the engine, and everyone is getting out of their cars, but not the man in the SUV.
“Who the hell is that?” I growl, waiting to see what the driver in the sedan chooses to do. Another tear drops onto the screen, and I wipe it away. There is so much noise, so much chaos in the video, and so many people go to help them. “They are leaving,” I clutch the cell as the SUV reverses out of the scene. The fucked up front end speeds off down the opposite road, abandoning the destruction they caused. “They fucking left!”
I throw the phone against the dash, and it cracks in half. All I see is the car flipping. I shouldn’t have watched it. Satyr was right.
“I can’t help but wonder if it was O’Crowely,” Prez mumbles, pressing the button to his hazards as we get to town. He speeds up, the engine revving with the loud horsepower as it bullets us down the street.
“You think he is here?”
“It’s the only thing I can think of. Black SUV, leaves the scene, and underground has been quiet when it comes to him. Too quiet. I bet it was him, and he was doing exactly what I thought he would: collecting his debt.”
“I’m going to fucking kill him.” I wipe my cheek with the back of my hand and stare out the window to see the murky ocean waves rippling, mocking me with their strength.
“You don’t kill a man like Lorcan O’Crowely. I’m sorry, Kansas, but this time, the fight might be to negotiate. Not kill.”
“Fuck that. If I see him, I’m going to tear him in two for doing what he did to Violet. If that had been Scarlett, you would have his head.” I hit the dash with my fist.
“I would have anyone’s head, but his? I don’t know. We need to be smart when it comes to him, because he is smarter.”
I sit quietly as we get onto the highway. I stare at the skyscrapers, and I’m kicking myself not taking her downtown and exploring like she’s been wanting to do. I was too scared to take her out in the open, for this reason, but she deserved more than the walls of the clubhouse.
Then, out of nowhere, it hits me that the phone I busted wasn’t mine. Fuck. “I’ll get you a new phone, Pulse. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. I want to check on them just as badly as you do,” he says.
I doubt that. He isn’t in love with one of them, and if he were, I’d be worried.
“They are my patients too, remember?”
“Right,” I say, forgetting that they were patients barely a month ago. “Are we almost there? How far is the hospital?” My leg shakes impatiently as we pass another exit sign that’s covered in ice.
“Five minutes, maybe,” Prez states, pressing the pedal to the floor.
“Just hurry,” I beg. I hold a hand over my heart and rub the ache. Fuck, this hurts so bad. Losing my Pops that day while I held a gun to his head didn’t hurt this bad. Maybe it’s because I knew he didn’t love us like he pretended to. Or maybe it’s because I didn’t love him as a son should have.
But I know love now. I know how it feels and how it is meant to feel. And damn it, it fucking hurts. I wouldn’t change it for a thing.
I would hurt more if I never knew her love at all.
In a sea of beautiful, strong women, not only did I find my best friend, but I found the love of my life. A love like that, when it comes to pain, it really does knock the breath out of you. But when it’s good… like really fucking good, it makes breathing easy.
The truck tires squeal as Boomer takes a right into a crowded parking lot. Cars are everywhere and right when we think there is an empty spot, a fucking smart car is there.
“Fuck!” I kick the dash with my foot. “Why do those cars exist? They are a waste of fucking space. Run over it,” I tell Prez, spreading my arm out toward the stupid box car and staring at him like that’s the only solution. It is.
“I’m going to drop you off in front. Pulse, go with him. We will find a parking spot and then we will find you inside. Just say we are family.”
“We are,” I grumble, irritated with myself that I haven’t officially