Page 120 of As Thick As Thieves

Stone: You have half an hour.

I rolled my eyes and relayed the order to Knox, who let out a scoff. “I’m meeting up with Maddox, so I can’t take you.”

I turned to Drake who winced. “I was going to see Jett while Knox was busy.”

“Cruz?” I whined, an amused laugh leaving him as he stood, motioning to Will.

“You want to come for a drive? I’ll dump Penn with Stone, and we can go for a beer or something?” he offered, Will giving him a small smile.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

* * *

“Took you long enough,” Stone growled as I walked into his room, not surprised with his attitude. He really wasn’t coping with being chained to this bed. I couldn’t even give him a sneaky blow job because it made his muscles flex, and hurt him too much.

I sat on the edge of the bed, leaning over to kiss him. “I’m happy to see you, too. How are you feeling?”

“Ready to commit murder,” he snarked, but he motioned for me to lean down for another kiss, his voice softer as he added, “I’m happy to see you, sorry. Where’s the guys?”

“Knox is with Maddox, Drake is with Jett, and Cruz dropped me off so he could have a beer with Will. Sandra left him last night and moved out, and then the shit with Jai happened earlier today, too, so—”

“What shit with Jai?” he demanded, and I could’ve killed Cruz for not letting me know Stone didn’t know. I assumed they’d filled him in.

“Oh, um. Knox handed him over to the Psychos for Archer to pulverize. Jai was the one working with Owen,” I said sheepishly, expecting him to strangle me. I was wrong, though, as he took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

“He’s been at the compound this whole time, right? Has he bothered you? You should’ve told us earlier, what if he’d hurt you?”

“I hadn’t seen him until today. He freaked out about me ratting him out, but he didn’t hurt me, though,” I said quickly when he growled.

“I need to get the fuck back to the compound so I can keep you safe. I can’t do shit from here,” he bit out, making me chuckle.

“The fuck will you do at the compound? Throw pillows at them from your bedroom?”

“I could lock you in the bedroom with me,” he grumbled, threading his fingers through mine, his voice softening. “Lopez is pulling back from Lavaro’s business deals. He feels like shit because he does a lot of good, but I think this worried him a little bit. What if he’d been targeted by Owen, and Raven or the guys got hurt? He’d never forgive himself.”

“I’m grateful that he saved me, but I’d never forgive myself either if something happened to him or his friends.”

“He’s hoping to find a legal job and pay taxes like a real grown-up. I think he’ll get bored fast, though,” Stone grinned. “Speaking of jobs, have you spoken to Harley?”

“Yeah, he wants me to rest for a few more weeks, but then I can have a couple of shifts a week to see how I do. He said he won’t give me too many days on, though, so it doesn’t interfere with Thieves stuff while I’m training,” I said proudly, more than excited to be a regular person with a normal job.

“Have you been practicing your driving? Shooting? Navigation?” he asked rapidly. “You know you won’t get better if you don’t? Are the guys—”

“Slow down, Cruz has been helping me with computer stuff, Knox has had me in the target room most of the week, mainly to keep me occupied, I’m sure, and all three of them have sat with me in the car while I practice at some point despite the fact I’m technically still meant to be resting. They quiz me on street names every time we come to see you, too,” I said dryly, getting a satisfied nod.

“Good. I’m a little surprised Will didn’t leave with Sandra. They’ve been together forever.”

“Sandra wanted him to choose between her and the Thieves. He won’t ever turn his back on you guys,” I said gently, surprise flickering across his face.

“He said that?”

“Yeah. The Night Thieves are his family, and he wasn’t about to leave. Sandra’s blaming me for Leah’s death still, but he doesn’t. He’s a good guy, I’m glad you’re not losing him.”

His eyes narrowed. “Don’t get any ideas. If he touches you, I’ll put a bullet in him and throw him to the crows.”

“Jesus, he’s a nice guy, not a collectable item,” I smirked, but that didn’t relax him in the slightest.

“Same shit. You have enough guys, no more.”

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