Page 67 of Duty and Desire
He needed to hear no more.
“They don’t need to know,” he said over her story.
Her eyes got big. “Of course they don’t need to know! They canneverknow! Jet’ll tell Eddie. Eddie will tell Lee. Then that whole crew will lay waste to Denver.”
In that moment, Mo was feeling the need to lay waste to something.
The woman was standing in front of him terrified and crying.
“I don’t even want to think about what Tex’ll do,” she went on.
Well, hell.
He forgot Tex MacMillan was part of that posse.
Not only part of that posse but married to a woman named Nancy.
Lottie’s mother.
Fuck.
“They won’t know,” he assured her. “Hawk’s all over it. It’ll be done before MacMillan can get his duffle bag of grenades out.”
“I hope so,” she muttered, turning her head away.
Mo noted she didn’t deny her stepfather had a duffle bag of grenades.
Mistake number one.
He watched her dance.
Mistake number two.
He left her sightline when she was exposed and needed to know he had her.
Mistake number three.
He let it slip his mind she was tangled up with the Rock Chicks.
Mistake number four.
He also forgot her stepfather was a lunatic.
He usually didn’t even make it to mistake number one.
It was time to get his shit together.
“I need to get ready for my next set,” she mumbled, beginning to walk to the mirror she’d used both the other times he was in this room with her.
“Lottie,” he called.
She turned back.
“Nothing’s gonna hurt you,” he promised.
She looked him head to toe.
Mo knew what she saw.
