Page 49 of A Kingpin's Weakness
“I gotta book the flight.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Noah’s better. I don’t need to stay here.”
We pulled up to RJ’s townhouse. He hadn’t even put the car in park when Ari burst through the door, barefoot and frantic.
“Stormi, you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
My stomach dropped.
“Hurt you?” His voice wasn’t calm anymore. It was glass cracking controlled, but splintering fast. “Stormi, what the fuck going on?”
“It’s nothing. That’s the TV,” I said quickly, hoping my lie sounded better out loud than it did in my head.
Seth’s voice came through the phone, low and smooth: “I’m pullin’ up.” The call cut out. I stared at the screen.
“He’s on his way,” I mumbled.
“Who?” Ari asked.
“Seth.”
“Damn. Sorry, I didn’t know he was on the phone.”
“You’re good,” I said. But I felt anything but. “Apparently we share locations.”
“Maybe he can help,” Ari offered. “You saw what he did to that dude in the club.”
RJ nodded. “That’s what I’m trying to tell her. Let him help. He knows Ronnie. He’ll check him.”
“Maybe,” I whispered. My voice felt like it didn’t belong to me. “I guess we’ll see.”
“You want something to eat?”Ari asked as we all headed in the house
I shook my head. “No thanks. I just wanna get this over with. See what he says. Then I’m booking my flight.”
“You think your family knows what Ronnie’s doing?”
“I don’t know,” I said, truthfully. “Wouldn’t put shit past Jo. But if she had to pick, she’d choose Seth over Ronnie. She sees him as a damn money machine.”
Ari sat on the couch beside me, arms crossed. “We need a vacation,” she added after a beat.
“That we do.” I closed my eyes and leaned against the sofa, breathing in the stillness before everything cracked open again. Summer break couldn’t come fast enough.
Seth: Outside.
“He’s outside,” I said flatly, staring out the window at the shadow parked under the streetlight like it had been waiting on me since forever.
“You going out there?” RJ asked.
“Do I have a choice?”
“Nope. Probably halfway to the door already.”
I rolled my eyes. “Crazy-ass man tracking people’s locations. Let’s see how this goes.”
The air outside slapped me with a chill I wasn’t ready for. Seth was posted against a murdered-out Denali, arms crossed, jaw set, looking like he owned the block and the night with it. And God help me, he looked too good for me to stay mad.
