Page 54 of The Hate We Breathe
“I know.”
“Are you sticking with him?”
“Yes.” My answer is just as fast and just as clear. It’s always been my truth. We are a team—Lex, Gio, and me.
Darrio’s low chuckle is sinister. “After all I’ve done for you?” He shakes his head as if his disappointment is something any of us gives a shit about. “You could’ve been somebody, Nolan. He’ll drag you down.”
“No, he won’t.”
“If you’re sticking with him, then you and your other boy are both out too. You don’t get no protection from me anymore.”
“We never needed your protection.”
He arches a brow as he limps around me. I turn, not letting him face my back. A man like Darrio Vargas can be untenable at the best of times, but when his pride is wounded—he’s unpredictable. He moves slowly, like his muscles are contracting and resisting the action. Gio had done a number on him and there’s a big white bandage taped over his nose, most likely where G had ended up breaking it.
“You say that now,” Darrio grunts as he lowers himself onto the couch. “But you’ll soon find that I can make your lives very uncomfortable—and the life of that slut you’re passing between ya.”
The gun anchored in a holster at the small of my back beneath my t-shirt is in my hand before he’s finished speaking. Darrio goes still, half hunched as if he was in the middle of getting comfortable.
“I don’t think you’ll need a reminder after this, but I suggest you don’t speak about any woman that way—least of all her.” My voice is all gravel.
Putting up with this asshole’s moods and orders for the last three years has been nothing short of hell. The late-night phone calls. The early days of hazing from his lackeys. The drug dealing. The extortion. The deals. The blackmail. I won’t allow any of it to follow us when we leave Silverwood. I won’t allowhimto follow us.
“Gonna kill me with that thing?” Darrio spits the question. “Like you killed your daddy?”
My grip loosens on the trigger and I smile. “No, Darrio. I didn’t kill my father like this.” I lower the gun back to my side. “But any time you want to find out how he died, you’re welcome to come to me. Otherwise, stay the fuck away from my family. This is your only warning.”
Darrio’s face scrunches up into an ugly mask of rage, but I’m done here. I turn and leave through the front door before he can respond. Tucking my gun back into its holster, I hear something hard hit the closed front door as I take the steps two at a time and jog across the brown yard to Gio’s Firebird. He’s sitting in the driver’s side, waiting.
Slapping the roof of the car, I hop in. “Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I say, “and go see our girl.”
21
JULIET
Lex’s eyes are fixed on me as I cart one round of drinks to a table before marching to the next. Ma-Ri’s offer of my job back is because of them, so I don’t complain, but I’m annoyed that it seems as if he thinks he needs to be here to watch after me. So, I steadfastly ignore his heated gaze on my ass as I make my way back up to the bar, meeting up with Mads as I do.
“I’m so glad that you’re back,” she says, grinning at me. Her blonde hair has been pulled up into a long ponytail that sways with her bouncing movements as she collects the drinks at the end of the bar onto her tray.
“Glad to be back,” I reply, moving my eyes from her to the front doors as they swing inward. My buoyed mood plummets when I see who it is.Detective Lann.“Fuck.”I grimace and glance away from him to Lex, hoping he hasn’t noticed the man yet, but, of course, luck isn’t on my side. He’s already clocked the guy and is watching him with narrowed eyes.
“I’m taking my break,” I call out to the bartender before turning to Mads. “Will you cover my tables until I get back?”
She frowns at me, following my attention to the man at the door. “Sure.” Her tone suggests concern and confusion, but I don’t have time to assure her or tell her why I don’t want thedetective currently in charge of searching for Morpheus’ killer in here.
I cut across the club, heading in his direction, grateful that he, at least, hasn’t made it any farther into the space before I reach him. “What are you doing here?” I ask the heavy-set man in an ill-fitted, cheap suit.
Detective Lann casts a disdainful look around the club before removing a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing at the sweat on his brow before answering. “I received an anonymous tip that you were working here. I came to see if it was true.”
How the fuck could he have found out where I work when I just started up again?
“Why does where I work matter?” I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m eighteen. It’s not a crime.”
Lann arches one bushy brow. “A little defensive there, aren’t ya, girl?”
The condescension with this man—ugh. I roll my eyes. “You aren’t supposed to talk to me directly,” I remind him. “If you want to ask me any more questions, you’ll have to do so through my lawyer.”
Before the detective can reply, there’s a big, hulking body right next to me, a shadow passing between the older man and me. “Is there a problem?” Lex asks, voice deep. It’s lucky that tone can’t be considered enough of a threat to arrest someone because if it were, I suspect Detective Lann would already have Lex slapped into a pair of cuffs with the way he nearly stumbles as he jerks back a step.
