I stood and stretched my arms above my head, giving off a vibe that nothing was fazing me, but it was so far from the truth. The closer I got to Hut, the more I wanted to bring him down, but then there was Lola. What would happen to her once he was away? Would she survive—what the hell was I thinking? Of course she’d survive. She was going to college and trying to better herself, which meant she wanted out.
The thought had my eyes widening. How had I not realized that before? How had I been so stupid? She wanted out, but would she help herself by rolling on Hut? I wasn’t so sure, but I’d do my best to try.
“I gotta head back. Crew business.”
She nodded as she stood, grabbing her bag and moving toward the apartment door.
Neither of us spoke as we made our way back to my car, and it wasn’t until I was pulling up outside her house, the sounds of a party now having disappeared that she turned to face me.
“Thanks for letting me shower at your place.”
I grinned. “Anytime, kid.”
She shook her head and opened the door. “I may hold you to that, old man.”
I threw my head back, a brash laugh escaping me. I shouldn’t have been letting my guard down, especially not when Hut was so close, but I couldn’t help it. She brought out a part of me that had been buried for so long, I thought it’d disappeared. It hadn’t seen the light of day since...fuck.
Thoughts of my past sobered me, and even though I felt sick to my stomach, telling myself this was just a job allowed me to push it all aside. Out here I was Brody, part of the crew. It didn’t matter what I was in my normal life or who I surrounded myself with, because right now, all that mattered was taking Hut down. And Lola, a voice in the back of my mind whispered, but I ignored it and pushed out of the car.
I followed her up the path and jumped over the step. If Hut or anyone noticed we were together, no one said a thing as we walked inside. Lola didn’t say another word. Instead, she headed right for the stairs.
All the guys were in the kitchen, but I stayed near the front door, watching as she moved and hoping like hell she turned back when she got to the top. I didn’t know why I was so goddamn eager to see her face once more but fuck if I could deny I wanted to.
“Brody, that you?” Hut called from the kitchen, but still, I didn’t move. I waited, watching each of her steps and burning each curve of her body into my mind. I’d touched that body, I’d run my hand over that body, I’d—she paused at the top of the stairs, and my breathing picked up.
Her head turned, a smile on her face that damn near had me stumbling backward. She mouthed, “Thank you,” and I shot her a wink, feeling all out of sorts.
“We’re heading out,” Ford told me as he ambled into the main room. At the sound of his voice, Lola spun back around, most likely heading to her room.
I nodded and glanced over at him. His shoulders were tense, and something swirled in his eyes. We were going into a meeting with Carson, which caused some concern but not the amount he was emanating right then. He was on edge, something Ford never showed, and it could only mean one thing—the guys had got to him. Jord told me he was going to approach him, but I didn’t know when.
“You’re with me and Ford,” Hut’s voice demanded. I turned my head to look over my shoulder, taking note of the flat line of his lips.
I said nothing, deciding to stay silent and observe each of them. I walked outside and headed for the SUV, spotting Jace, Quinn, and Ted. I narrowed my eyes at Jace but he didn’t seem fazed one bit, in fact, he looked like he was having the time of his life.
“Jesus,” I mumbled as I pushed into the SUV.
“What?” Hut asked, his gaze finding mine in the rearview mirror.
“Jace is high as a kite.”
Hut huffed a breath out, a tired one that told me more than any words ever could. “I know. The fucker will get his head shot off if he’s not careful.” I wanted to agree with him, but not for the same reasons. I’d slit the bastard’s throat if he ever touched Lola like he did earlier tonight.
My fists clenched over my thighs, my breaths coming in choppy spurts as I remembered the way he’d manhandled her like he had any fucking right to touch what was mine.
Mine?
Fuck. What the fuck was I thinking? She couldn’t be mine, I couldn’t—shit. I was driving myself insane, but damn if I didn’t enjoy thinking about her. It was wrong, on so many levels, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I couldn’t bring myself to walk away from her. I couldn’t…
Stop fucking thinking about her.
I shook my head, trying to expel my thoughts and pay attention to what was going on around me. We’d made our way out of the neighborhood and headed onto the freeway without a problem. I recognized the route we were taking and mentally tracked it in my head. There were only a few places that Hut deemed safe, and he was using them more and more often, which meant he was getting sloppy.
“I need you at my back,” Hut said, turning in his seat so he could look at me face-to-face. “Some shit is gonna go down, and I need to know my two best guys are behind me. Got it?”
“Got it,” I replied, not a second of hesitation. The fact that we were now his “best guys” meant we were getting somewhere. I was sure Ford had been turned from the way he was acting, which meant his best guys were also against him.
It’d be easy to let one of his enemies take him out, but it wouldn’t solve the problem we were having. Someone else would just take over his territory, but if we locked him up, we could purge the streets of his product.