My back straightened, a renewed energy flowing through me, and when I flicked my gaze to Brody, he raised his brows. He’d noticed, but then he always saw the small things, the movements and the way people spoke. I’d stared at him as he observed everyone around him, trying to figure them all out. I had no doubt he did the same thing with me.
“Good, you’re both here,” Hut’s voice rang out, and I inhaled a breath. I was going to act as normal as I could. I mentally wrote a list of everything I needed to do. Count my savings. Look for an apartment/room to rent. Pack my things.
It was a small list, but reciting it over and over again in my head helped calm me. If all went to plan, I wouldn’t have to look at Hut’s face in a couple of weeks. I could go to my own place and not worry about the people who were there and what they’d do if I didn’t lock my bedroom door. I could rest easy, and Brody could kiss me anytime he wanted.
Damn. His kisses were something else. Something I’d never thought possible, but each touch ignited a fire within, and nothing could extinguish the flames.
“Lola?” I shook my head and blinked several times, looking over at Hut. His lips were in a grim line, his eyes narrowed in my direction. “I’ve said your name like five times. What the hell?”
I swallowed, pushing off the counter. “Sorry.” I placed my cup in the sink and tried my hardest to flash him a smile. “I’m still half-asleep.”
He rolled his eyes, a move that was fit for a teenager and not someone in his early twenties. “I was trying to say thanks for last night.”
“Oh.” I stepped past him, fully intending on going back to my room and getting started on my list of things to do to get the hell away from him. “That’s okay.”
He tilted his head, staring down at me and frowning. I could sense his mind working overtime, trying to figure me out, but he hadn’t been able to do that in a long time. The last time I let him see anything but the version he was looking at now was when I was a teenager. There were only so many times someone could fuck you over until you barricaded yourself in and away from them.
“I better go get ready.” I hooked my thumb over my shoulder and spun around, darting one last look at Brody. He sent me that smile once again, and everything felt right in the world. I finally had someone on my side.
* * *
BRODY
“So you flipped him then?”
Those were the first words out of my mouth when I sat down in the run-down house. The building was as cold as ever, the chill making me wish I’d worn a jacket. If Jord wasn’t hogging the lone heater in here, maybe I wouldn’t have been so goddamn cold.
“Yep,” Kyle answered, placing his arms on the table in front of him and grasping his hands. “As soon as we mentioned his cousin, he was all for it.”
I clipped my head in a nod. Everyone had a weakness, and all it took w
as to find it out, then you had a direct line to them. “He been giving you information?”
Ryan stood and handed me a cell. “He’s been messaging whereabouts and meeting points. He also told us when the next delivery was taking place.”
I swiped through all of the messages, having known everything that was on here anyway. It wasn’t anything new, but having him as our informant meant that we had an extra coin in the pot. He’d come in useful at some stage.
“Anything else you found out?” I asked, handing him back the cell and staring at each of them in turn.
“He’s been making calls to a new number the last week or so. A lot of them too,” Jord said, a raised brow in place of his usual frown. “Know what’s happening?”
I leaned back in my chair and blew out a breath. I hadn’t had a chance to fill them in on everything that had happened in the last few weeks, so I started at the beginning, leaving out anything to do with Lola. They didn’t need to know what was happening between us. Hell, I didn’t want them to know. The lecture they’d give me was already tiring me out just thinking about it.
“So someone is skimming?” Kyle whistled. “Brave man.”
“Yep.” I scrubbed my hand over my face. “Something flipped with him. And him taking Lola to see Carson was the final nail in the coffin. He’s losing his goddamn mind.” I was on edge, desperate for this to be over. The churning in my gut told me something was going to go down, but I hated sitting around and waiting for it to happen.
“Have you tried to turn her?”
I shook my head and clenched my fist. “No. She wants out.”
“I told you this last night”—Jord leaned forward and tapped the table—“that means she’s our in.”
“No,” I growled, not able to stop it. I was showing my cards to the three people I trusted more than anyone else on this earth. “She needs to stay out of it—”
“Ha!” Ryan stood. “Hut pulled her right into the middle of it last night. You think he’s just gonna let her walk away? Damn, Brody. The sick bastard wants her.”
My blood pressure was close to boiling point, and I could practically hear the screaming whistle of a kettle telling me I was ready and to remove me before I boiled over completely. “I fuckin' know!” I stood so fast that my chair skidded across the floor.