Page 90 of Stella
I may have looked the other way on a couple of minor things, let people off who didn’t deserve to be locked up, and more recently when I beat that asshole that touched Stella, but I’m not crooked. I’m notthatkind of cop. I took an oath — to protect and to serve — and that is something I not only stand by, but something I live by.
I run a hand over my face. I have to go and talk to Cash. I tell Calli to stay, which of course she does. Since I can’t find Dougie, I slip into Willow’s office, knocking on the open door as I enter. “You got a second?”
She glances up from her computer. “Sure, what’s up?”
I shut the door behind me. “Keep this between us?”
“Of course.” Willow can be trusted. She might be Haze’s ex, but I know she’d take a bullet for any one of these guys in this station, not that all of them deserve it.
“I got this today.” I set the stack of photos down.
She glances down, then fingers through them. “Holy shit.”
“I know,” I say, starting to pace. “This asshole is sending a message, Wills, I don’t fucking know what any of it means, but we have to talk to Cash.”
She looks up when she finishes looking through the dozen images. “Agreed. Do we tell Captain?”
I shake my head. “Nothing to trouble him with right now.” I like Kurtis, but at this stage, there’s no point bothering him with whatever this shit is.
“Got it.” She grabs her phone off the charger. “You ready now?”
I run a hand over my face. “Best to get it over with.”
She smirks. “I know how much you love hanging out at the Rebels’ den.”
Aptly named, that’s exactly what it feels like. And by arriving unannounced on a Sunday, I’m hoping that Cash will either be at his home, which is at the back of the clubhouse — thus avoiding the entire MC — or it’ll be quiet so we can talk without interruption. I know how feisty some of those assholes get.
“Whatever we say in there, it’s between us,” I say.
Willow’s eyes rise to meet mine, a little confusion crossing her face. “I’m not sleeping with Haze anymore.”
“But he’s your ex.”
“That’s ancient history, and excuse me if I’m not the only one who doesn’t have eyes for a Rebel.”
I frown.How does she know that?
She throws her hands in the air. “Ugh, don’t look so surprised. I’m a chick. I’m observant. You like Stella.”
I don’t want anyone knowing about us, so I brush it off. “What red-blooded male doesn’t like Stella? She’s hot, but there’s nothing going on between us.”
I do not add that I came this close to my life ending today by the hands of several of the Rebels, and I have no intention of any of them finding out. I may be a lot of things, but I don’t have a death wish.
“Since when did a little forbidden danger ever stop anyone?”
“Since her dad and godfather are Cash Hudson’s right-hand men,” I remind her. I like Willow, but I’m not ready to tell anyone about Stella yet. I’m still dealing with shit myself; shit like my feelings and how I’ve been on cloud nine ever since I left her place this morning. Feels like I did the fifty yard dash to get to the safety of my motorcycle, wheel it halfway down the street so they wouldn’t hear the straight pipes, and then get across town, feed my dog, pet my dog, then kiss my dog until she forgave me for not coming home, and then ran late for work.
“That’s true, but if you really want to be together then sometimes you have to fight for it.”
I give her a pointed look. “Talking from experience?”
She whacks me on the shoulder. “You were late to work today, could that be because of a certain someone?”
How fucking observant. I give her another sharp look. “It’s Sunday, and I had a big weekend. Can we go now?”
“Fine. I’ll drop it, but I hope you know what you’re doing.”
I never professed to be a saint, but why is everyone so fucking alert all of a sudden?
