Page 56 of What's Left of Me

“I’m going to go call Carmichael.” Nick went to stand, but Angel stopped him.

“No.”

We all panned our heads in his direction. His face was as serious as I’d ever seen him.

“No?” Nick snorted. “They need to go grab the barista or whatever.”

“No,” Angel snapped. “Listen, we’re doing most of the work, and we’re ahead of them at every turn. Let them do whatever it is they’re gonna do, which we can all agree is fuck all. I say we vote on taking it over on our own, hunt this fuck down ourselves.”

I immediately darted my eyes to Phoenix, who’d actively been against this idea when I’d brought it up to him. He met my stare, a small crease formed on his forehead, and then a second later, he nodded slightly.

“Let’s vote on it,” I announced. We were all here—might as well.

“Hold on.” Hazel held her hand up. “You’re all going to go after a serial killer on your own?”

“Well, we’re going to vote on it,” JJ corrected.

“You all know that’s insane…and illegal.”

“You want to just wait it out with the cops and FBI and hope they find the guy before he finds Phoenix?” Four wiped his mouth and sat back. “Because at this rate, that’s what’s going to happen—he’ll get to Phoenix before we get to him.”

Hazel glanced at Phoenix, who was now following the conversation. “Nix?”

“It’s okay, Hazel. I want this to end and you have to admit, the authorities are either in over their heads or clueless. None of those work in my favor.”

Her shoulders fell. “Okay, Nixy.” She made a move along gesture with her hand. “Vote.”

Angel stood. “Anyone not want to do this?” Everyone was silent. “Who wants to get this motherfucker?” Every hand went up.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Phoenix

Everyone agreedthat they’d begin first thing in the morning. It was late, and apparently they were going to turn the house into FTF Headquarters…Find That Fucker.

The day felt heavy on my shoulders, and I’d wanted to avoid any of the brothers or others getting dragged into this and possibly getting hurt. But when none of those men today were Adonis, it was as if a weight were pressed against my chest, and nothing I did gave me relief. That was, until tonight. For some reason Angel declaring it time to step in rang differently for me than when Noel had suggested it.

I didn’t know if it was because everyone had unanimously voted to do it, or if I was just exhausted. Tired of sitting here waiting for him to find me or get caught. While I loved staying here and being with Noel, I had no freedom. I couldn’t go to a theater or out to dinner. I wasn’t a prisoner like I was with him, but I wasn’t free.

“Hey.” Noel stepped out of his en suite and crawled onto the mattress and covered my body with his. He buried his face into my neck, and I wrapped my arms around him. “You good?”

“Better now.”

“Sweet talker.” He gently kissed under my ear, and I smiled.

“Things are going to get crazy tomorrow, huh?”

He lifted his head, his eyes full of worry. “It’s going to be okay, Phoenix.”

“But also crazy.”

He nodded. “Yeah, also crazy.”

I brought my hands to his face and rubbed my thumbs across his cheeks. “Then, maybe tonight you make me forget about the shit day I had and how chaotic tomorrow will be.”

His grin became salacious. “Oh, see, that’s something I am very much eager to do.”

As soon as Noel’s lips met mine, the day began to dwindle away. His touch had a way of transporting me from any emotion into pure bliss and lust.

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