Page 33 of Heathen

"How long do I have?"

He huffs a laugh, but it's a serious question. "Really? Don't do that to me, man."

"I wouldn't ask you to do anything that would compromise us, but I need a couple of days to figure this shit out."

"What's the worst thing that can happen if you fess up?"

I glare at him for a long moment, but he doesn't speak.

"Are you serious? I could lose everything over this. My place with this team."

"Her?"

"What?" I ask, automatically shaking my head. "It isn't like that."

"Do you really think one of those happily married men in New Mexico will tell you that you can't have a relationship outside of the job? We all heard what went down in Tennessee."

"This isn't Tennessee, and that guy didn't go out and buy a chick at a warehouse like you would meat at a cattle auction."

"You did what?"

"I used my father's credit card and paid fifteen grand to buy the cashier from the grocery store," I mutter, not bothering to laugh when Rooster chokes on a sip of water.

"That complicates things. Why would you buy a person? That goes against everything Cerberus is."

"It wasn't for a bad reason."

"Name a good reason you buy someone, Heathen?"

I fucking hate the way my nickname teams up with that question.

"She got herself into trouble. I gave you the address to that place. She fucking went there looking for a woman she's used to seeing at her job. She got caught up."

"Caught up?" he repeats. "That's what you call getting in so deep she ends up for sale?"

"It's a fucked-up situation," I say, rubbing my hands over the top of my head in frustration.

"I'd say so," he says.

"How long will you give me?"

"The appointment with Ace from Tennessee was moved up until tomorrow."

"Fuck," I hiss.

"Yeah, fuck," he repeats. "I'd figure out how you plan on telling him by then, man. I'll shoot you the address for the meeting."

Chapter 14

Kaylee

I blink down at the bag in my hands.

At first, I was excited to see the familiar bag, although a little annoyed that the man had the damn nerve to go back to my house without me. Being there in the comfort of my own home would be a lot better than this damn hotel room.

The sight of what he has packed for me makes me wonder if he just loves torturing me because, honestly, there's no other reason for it.

"This is great and all," I say as I pull out the purple dress. "But why did you pack this?"

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