly.

I winced. "I feel bad saying that. After what she's gone through, doesn't she deserve a bit of the Land of the Free?"

"Well, she got it if that was what she wanted." He pinned me in place with a look. "Just to a more canonical level than anticipated."

I scowled at him. "Harsh, Cruz. Harsh."

He shrugged. "She was spying on us, with a man who was stalking you. That isn't the behavior of someone we need to empathize with."

"She was a foreigner, tucked away in a country illegally, who'd been sexually abused, tortured and tormented for years, who'd been forgotten by her family, and lost to the world itself like she was a spirit drifting around. I think I can understand her reasoning."

A warmth appeared in his gaze that I didn't want to affect me, but it did. "Quite the advocate."

I sighed. "Yeah, well, someone has to be, don't they? And it's not like it will get Tatána anywhere, is it? She's gone now. What a horrible way to die." I shuddered, because I'd heard a diluted version from Giulia