Page 68 of Relentless

“So stop staring like an idiot and step aside.” Pressing her hands against my chest, she forces me to back away before pulling packets from the fridge and laying them out on the counter.

“What are you doing?” I ask, studying her wearing clothes that fit her for the first time since I stole hers and replaced them with mine.

She looks hot in her tank and booty shorts. But there’s a part of me that’s missing her walking around in my clothes with nothing underneath.

Sure, the lingerie I chose for her is sinful. I almost ripped it right back off her when she put it on, but it’s not the same as easy access.

“Making sandwiches.”

“Okay, sandwiches I can do.”

“Really?” she deadpans, turning around to search for the drawer that contains the cutlery.

“What the—” she starts before mumbling nonsense as she rummages around in the drawer for what she needs.

“What’s wrong?”

“I need a knife. Reid must have some, he’s practically a chef.”

Guilt knots up in my stomach as more than a little self-hatred rushes through my veins.

“H-he keeps them somewhere safe,” I confess through the lump in my throat.

“Why? Doesn’t he trust you with them?” she asks with a laugh, giving up on her search and pulling out a butter knife instead.

I swallow nervously. “Something like that,” I mutter, hoping like hell that she’ll let it go.

Silence stretches out between us as she works.

After getting her off in the shower, she demanded that I take her down to see Mav. It wasn’t a surprise. The second she allowed me to tug her into my room, I couldn’t help but wonder if she had an ulterior motive.

Let me take what I needed, make my head spin with a knee-weakening orgasm or two and then make her demands when she has me wrapped around her little finger.

I’m not stupid. I knew she was playing me. But also, I wasn’t strong enough to care. I’m still not.

If she gave up on that sandwich and offered herself up for another round, I’d take it and then probably lead her downstairs to her husband, without needing too much convincing.

But when we were done and she turned to me, the words out of her mouth weren’t what I was expecting.

“I’m going to tell Reid everything,” she blurted.

Even now, her total one-eighty makes my head spin. But I figure that I’m in no position to question her.

If she’s decided for whatever reason that it’s time. Then I am all over it.

There are too many secrets under this roof right now and I hate it. Especially when those secrets are stopping us from moving forward.

I got it in the beginning. Reid has spent a long time working behind the scenes to infiltrate everything his father is involved in to find a way to bring him down. But fucking up the supply chains and making friends with some of his worst enemies was never going to be enough.

But what Alana has brought to the table, even the basic bits that I’ve figured out, it brings a whole new side to the plan that Reid wasn’t aware of.

We’ve always known the Hawks have been in the sex trade; there is no secret there. We have strip clubs and brothels almost on every street corner. Even the girls who run the streets give a cut of their takings to Victor. But as far as we’ve ever known, that’s as deep as it runs.

But child abuse… that opens up so many questions, so many other potential avenues. And as much as I know talking is going to rip her in two, we need the intel. If what she knows can help us, then ultimately, we’re all going to get what we want. Reid can take control of this town like he craves, and Alana can get justice for her past.

I just really hope it’s that fucking easy.

She works carefully and meticulously as she puts together two identical-looking sandwiches before sliding a plate toward me. It doesn’t matter that she was forced to cut the tomato with the bluntest knife in this house, it still looks perfect. A million times better than I could achieve with every tool available to me.

---