Pike (The Pawn Duet #1) - T.M. Frazier Page 0,72

leave much of an opening, and it kind of never came up again.”

“And you want to mean something to him,” I realize out loud.

She smiles. “I did. And I do.”

“Weren’t you worried that he’d be attracted to you? Try something with you?” I ask, curious. She’s a beautiful girl, and Pike…well, he’s Pike. My stomach twists with regret and pain at what I’ve done and what I’ve yet to do.

Her eyes widen. “Um. Ew. No,” she says, but then sighs when I don’t accept her simple answer. “There is no attraction between us, and I know he feels it, too, but just in case, I had a contingency plan.”

“Which was?”

She smiles brightly. “I told him I was a lesbian. And while I do have a roommate, she’s my best friend, but she plays the part well when he’s around.”

I laugh. “Ah, good call.”

She looks me over. “You know, we aren’t that different. We both want to be a part of his life, but telling him how much he really means to us could destroy everything.”

“But I—”

My protest is cut off by the bells above the door ring.

“Saved by the bells,” Thorne says, pushing past me into the pawn shop. “See ya later. Gotta take care of this electric bullshit. See if it’s ever going to come back on.” She looks back at me. “For what it’s worth, I never thought you were a racist, which is why I didn’t tell Pike about the mark the first night I saw it.”

She walks into the other room, leaving me in a state of shock.

She knew. This entire time, Thorne knew.

I head back up the stairs, sparing one more glance for Thorne who's conversing with an electrician in a hard hat, carrying a clipboard. She’s the first person in years I would consider a friend. I’m going to miss her more than I want to admit to myself.

Goodbye, Thorne

On my way back up the stairs, I’m surprised to hear noise from a room I assumed was storage. The door is cracked, so I listen. “The trade goes down two days from today at the warehouse in Coral Pines,” I hear Pike say.

“The girl for a truce?” I recognize the voice as King.

“That’s what Darius agreed to,” Pike answers, as my heart breaks wide open in my chest. It’s only partially because he’s so willing to trade me because my logical side should have seen that coming, but it’s because he thinks that Darius Alban would actually agree to a truce when I know in my heart it will be an ambush.

“I’ll call the boys. We’ll all be waiting there for them. They’ll get what’s coming to them, and The Fourth Reich will be a distant memory in Logan’s Beach come Saturday fucking morning,” King says.

Apparently, they’re planning an ambush of their own.

I can’t let this happen. I can’t let more people die. I have to get back to the Fourth Reich and press fast forward on my plans.

I pad over to the apartment and enter Pike’s room without so much as making the door creek. I rush over to the safe that’s acting as a nightstand, and I get to work on cracking it.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Mickey

“I know you heard us, and it’s not what you think!” Pike angrily calls from the other side of the locked door.

It’s exactly what I think. They’re about to go get themselves killed although he thinks I’ve barricaded myself in his room because I heard him talking about trading me when really, I’m just buying myself some time.

Finally, on the three thousandth try, the safe opens, and what I need is right there on the first shelf beside a stack of cash. I leave the cash, but take the gun. I check to make sure it’s loaded.

It is.

I push myself into the furthest corner of the room.

“I know you have my fucking gun. You may be smart, but I’m not fucking stupid. Cameras, remember? If you think you’re leaving with it or at all, you’re fucking wrong.” He pounds against it again. “Open the goddamn door, Mic!” he yells. The anger and hurt in his voice pierce my chest, and I feel it as if it’s my own.

For a few seconds, I think he’s left because I hear nothing but the sound of my own rapid breathing. Until the door smashes in, pushing the dresser I’d placed in front of it just enough to create a small path.

Pike’s massive body stands in the shadowy doorway, his anger radiating off