Page 29 of Moros

“I will—no speeding!”

“Aww, Phi, you’re no fun!”

Smiling, I was lifting my coffee back to my lips when Ryanne stuck her head into the room. My mood immediately changed.

Turning, I dumped my coffee into the sink and was washing my mug when she cleared her throat.

“The two of you are close,” were her first words.

That wasn’t what I expected her to say.

“I’m heading out to talk to someone about your involvement with Sloan.” I told her.

“Can I come with you?”

My first instinct was to say no.

But this was her life—she needed to have a hand in saving it, in returning to the normal that she knew. And besides, going to see Polk wasn’t dangerous.

“Fine.” I set the mug in the drainer and dried my palms on the thighs of my pants. “Let me shower.”

A shower at the gym was to wash the stink of my workout off. A shower at home was for a deeper clean and to fix the facial hair on my face.

By the time I was finished, I felt better, a little more human.

Stopping to grab my gun from the safe, I checked it before shoving it into the holster against the back of my waist. I found Ryanne sitting outside on the front step with her bag.

“You should stay here for a while,” I said, stepping through the door.

She jerked around and stood.

“Sorry, I though you heard the door opening.”

I stepped by her and descended the stairs toward my truck.

“Maybe we can stop by your place on our way back to pick up some things.”

“I—I’ll need to go back to work,” she said, opening the passenger door. “It’s not the ideal situation but I need the money.”

I said nothing.

My understanding of her need to work and trying to keep her safe battled inside me, but that was her life.

“It’ll take a while to get that place back to being open ready.” I advised as I pulled myself in behind the wheel. “I suppose you’ll have a little time off.”

I could already see her doing the math in her head.

As I started the ignition, she sighed—that was the moment the numbers became too much and she simply gave up.

I knew that look.

“About yesterday?—”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Rolling the truck in the circle of the front yard to face the gate, I watched as they slowly opened wide enough for me to get the truck through safely. While she picked at her fingers in her lap, she didn’t offer any other conversation and I didn’t either.

I kept my eye son the vehicles around me. Torez wasn’t the kind of man to give up, even with some of his crew taken out. His clients were usually very wealthy which meant the mission needed to be done or Torez and his people were out big money.

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