we fall down onto the guy's couch they throw bottles of beer at us—well, not Cole, seeing as he's still sober after his little incident.
Ace and D start catching up like this is any other fucking day and that we're not here to find out the whereabouts of the motherfucker who's been abusing my girl.
The image of him with his hand around her throat slams into me. Tipping my bottle to my lips, I down the lot in the hope it drowns out the images so I can focus on ending all this.
"Chill the fuck out, bro," Cole says, slapping my thigh and thankfully dragging me from my head.
"You got anything for us or what?" I bark, looking between D and Cruz.
"Nah, we're waiting for Jay and Levi," Cruz says, checking his cell for the time. "Little shit said he was going to be here twenty minutes ago.”
It's another ten minutes before they both finally walk through the door.
"About fucking time," I mutter, now finished with my third bottle. All eyes turn to me. "What?" I bark. "I want this motherfucker."
"We don't know anything," Levi says, falling down onto the couch opposite me.
"What? I thought you..." I trail off, my teeth grinding in frustration. "Do you actually have anything new to tell us?" I push from the couch and begin pacing, needing to do something to work out the tension.
"He has been seen." Those words stop me in my tracks.
"So where the fuck is he?"
"We don't know where he went, but one of the guys swears they saw him driving out of town the other day."
"So he's gone?"
"Don't know."
"Jesus fucking Christ, this is pointless. Give me your keys," I demand, holding my hand out to Cole.
"No."
"No?"
"You've been drinking. I'm not letting you anywhere near a car, bro."
"But I need—"
He stands so we're toe to toe. "We know what you need. We want it too. But we need to be smart."
The two of us stare at each other as everyone else stops talking.
I crack my knuckles and flex my neck.
"Go on, then,” he says. “Hit me if you think it'll help."
"Cole," Ace warns, probably sensing that I don't need any kind of encouragement right now.
My chest heaves as I try to ignore the little voice in my head that screams at me to lash out.
"Come on, I know you want to. It's not like you can take it out on—"
"Conner," voices shout as my knuckles connect with Cole's jaw.
He stumbles back, his hand lifting to his face, but before I can follow him Ace and Cruz stand in front of me like a brick fucking wall.
"Enough," Ace barks. "This isn't the answer, and you fucking know it." His palms land on my chest and he pushes me back.
My jaw ticks as we stare at each other. He's not really the fighter out of the two of us—well, not the trained one—but I know that he could take me down with his sheer power.
"Go on. I dare you to try it," he seethes.
I step up to him, our chests touching as I breathe in his face.
"You want vengeance for your girl, I get it. I really fucking do, bro. I might not have done it myself but I'd have ended Charlie for what he did to Remi in a heartbeat. I fucking get it. He will pay for this. But you lashing out at everyone isn't going to help it happen any faster. So. Stand. Down."
His eyes don’t leave mine as he speaks to the others. "Is that all you've got for us?"
"Yeah."
"And you couldn't have told us that over the fucking phone?"
They mutter a few things, but my head spins and the words pass me by. All I want to hear is an address and they don’t have one, so I'm not interested in anything else they might have to say.
"Right. Let's fucking go."
Ace grips on to the back of my neck and pushes me toward the door.
"What now?" Cole asks once the three of us are back in his car.
"Let's go for a drive, see if it inspires us."
Cole's eyes meet mine in the mirror. I know he's not mad I hit him, although I also know he's planning payback.
Bring it fucking on.
We find nothing, no sign of Warren or his piece of shit father. The trip was a fucking waste of time, and I'm more irritated than ever when we finally get back to the house and head for Ace's pool house for a drink.
"Here," he says, throwing me