Page 56 of Depraved (American Street Kings 1)

He faced me.

“I don’t want trouble, Onyx.”

“And I won’t give you any.”

I pulled my hand down my face, glancing around before leaning closer to him. “No matter what, you make sure nothing happens to her. Okay?”

Onyx licked his lips, narrowing his eyes at me. “You care about her.” It wasn’t a question.

I clenched my jaw. “Promise me, Onyx.”

For a few seconds, he studied me, blue eyes raking over my features. “Yeah. Okay, man.”

“Okay?”

“I said okay.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, man. I’ll take care of her.” There was a little squeeze from his fingers, a gesture meant to reassure me. Unfortunately, when it came to Alyx, the only thing that would set me at ease was if she was locked up in a padded fucking room where nothing or no one could touch her…except me.

Psychopath.

Onyx walked off, and I called after him. “Get Neon to take her some food.”

He didn’t turn. A wave was the only confirmation I got.

A part of me felt excited, thrilled, eager to get the show on the fucking road. The sooner we took down the Pythons, avenging my father’s death by pulling this off, the sooner I could get to her and the plan I had for us.

But another part of me felt the slight twinge of nerves, an edginess I didn’t like. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there was unease simmering in pit of my stomach. It was just something I had to shake. This was my one and only opportunity to get what I wanted while giving the club and my guys what they wanted.

Killing two birds with one stone. But that bird upstairs was mine, and once all of this was done, I’d make sure she understood that concept.

18

Alyx

It felt comforting,in a way, to wear my own clothes. Familiar. Made me feel a little closer to home. Just a thread of normalcy.

It didn’t smell the same, though. I noticed the new soapy scent the second I pulled my shirt over my head. Amazing how one’s sense of smell got used to something like a specific detergent brand, unable to smell it anymore because your clothing had been washed with it for years. But the second a different scented brand was used, you could catch the unfamiliar whiff immediately.

I made sure to avoid the mirror. My mind had already turned into an epic battlefield. Losing myself would only disarm me more, weaken me more than I already was.

Even though it freaked the fuck out of me knowing Granite had replicas of my stuff placed in this room, I grabbed a hairband and tied my hair. The blonde strands felt like sandpaper every time they brushed against the bruise on the side of my face. The rest of my body felt achy too, and I was starting to hope Neon would appear again with some aspirin in hand.

I heard the door unlock, and since she was in my thoughts last, I expected to see Neon. But Onyx was the one who appeared.

“Neon was supposed to bring you something to eat, but she’s currently sulking in her room by smoking a joint and listening to Slipknot.”

“Why is she sulking?”

He shrugged. “Granite told her she needs to come with us tomorrow.”

My throat closed. “Us?”

“Us.” The way he said it, the way he stared at me, I knew the “us” he was referring to included me.

“Where are we going?”

“I can’t say.” His words were clipped, his statement simple.

“What are you going to do to me?”

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