Page 148 of Broken Pieces
“No problem at all,” he says, voice thick with the kind of smug that’s gotten his nose broken more than once.
I watch him eyeing her and everything in me goes still.
Every instinct I’ve spent years sharpening tells me to walk over there and knock the look off his face with a fist he won’t forget.
“Get back to work,” I say, voice flat and cold.
But he doesn’t move.
He leans against the tool rack. Each second heavier than the last.
My pulse thumps in my ears. I’m two seconds from closing the gap, no words, just blood.
Then I feel her hand. Light on my arm. Grounding me in a way nothing else ever has.
“Don’t waste your breath on him,” she mutters.
And for the first time I let someone pull me back from the edge.
Footsteps echo from the far side of the bay. Rainer steps into the light, squinting towards me.
“Zane.”
“Yeah?”
He jerks his chin toward the lot. “Got a job outside. Old Mustang just pulled in. You wanna take the lead on this one?”
I stare at him, not sure I heard him right.
“Are you serious?”
He nods once. No hesitation. “You’ve earned it. Time you handle something from start to finish.”
The words hit harder than they should. Rainer doesn’t hand out trust like candy on Halloween.
I wipe the grease off my palms. “Yeah. I’ll take it.”
“Good,” he says, stepping in close, clapping a hand on my shoulder. It’s firm. Measured. The kind of gesture that means something. “You’ve come a long way, kid. Don’t fuck it up.”
I know exactly what he’s referring to. My fists. My fuse. My history.
The way I was two seconds ago ready to drag Mason across the floor and remind him what real pain feels like.
I nod.
Behind us, Mason’s still hovering, pretending to scrub down tools with the grace of a guy who’s never worked a real day in his life.
His eyes keep finding Skylar.
Every time she shifts her weight, or crosses her arms, his gaze drags over her like he’s entitled to it.
I see the tension in her jaw. She’s trying not to let it get to her, but it is.
And I catch it. So does Rainer.
“Hey, Mason,” Rainer calls out, sharp in that way that means don’t fuck around.
Mason looks up. “Yeah?”
