Page 29 of Entangled in Them

“I’ll go this morning,” Dillon relented.

Kodee hadn’t finished. “I need to go across town and meet a potential contact about a job. Will you be all right here with Rue this morning, Ryan? I feel like someone should stay here with her.”

“I don’t need babysitting,” I protested.

Kodee frowned at me. “You’re our responsibility. I can’t have you here alone, and then something happened.”

“I’m not going to run away, if that’s what you’re worried about. I don’t have anywhere to go.”

“I’m not worried about that. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

Even though I knew he was talking about me being safe so they wouldn’t get in trouble when the Capellos came back to reclaim me, I couldn’t help the flush of warmth I experienced at his words. Men didn’t want to take care of me. They wanted to use me.

I nodded. “Okay.”

So, I was going to be here alone with Ryan. From the expression on his face, he wasn’t too happy about the situation, but it was only going to be for a couple of hours. I’d sit quietly and pretend like I wasn’t even here. The last thing I wanted was to piss him off even more than I already had.

Chapter Thirteen

Ryan

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I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT kind of mess this girl was in, but one thing was clear—we couldn’t just throw her out. None of us were good guys—no knights in shining armor, and certainly not for some scrap of a girl. But throwing her out would only tell the Capellos we were refusing their payment for the forgery work Dillon had done, and that was only going to end up looking bad on us.

The other two had left the apartment, both kissing me—Kodee on the mouth and Dillon on the back of my neck—before they’d gone.

The pain was bad today, and it didn’t do anything to help my mood. Being with Kodee last night had helped steer my mind away from it, but the relief only lasted so long as he was telling me what to do and fucking me. After that, I was back to the torture of being stuck in my own head and body.

Rue sat, curled up on the couch, not doing anything. Her sitting there was getting on my nerves. Who just sat and did nothing? Most people would watch the television, or read, or play on their phones. They didn’t do nothing but sit.

“You can pick something to read,” I told her, unable to handle the silence and her sitting there any longer. “There’s a whole wall of books to choose from.”

Her pale cheeks heated, and she shook her head, not making eye contact with me.

“No, I’m fine. Honestly.”

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