Page 53 of Griz's Edge

Ten minutes later, into what should have been close to a twenty-minute ride, I’m riding into the warehouse district. Our town might not have much, but we have warehouses. It’s one of the few places you can work around here that doesn’t involve working on the pipeline out of town, being a farmer or first responder, and a few other similar things. A lot of people work in different distribution centers. One of the buildings we actually keep as well as a precaution that we might need it.

Moving through, I find the car Marley took parked next to Hattie’s. At the sight of her getting out, I released a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

Thank fuck.

I park right next to her and set the kickstand down. “The hell are you thinking coming here without backup,” I snarl while getting off the back of my bike. Closing the short distancebetween us, I grip the back of her head, tilt her head back, and get right in her face. “You should have fuckin’ waited for me.”

“Well, you’re here now, so let’s get this over with.”

Fuck me if the defiance in her voice doesn’t have my cock stiffening. Leaning in, I run my nose along her cheek to her ear. “Later, when this shit is done, you can count your sweet ass fucked.”

There’s no missing the shiver that rushes through her, I felt it.

Letting her go, I step back and motion for her to go ahead. She wants to take care of this, that’s fine. She just wasn’t gonna be doing it without me.

Marley nods and moves for the door to the warehouse that I knew Hattie rented. She stops long enough to crack and listen. Not hearing anything, she inches the door open farther.

“If you’re coming in, don’t just linger in the doorway,” Hattie calls out. “I know you’re out there, Griz. Did you finally decide to come back to me?”

“You think I came here for you?” I ask, stepping around Marley and shielding her. If Hattie hasn’t seen her or knew she was there, then what comes to mind might work.

“Well, of course I do. Why else would you be here other than to come back to me?” Hattie says, turning her attention to me.

I step deeper into the space and realize exactly why I’d never seen any of her art. “What the fuck is all of this?”

In the middle of the room, there was a gurney with someone attached to it. The person looked like they’d been dead for a few days. To make it worse, the smell coming from it was horrendous. That and the fact it was missing half its skin. Off to the side of the room, not far from where the gurney is placed, it looks like she sculpted a body and used real flesh.

On the walls, one side was dedicated to pictures, all of them of me, me and my brothers, me and Marley. The ones withMarley, her face had been scratched out. The other walls were covered in paintings, all of them looking to be done with blood.

“What exactly do you call this shit?” I don’t bother hiding my disgust.

“It’s art, Griz. What does it look like?”

“Looks like some crazy ass shit.”

“Her dad said that she wasn’t getting the help she needed,” Marley murmurs for only me to hear.

“Did you finally scrape off the whore?” Hattie demands. “You know I warned her. Weeks ago, I told her she needed to get out of town. Then I tried again. She refused to leave us alone. So, I decided to take further action. If she wouldn’t leave, I’d make her.”

“So, you tried to kill her?” I accuse.

“It would have worked. It should have. I did everything right.”

“Marley’s too smart to be taken out by some car bomb,” I tell her, not giving a shit if she likes what I say or not. The woman needs to be in a fucking looney bin.

“If she’s so smart, then what are you doing here? Why not be with her?”

Her question doesn’t make sense to me, but still, I roll with it, feeling my brothers also start to fill the space behind me. All of them surrounding my woman.

“What do you want me to say? My woman took off this morning after seeing the latest note you left her. I just want to know what the fuck makes you think I’m yours. I broke up with you because I didn’t want some lying bitch in my bed.”

“Lying bitch? I didn’t lie to you, Griz, and you know it.”

“Not telling me your dad was a cop is the same as a lie in my books. My woman has to be loyal to me. To my brothers. To themself. Marley’s that woman, Hattie, not you.”

“She is not,” Hattie snaps, slamming some type of drill she was holding onto a table. “It’s supposed to be you and me. Always and forever. It’s me you love.”

“Love,” Marley scoffs.

---