Page 109 of Collide

As much as I hated to admit it, that thought tasted like acid in mymouth. If Theo hadn’t been killed I wouldn’t have had any reason to venture to East Bay, or more specifically, Club Sin, and then I would never have met the stubborn little minx who was consuming the majority of my thoughts.

“What about the rest of the gang?” I directed my question to Hendrixwho had spent the last few days trying to find people in Huntsville to give him information. He’d only arrived back to Hollows Bay this morning and he looked as exhausted as I felt.

“Nothing of interest, Kai. There is talk about Toby on the street, TheStags believe you killed him, but doesn’t seem like they give a fuck, there’s no talk of retribution for his death,” Hendrix replied with a yawn.

Right then, my phone buzzed with a message. I pulled it out of mypocket and looked at the screen, seeing a message from Isaac. I tapped in my pin and pulled up the messaging app.

I have some information. Are you free to come to the office today?

Isaac never asked for me to go to the office, usually, we arranged aneutral place to meet up at a time suitable for both of us. If he wanted me to go to him today, it must have been for something urgent. I quickly replied, telling him I’d be there in twenty minutes.

I stood abruptly from my chair, the three men looked at me withquestioning brows. “Isaac’s got some information. Hendrix, you’re with me. Miles, keep trying to crack that fucking phone, it could be our key to something useful.”

“Sure thing, I’ve just downloaded some software that should help, I’mhoping the phone will be cracked by the end of today,” Miles said, stepping away from the wall and out the door to head back to his apartment where he had been working night and day to try and break into the damned phone. I was grateful to him, even if I was fucking frustrated at the lack of progress.

“Want me to come too, Boss?” Danny asked as he stood from hisseat.

“No. I want you to stay here. I don’t want Riley unprotected.” If thestubborn minx was talking to me, I’d take her with me so I could keep an eye on her myself, but Danny wouldn’t let anything happen to her, I trusted him implicitly to keep my girl safe.

“Understood,” he grumbled. Danny had been sullen since the shitwith Toby, and I knew he partially blamed himself for coming up with the idea of taking her to the club. I’d heard him outside her room the day before trying to talk to her, she did at least speak to him, but it was along the lines of, ‘Fuck off’, ‘Go to hell’ and, ‘Kiss my ass’. The usual curses from her when she was angry.

I clapped him on the back as I walked out of the office with Hendrixfollowing. “Maybe you can try to talk some sense into her again,” I smirked.

Danny winced. “Not fucking likely, sticking pins under my fingernailswould be more fun than trying to talk to that girl.”

Both Hendrix and I chuckled all the way to the car.

I decided to drive rather than asking Frank to take us or Hendrixdriving me. I was feeling the need to be in control of something seeing as everything around me felt like it was falling to shit.

During the drive, Hendrix and I discussed what little we knew aboutThe Stags, trying to come up with a reason as to why they would be wanting to take over my organization, and why now.The obvious reason was because I had a good business model andexcellent control over my city. I didn’t allow rival gangs into my territory, I controlled the contraband on the street and it worked, it worked for me as it had worked for my father and my grandfather.

But if I was honest, I didn’t believe that was the reason The Stagswanted to overthrow me. No, this had something to do with Anderson, I was sure of it.

We had been treating Anderson and the silent partner of The Stagsas two different people, but maybe Andersonwasthe silent partner of The Stags, secretly pulling all the strings. I hoped Isaac was about to shed some light.

“Maybe you should move Riley to one of our safe houses,” Hendrixsuggested as we turned into the street where Isaac’s office was.

“No fucking chance. I want her where I can protect her,” I said firmly,not even entertaining the suggestion.

It made sense, I supposed. Move her out of harm’s way until this shitwas sorted but that could take weeks, months even, and I wasn’t prepared for her to be away from me for that length of time. Fuck, these last few days of her not talking to me were slowly killing me. It was only the fact I could sneak into her room and touch her that kept me from going completely insane.

Besides, there were only three people I could count on to protectRiley besides me and I needed them to help me resolve this, I couldn’t afford to lose any of my closest assets.

“Come on, Kai, it’s the safest option. We move her to one of thehouses outside of the state, put around the clock protection on her, and then we can concentrate on tracking down this Detective prick and dealing with The Stags without constantly worrying about her.”

My lips thinned into a line, and my hands tightened on the steeringwheel. I didn’t like the way he’d just implied he was concerned about her, she wasn’t his to worry about.I still hadn’t spoken to him about why he told her about the girls frommy club and his feelings towards her, but quite frankly, I didn’t care anymore. All he needed to know was that Riley was mine, mine to protect, mine to do with as I so wished. The only time he was to have any interest in her safety was if I instructed him to protect her.

I pulled the car into a space outside Isaac’s office block and cut theengine but made no move to get out. Instead, I turned to face him.

“Riley isn’t going anywhere. I appreciate your concern, but it’smisplaced, she’s not yours to worry about. She stays where I can protect her, and the only time you need to concern yourself with her is when I tell you to protect her with your fucking life. Understood?” My tone was full of threat, the kind I reserved for those who were about to die.

Hendrix swallowed nervously and held his hands up in defense.“Yeah, of course, Boss. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep, I just know you care about her. We all do, she’s become part of the family.”

A twinge of guilt flashed through me, I was being a jealous prick and Iknew it. I couldn’t help myself when it came to my Star, and Hendrix was only thinking about her safety.

I gave him a nod and stepped out of the car. He followed behindme and as we were about to step into the office building, his phone rang. I paused to wait for him to answer it, he pulled it out and grimaced before looking at me.

“I got to take this, Boss, it’s Anderson’s ex-girlfriend. I told her to callme if she remembered anything useful.”

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