Page 92 of Hellbent
My pulse jumps.Shit.
I wasn’t ready for a direct hit. I panicked, and now I’ve lied. I just need a second to think. To decide what they need to know—and what they don’t.
“I mean—I told you about Billy. My ex. That he was…involved in some things. But I don’t think he’d…” My voice trails off.
It’s not true. There’s no tellingwhatBilly might do—that’s the thing about Billy.
Damian speaks up, quiet but firm. “This isn’t some jealous ex shit, Max. This is professional. High dollar. Whoever posted it has resources—and reach.”
Wyatt’s watching me carefully. Like if I so much as flinch, he’ll know I’m hiding something.
And I am.
My throat tightens.
I never told them about the club. I let them believe I came from something small. Normal. A world they could stomach.
Not the kind of world Wyatt spits on and Ryder lost someone to.
Telling them now changes everything. Because I didn’t justdatesomeone in the O.D.—I lived and breathed it. I didn’t fight and I didn’t run away until I had to.
Not to mention that I’ve let this omission go on too long. Coming clean now will feel like betrayal. Like I was only pretending to be this girl they’ve come to trust.
How could you let us think you were someone else?
For the first time in my life, I have something good. A job, a room of my own, and people who make me feel safe and cared for. I love this version of me. And I’m terrified to lose her.
If they knew the whole truth...they might walk away. And I couldn’t survive that. I just need to stay small and quiet long enough for Billy’s anger to blow over. His attention always drifts to the next shiny thing eventually.
So I lie again.
“I don’t know who posted it. I swear.”
A beat of silence. Just my pulse pounding in my ears.
“All right,” Ryder says finally, voice even. “Here’s what’s going to happen. Maxwell, you will stay here for the foreseeable future—no more working at the garage.”
“But—”
No more working at the garage?My job is everything to me. What will I do all day if I’m not there?
What would I do all dayhere, alone, with Ryder?
“Not safe,” he says. Final, absolute, and not up for debate.
I glance at Wyatt. He shakes his head. Grim.
“Security protocols get reworked,” Ryder continues. “Surveillance goes up tonight. Rotating schedule. Damian, you cover the shop, I have perimeter. Jake, you’re on digital—scan everything.”
Damian speaks up. “She can stay at our place. That way there’ll be two of us there to protect her.”
Ryder’s head turns slowly, eyes flashing like gunmetal, and speaks low and lethal.
“You took her to the bar,” he says, and then detonates. “Now she’s on afucking bounty board!”
The words are fast and loud, hitting like a bullets, and no one moves. No one breathes.
“She stays here,” he bites out. “Period.”
