Page 8 of As Thick As Thieves

“Definitely. We’ll get you home and comfortable. Will you be okay on your own for a bit tonight?” He looked worried about it, so I nodded. I didn’t need babysitting.

“You have good security, and I have a phone, so I’ll call if I need you,” I answered, fiddling with my phone. There weren’t many contacts in there, but it was better than nothing.

“If you get hungry, there’s soup in the fridge and random pamphlets on the kitchen counter for places that deliver food. I’ll leave some cash with you in case you need it.”

“I’ll just heat up the soup.” I didn’t want him spending more money on me. He’d spent enough of Ander’s already, and the soup was good.

“Ander’s not likely to be home before me, but he has a key. If anyone knocks on the door, don’t answer it. No one knows that place is Ander’s, so no one should be stopping by. If you think anyone is hanging around, call me,” he explained as he drove us home, pointing out things like houses to avoid and the history of a few burned-down places. Most of them were thanks to drug debts, which didn’t surprise me.

Once I’d put all my shopping in my room at the house, we watched a movie until Zavier had to leave. I fell asleep within five minutes of the house being silent.

Cruz

“You racing?” I asked Riley as I leaned against her Corvette at the track. It was still early but the place was crawling with people.

“I told Jett if he beat Beckett I’d race him. We both know that won’t happen,” she chuckled, peering up at me from under the hood of her hoodie. “You okay? You’ve been starting to share a personality with Stone lately.”

“Sorry, I’m working on it,” I grunted, accepting the bottle of vodka she offered me and took a large mouthful.

“Don’t worry about a girl who left you behind,” she said quietly, nudging my arm. “Besides, it looks like Stone was right and she took off anyway. Maybe she did have a fiance.”

The thought gave me fucking hives.

Stone’s bullet wound was proof something had gone down between them, but doubt had lingered in my mind. I assumed she’d been locked in her room again, so I’d gone as far as breaking into the damn house to check her bedroom, but she wasn’t there.

All her things were gone too, telling me she was either in a facility like Stone suggested, or the fiance was real and she’d gone to live with him. I wanted to believe she’d been taken against her will, but shooting Stone when he was only trying to help her didn’t make sense. If Louis had sold her on those dodgy skin trade websites, I would’ve seen something about it since I made a habit of digging into the dark web to keep an eye out.

Maybe she really had needed medicating and was crazy? I felt like an asshole for fucking her if that was the case. Was that taking advantage of someone?

“I don’t get it,” I sighed, handing the vodka back. “It’s like she’s vanished. She didn’t seem mentally unstable, so I’m struggling to believe she’s in a facility or something.”

“If she’d convinced herself that her father was the devil and you guys were saving her, then she could’ve come across as quite convincing. She did shoot Stone though, remember? Does she really mean that much to you? You need to let this go before you make yourself crazy.”

“I would’ve left with her if she wanted to run,” I admitted, scanning the track as two cars took off from the starting line. “I would’ve taken her anywhere she wanted to go, that’s how much I want her.”

“You’d leave your boys behind?” she scoffed.

“If it meant having her, then yeah. I’d leave Rawson Grove behind without a second thought,” I answered, looking towards the gate as I heard the sound of Reid’s black Challenger roll in. Logan and Reid were already here with Raven, so I wasn’t surprised when it parked close by and Zavier climbed out.

Apparently, he’d had Reid’s car a lot lately.

“Hey,” I greeted as he joined us.

“Hey. You seen Logan?” he asked, glancing around the track.

“Yeah, he’s got girls cooing over him and his smashed-up face down by the starting line,” I grinned. Logan had fucked someone’s girlfriend last night and gotten his ass handed to him.

The girl got beat up by her boyfriend’s sister too, it was hilarious.

As if on cue, Logan wandered over with Raven scolding him for something, Reid rolling his eyes at the pair of them.

“There you are, you’re late,” Reid said as he bumped knuckles with Zavier. “Where’s your girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend?” I asked with a wide smirk, and Zavier scowled.

“I don’t have a girl.”

“Who did I hear on the phone last night then?” Reid demanded smugly. “Is she why you’re late tonight?”

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