I gripped her shaking hand inside mine. “Fuck that.”
Her shoulders slumped. “No, Brody, listen to me.”
I gathered the first aid kit off the floor and opened it. I couldn’t keep looking at her face coated in blood and tears, and I needed to do something with my hands to distract myself. Otherwise, I’d end up rushing out of here and snapping Hut’s neck.
“I’m listening,” I grunted.
“He needs to think he was wrong. It’s the only way I can get out.” She paused as I poured some solution onto a cotton ball and pressed it against her swollen eye. She hissed at the contact, but continued, “If he thinks we’re in this together, then I’ll never get away. But if we prove him wrong, I can slip away without him even noticing.”
“I don’t like this.” I gritted my teeth and started to wipe her cheeks, hating the winces thrown my way.
“I know.” She gripped my arm, halting my movements. “But it’s the only way. Ford’s right, we have to play him at his own game to win.”
I knew what she was saying made sense, but I hated the idea of her being here with him and me denying how I felt about her. She was in more danger than she realized, but I understood when she got out, she wanted that to be it. She didn’t want him to be able to find her once she’d left.
I huffed out a breath and placed my hand gently on the side of her neck. “I’ll help you get out. I’ll do what I have to do.”
She cracked a smile. “Ow, that hurts.”
My teeth ground together. “Let me finish cleaning you up.”
I worked quickly but effectively, trying to get the dried blood off her soft skin while attempting to ebb the flow of the cut on her eye. She was a mess of bruises, but still just as beautiful.
I stayed on the edge of her bed for what felt like hours, watching her as she was in and out of sleep, and as soon as the sun shone through the window in her room, I stood. I was going to cash in my favor with Ford so he could watch her for a couple of hours while I set everything in motion.
Sitting back and letting everything play out was no longer a viable plan. I had to be proactive and get her the hell out of here.
Chapter Seventeen
BRODY
I clicked over to another page, my brain consuming all the words at lightning speed. I’d come to the run-down house under the guise of wanting an update on Ford, but that wasn’t the real reason. I needed to get into the system and check for safe houses.
My vault of secrets was locked up tight, but I was afraid that they’d leak out anytime now. I’d been so close to confessing everything to Lola a couple of nights ago at the diner. Her eyes begged me to tell her, my heart screamed at me to show her what she meant to me, but my head had won out.
The agent in me had me backing away, using words that meant nothing to her but everything to me. I promise. I hoped she could stick to that, but I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t
Hope, hope, hope. It flowed through me like rain in a storm drain, rushing and swirling, trying to find its rightful place.
I clicked the mouse again, searching for answers, but they were nowhere to be found. I had to get Lola away from all of this mess, I had to keep her safe. It didn’t escape me that I wanted to get her far from this place and from everything that surrounded me. But I was in a panic. It was only a matter of time, and when she found out who I really was, nothing would be the same again. I couldn’t let that happen, I had to ease her into it slowly, make her see I was doing it all for her.
Ringing echoed around the room, and I was hyperaware of the guys surrounding me. One wrong move and they’d see what I was planning. I knew they’d understand my need to get her out of that house if they had witnessed what I had only hours ago, but for the first time since I’d built this team, I didn’t trust them with the truth. They’d think I was doing it because of my relationship with Lola, and part of me was, but the bigger reason was to just make sure she was safe.
Finally, a safe house a couple of hours away came up on my search in the system. I took a picture of it with my cell, and then I backed out of the system, erasing all my history.
“Yeah, okay,” Ryan’s gruff voice said. “We’ll be watching.”
No sooner had he ended the call did my own cell go off. I pulled it out, clicking on the message from Hut and frowning.
Hut: Meet me at Old Man Pike’s place. You have 15 mins.
“I’ve gotta go,” I announced, shoving the cell back into my pocket. Maybe this would be where Hut would confront me. Lola’s plan rolled around in my mind, and I had no choice but to deny it, for her safety and mine.
“That was Ford,” Ryan said, stepping closer to me. “He said Hut is acting strange.” I raised my brows. “Stranger than usual,” Ryan amended.
“He wants me to meet him at Old Man Pike’s place.”
“We’ll follow.”