Sinful Protector (Roughshod Rollers MC 2)

I pull my phone out of my pocket and glance down at it. Several times, I’ve considered phone Alex and asking him for an update but each time, I stop myself, knowing that I need to be patient. I don’t know what sort of information Alex is looking for, exactly, but it must take time to find the kind of people he needs to talk to. On top of that, he’ll be doing it along with his other jobs, which includes riding the council people into donating George Barker’s house to the Roughshod Rollers, something they appear to be dragging their feet over.

I sigh. Sometimes, everything just feels far too difficult. I grimace as I stuff my phone back in my pocket and keep walking.

Then, suddenly, a message comes through. I blink and fish it out of my pocket again, frowning as I notice that it’s from Jacqui.

“Are you guys watching my apartment???”

I wince. I wondered if Jacqui would say anything about it when she and Allison figured out what was happening. I type a one word reply.

“Yeah.”

She replies so fast that she must have had the message app open, waiting for my message to go through.

“Good! Allison is a stubborn bitch!”

I snort, grinning despite myself, and reply.

“She can be.”

“No, she is! Fuck, she pushed me out the door while she isn’t feeling well! Are you there now??”

I look around. I’ve traveled a bit of a distance now, but I still feel restless.

“Not right now. Went for a walk.”

Admittedly, it probably wasn’t the best time to decide to do that. I wonder if any of the other guys are around tonight. I can’t remember if I paid any of them for today.

“Yeah I guess you need to stretch your legs. Seriously thanks for looking out for her. Even though you guys broke up.”

I flinch. Thanks for the reminder. I flick a message back.

“Its for the best.”

Jacqui’s message comes back almost in the same second.

“Is that her talking or you??”

I hesitate. Jacqui is Allison’s best friend. It isn’t right for us to be talking about Allison, especially since I’ve broken up with her. Still, maybe I should warn her…

“Something isn’t right. Watch her.”

This time, there’s no reply. I know my message has been received, though, and I sigh, feeling an odd sense of relief. At least Jacqui now knows about my suspicions. Maybe then we’ll be able to do the impossible and protect Allison from herself.

I swear, that woman is going to get herself into trouble. Jacqui must have been keeping a really good fucking eye on her all this time. Or maybe she just got lucky because Jesse was the one that got himself in trouble most of the time, and she had to clean up after his messes, instead.

Unfortunately, now Jesse is the mess, and there’s no way for her to weasel her way out of this one. I just wish she would reach out and actually ask for the help she obviously needs.

I glance at the messages Jacqui sent me again. There’s nothing in there to confirm any of my suspicions. Either Jacqui is being careful about what she says out of loyalty to Allison, or she genuinely doesn’t know anything.

Which can mean one of two things. Allison was telling me the truth about why we broke up, or she’s lying to Jacqui.

Unfortunately, I know which scenario is more likely.

I clench my hand around my phone. There’s an odd pain in my chest. Knowing that Jacqui doesn’t share my - admittedly paranoid - suspicions is like confirmation of something I didn’t want to know. Allison really didn’t want me, in the end.

That hurts.

Focus! I tell myself. Now isn’t the time for that!