My gaze cut again to Mag, but he was now scowling over my head at Boone.
“Names,” Hawk barked.
“Man, you are signing my death sentence if you make me—”
“Names!” Hawk roared, I jumped, and Boone slid an arm around my belly and pulled me back into his body.
“Cop was Tony Crowley. Who done him was,” he seemed to be breathing funny before he pushed out, “Cisco.”
“Shit, fuck,” Auggie clipped.
I had a feeling Cisco was even worse than being a cop killer and that was pretty damned high up on the bad guy scale.
“Jorge, Axl, Aug, deal with this asshole,” Hawk ordered. “Boone, Mo, take care of Evie and Mag. Communicate. I want a huddle in the office as soon as this current shit is sorted.”
And with that, Hawk turned and strolled away.
Chapter Fourteen
Do Right
Evie
I sat on Mag’s couch, staring at Mag’s view, thinking about Mag.
As well as Mag and me.
And what Mag meeting me meant to Mag.
My father was a drug dealer.
My brother was a drug dealer.
And Mick’s bullshit got Mag shot.
Shot!
Got him shot and his friends spending their Saturday afternoon throwing smoke grenades (or whatever those were) and tackling people.
Against my wishes not to be separated, but with Mag assuring me he’d be okay and sharing he wanted me at his place, where he knew I was safe, Boone had taken Mag to someone called Dr. Baldwin.
And Mo had taken me to Mag’s place, on which descended Lottie, Ryn, Hattie, Pepper, and Tex. That last for protection seeing as Mo had stayed long enough to have a conversation with Tex in the hallway and grab a new shirt for Mag before he took off.
Not long after, a new addition to the cadre of hotness that seemed ever-growing showed.
His name was Dutch.
He wore a leather jacket with the Chaos MC patch on the back.
And Mag’s friends were commando-hot, but Dutch was rough-biker-boy hot.
Such was the situation, however, regardless of this new hot guy in our midst, Ryn, Hattie and Pepper were all about me.
Getting ice for my face.
Cleaning and slathering Neosporin on the scrapes on my cheek.
Pouring me shots of Mag’s Fireball.
And alternately bitching out loud or fretting quietly about the fact I’d been kidnapped at gunpoint and they’d run out to find Mag recovering from being unconscious with a bullet wound to his shoulder and a spray of his blood on the wall.
All courtesy of Mick Gardiner.
All courtesy of me because I didn’t do what was right.
Needing the love of a family so badly, a family that didn’t love me, I’d done what was weak.
I needed to go.
The first available moment I had, I needed to stuff what I had left in as many Trader Joe’s bags as I could find, grab the money the girls gave me, empty my bank accounts, write a variety of notes that would never come close to sharing all the feelings I had for a variety of people, especially Mag.
And get the hell out of Dodge.
Get these people safe.
And escape my dysfunction.
I didn’t know where I would go, but I was thinking Canada.
They said people were super friendly up there and I could do with some friendly.
Amid melancholy daydreams of moving to Canada, Lottie plopped down on the couch in front of where I was twisted toward the window.
She was staring at me intently.
I liked her, a lot.
But I’d never let her in.
I’d never really let anyone in.
I was too busy trying to win my fucking family.
What I’d done was drag her and her man into a mess where their friend got shot.
Shot!
And I owed it to her to give her what it was clear she wanted to do in that moment.
I just didn’t have it in me.
“Lottie—”
I should have known that she’d be stronger than me and not easily put off.
“I’ve seen this before,” she declared.
“I really can’t—”
“You’re at a place where your primary instinct is to let them win because that’s been your go-to all your life.”
I shut my mouth.
She kept talking.
“You’re at a place where you’re gonna let them continue to control the thoughts in your head and the decisions you make for your life. And this next is gonna be harsh, but I’m not gonna apologize for that because I’m sensing this is a crucial moment where you’re gonna make a decision that’s gonna define the rest of your life and you need to make the right one. So here it is. From the time you became an independent adult,