Addictive (Houston Defiance MC #2) - K.E. Osborn Page 0,44
do you mean?”
I crack my neck to the side. “He’d been beaten.” She gasps, her free hand moving to her mouth as her eyes well again. “Swollen eye, cut lip, probably some rib injuries. His cellmate is the prob—”
“Wraith! You have to do something.”
Scrunching my nose, I don’t want to lie to her and tell her I’m going to fix it when I know I can’t. I’m expecting a phone call in the morning to tell me Zero’s gone, and that’s the crux of the matter, but I don’t want to have that conversation with Prinie right now. I don’t think she can handle it.
“We’re working on it. It’s a difficult problem for the club when the Baron has so much control over everyone.”
“So, he’s on his own?”
“I didn’t say that… I said, we’re working on it. It will take some planning and extra work on our end.”
Prinie sits for a moment letting everything sink in. “He’s in real trouble, isn’t he?”
She’s so fucking smart.
Instead of saying anything, I wrap my arm around her shoulder, pulling her to me. I lean in kissing the top of her head while she cuddles into my side.
She knows.
I’m sure she does.
I just didn’t say it outright, nor confirm it for her.
“I’m sorry for dragging you out of the rain. I always want you to be safe and looked after. I want you to have happiness here. I wish I could be a part of that, but I know I’m part of the problem.”
She pulls back, assessing me. “Then why are you avoiding me all the time?”
“For your safety. You know that.”
“But you literally proved just now, all you care about is my safety. You won’t hurt me, Wraith. Not again.”
“I can’t take the risk, Prinie. Something takes over me when I’m in the moment, and I can’t stop it like I normally can. You mean too fucking much to me.”
She slumps with a sigh. “It’s always going to be this same argument, isn’t it? I mean so much to you, but not enough for you to try?”
My nostrils flare as I grit my teeth. “It’s the exact opposite, you mean enough for me not to try.”
She rolls her eyes standing from the bed. “You know what, Wraith, to me that doesn’t make any sense. But it’s all you’re ever going to say, so I’ve had enough. I need you to leave.” She grabs my arms pulling me up from the bed. I frown as she turns me, pushing me toward the door.
“Prinie, I don’t want to leave you alone right now.”
“I’m fine. I need to be here for Koda. No one else is going to be.” She shoves me at the door, then turns walking back toward her bed. “Now. Get. Out.”
“Prinie—”
“Out!”
Clenching my jaw, I turn back grabbing the handle and open the door. I walk through, spinning back to take one last look at her as she slumps on her bed.
She’s going to be okay. That’s what I tell myself.
Until tomorrow’s call comes in, anyway.
Then she’s going to be a mess all over again, but that’s tomorrow’s problem.
I close the door behind me silently, then stand for a moment listening.
No sobbing, no throwing objects or breaking things.
I step off to my room. I’m fucking freezing. I’m in need of a long, hot shower. As I approach my door, Neon bounds up the stairs with a frown on his face. My stomach lurches up into my throat as sweat beads quickly form on my brow.
“You look sick, are you okay?” Neon asks.
I lean against the wall for support. “What’s going on?”
Neon drops his eyes to his device. “Right, yeah, okay, so remember how before all this shit started, some of our shipments went missing in transit? We just haven’t had a second to delve into why?”
“Yeah, we’ve had a lot on our plate, but go on.”
“Well, we’ve just had reports of another four packages going missing from this last shipment. It’s still happening. I’ve sent Slick to investigate, seeing as he’s not off with Dan and the drag racing team at the moment. If the supply chain is stealing from us, we need to know who’s doing it. We can’t let it go unpunished.”
“Agreed. Good call. We’ve let this go on for too long. Whoever’s taking our profits needs to pay. Did we put the trackers in the last shipment as suggested?”
“We did, and I have been tracking them. That’s where Slick is headed now.”