Page 61 of Devil's Vengeance

“Don’t ignore me. I need to go to work.”

His brows drew together again, and he opened both eyes to look at me. “Seriously? After last night?”

I shrugged. “Sitting around wallowing about it isn’t any easier than going to work. At least there, I’ll have a distraction. I’m thinking I’ll commandeer story time today. Being around a bunch of littles who shout out funny comments is a much better way to spend my afternoon than here at home dodging my mom’s questions about our relationship.”

The last time I suggested even the idea of something between me and him, he shut it down hard and stormed off. And that was just flirting. I waited for the same this time, but he only glanced toward the door with a frown.

“Your mom is here?”

“Uh… Yeah? This is my parents’ house. Did you not realize that when you showed up this morning?”

Rolling onto his back, he scrubbed his face roughly with his hands. “Honestly? I don’t even remember the drive over here. They told me where you were and I hopped on my bike to come see you. I wasn’t alert enough to ask questions on whose house it was and why you went here.”

That scared me a little. Driving overtired was the same as driving drunk. He could’ve gotten into an accident. And none of the Devil’s Disciples wore helmets.

I must not have done a very good job of hiding my scowl because he smirked at me. “Don’t worry. I had an escort.” The smile flickered and died, and I wanted to push to figure out why, but he sat up before I could ask, running his fingers through his hair.

“Alright. I’ll take you to work. Just let me shower first.”

We had time for that, and I figured he needed it. He still had the effects of Croy hurting him to contend with. He had a black eye and bruises along his jaw. I knew his torso would basically be one big bruise. And that was just what Croy did. Who knows what happened after I left? Or during the shootout.

An overwhelming amount of worry for him swelled in my chest. I watched him wince as he pushed to his feet, biting back a wave of tears. I hated what they did to him. Hated that he was suffering. It wasn’t bad enough that he got hurt, either. His friend had died too.

“What is it?” he asked, pulling my attention off the bruises and back to his baby blue eyes.

“I…” I didn’t know what to say. A lot of what was going through my head wasn’t rational. Nor did it make much sense. I wanted to run away and hold him close at the same time. I wanted to demand he leave his crew. I knew that wouldn’t happen, and I’d be stupid to suggest it. None of it made any actual sense in my head. I was still messed up from last night, and I didn’t want to burden him with the craziness going on in my head.

He seemed to figure it out anyway and offered me his hand. “Come on. I don’t want you out of my sight anyway. We’ll shower together.”

Keeping him in my sight would help, but I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. “How much of that suggestion is just so you can see me naked?”

He didn’t answer, but a smirk pulled at his lips and when I finally took his hand and stood next to him, he gave me a heated look that was all the answer I needed. I rolled my eyes.

“You’re awful.”

The smile died out again. It was like a flame that wanted to burn but kept getting blown out with every small gust of wind.

“I know. Come with me anyway.”

CHAPTER 37

CHASE

I expected Mariah to complain about the hovering, but she didn’t seem to mind as much as the old ladies did. She was doing her own form of hovering, too. She winced when I took my shirt off and she saw the bruising, helped me wash my back in the shower so I didn’t have to overextend the injuries, and fretted over every damn movement I made until I finally pulled her into my arms and kissed her fiercely. I never realized how badly I wanted someone’s support until she showed up. It meant a lot to me.

We stayed that way, wrapped around each other, until the water ran cold and we had to get out. I checked my phone when I was getting dressed, biting back a scowl when I saw a message from Clink. They were checking up on me. Apparently, Croy didn’t trust me not to do anything stupid.

Clink:Still alive?

Chase:Fuck off

Clink:Good boy. Get your ass to the clubhouse. Prez wants to see you.

Again? What now? Unless he changed his mind about putting me in the ground, I wasn’t sure what else was left to be said.

Chase:Mariah has work. I don’t want her at the library alone. Trick wants to target me through her.

Clink:Bear will go with her. Get over here now.

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