Page 15 of As Thick As Thieves

“Why didn’t you tell me you were this deep in that shit?” she scolded under her breath, genuine frustration in her eyes. “Those guys trust you or you wouldn’t have been invited in the first place. How long has this been going on for?”

I leaned back but shot forward with a wince as pain shot up my back from the wounds, and Zavier grimaced. “I think you should let Jade look at them. If they go septic—”

“Who’s Jade?” I asked through clenched teeth, willing the pain to go away.

“Harley’s girl. She does a bunch of medical stuff for the crews, she’s really good at it.”

“I can tell if it’s bad or not,” Beckett said and got to her feet, pushing me forward and lifting the back of my shirt without waiting for permission. I tensed, but I let out a slow breath to calm myself when she didn’t touch me. “Damn, Whitlock. Your dad did this?”

“Yeah. He whipped me a lot,” I mumbled as she fixed my shirt. “Zavier’s been putting ointment on it.”

“You need strong as fuck antibiotics and to bandage it. Jesus, Lopez. Why didn’t you bring her by Mom’s house to get checked properly?” Beckett growled, and he let out a light laugh.

“Um, I don’t know. Maybe because the last time she was there, she was caught breaking into it? She’s not exactly welcome. Not to mention, I can’t force her to get checked out, and she didn’t want to.”

“Sure you can. You bought her.”

“Donovan,” he huffed, but Beckett looked down at me with a scowl. “And you. Why the fuck don’t you want it looked at? Zavier’s risking his life by getting involved with you, and you’re just happy to die on him? The fuck?”

“No, I—”

“I don’t like you,” Beckett said sharply. “But I don’t want you keeling over and dying on Zavier after he put so much effort into keeping you safe. Once we eat, we’re going to the Psychos’ shed.”

“I can’t just walk in there!” I threw back as discomfort burned inside of me. “I disrespected your family. I have no right to ask them for help.”

“You’re not asking,” she shrugged and sat back down, grinning as Harley returned with our food. “Argue with me later, I’m starving.”

* * *

“Penn? What the fuck, Beckett?” Hunter demanded as she practically dragged me into the Psychos’ shed an hour later. I knew Skeeter was glaring at me from the other side of the room, but luckily, he stayed away.

Beckett motioned towards me, continuing to drag me through the room with Zavier right behind us. “Is Jade here? I need her medical expertise.”

“What happened?” he asked as he followed, studying me. “And why is she with you?”

“Zavier bought her, long story,” she replied, and Zavier let out a huff of annoyance.

“Stop telling people that.”

Hunter huffed out a breath, opening a door to an office and blocking the doorway.

“I don’t even want to know, forget I asked.” He turned, his voice softening. “Hey, Hotshot. I gotta steal Red for a minute.”

“Get her out,” someone snapped, and I took a step back, not that I got far with Beckett’s hold on me.

“She needs medical treatment.”

“Then she can go to the fucking hospital.”

“They will only ask questions, and Lopez bought her, so it’s complicated,” Hunter replied dryly, a chair scraping as someone walked towards the door. Rory Donovan was intimidating as fuck in real life, her sharp, blue eyes roaming over me slowly. She tilted her head, sliding her gaze to Beckett.

“Give me a reason not to throw her out.”

“Lopez put himself in the middle of this shit, so I don’t want his efforts wasted if it goes septic and she dies,” Beckett shrugged, glaring at Zavier. “We can talk more while your rent-a-girlfriend is being treated.” Rory’s critical eyes seemed to search my body, and Beckett added, “Her back’s messed up.”

“From?”

“Whipping. She’s been in a basement for a month apparently,” Beckett answered, and my muscles locked up as Rory moved closer and grabbed the back of my shirt to yank it up. She was silent for a moment, some of the harshness leaving her tone.

---