My heart beats, falters, then picks up again at a rapid pace. “You’re avoiding the question, which is the same as lying.”
“There’s no gun on me.?
??
“Don’t take a lie detector test. You’d fail. It exposes those integrity issues we’ve been discussing. Have you found a lawyer yet? It’s probably nice to have those things taken care of before you go to jail.”
He barks a short laugh. “I don’t do illegal shit and if I did, the club has a lawyer.”
“Of course you don’t and of course they do.”
“Don’t complain about things you don’t understand. You’re safe, aren’t you?” His eyes meet mine and I shiver with the unspoken threat that Dad claims doesn’t exist.
“Am I really in danger?” I ask.
Oz pops open a bottle of beer and takes a drink. “You want one?”
I shake my head. “I don’t appreciate you drinking and driving.”
“We’re staying here tonight,” he says. “I had already cleared it with Eli before everything went to shit with Olivia.”
My eyebrows furrow together. “Why would you have done that? And you haven’t answered my question.”
“I am answering it.” Oz pulls a long draw off the beer and then sets it on the small bar separating the living room from the kitchen. “The Riot was spotted thirty miles north of Snowflake. That isn’t their territory and Eli liked my idea of moving you in case they decided to stop by for a visit.”
I shrink into the sectional couch that encompasses most of the space in the room. No wonder my mother is a train wreck. It’s almost easy to believe everything Oz is saying. Almost easy to believe that it’s true. “Do you get tired of living this way?”
“Which way is that?”
Delusionally? But it’s not my intention to argue with Oz. Especially when he’s hurting.
“Which way, Emily?” There’s accusation in his voice. I may not be looking for a fight, but Oz is.
“Have you ever thought of a life outside of the club? You know, get an office job, settle down in a nice neighborhood, have two point five kids and a dog named George. Maybe a goldfish or two?”
“If I get a rope and tie it around my neck, will you help push me off a cliff?”
“I’m serious,” I say. “I don’t understand why you want to live like this. You’re supersmart and superawesome when you want to be. I’m just saying that the rest of the world isn’t cloak-and-dagger. It’s easy and peaceful.”
Oz scratches the sexy stubble along his jaw. “Know what I don’t have to deal with in my world?”
“Sanity?”
He grins. “I could say the same about your world, but listen up.”
Oz drags a chair from the small table in the kitchen area into the living room and straddles it. His biceps flex as he crosses his arms over the wood of the chair and when I tear my gaze away I find amusement flickering in his eyes.
I’ve been busted. “I never said you weren’t pretty.”
“You lied, Ms. Integrity. You are bold. And if we’re swapping compliments, you’re fucking gorgeous.”
Heat flashes on my cheeks and I immediately look down.
“Don’t do that,” says Oz.
“Do what?”
Strong fingers underneath my chin and I swear it’s harder to breathe. Oz lifts my head so that we’re staring at each other again. “Don’t deny a true compliment by looking away. You’re braver than that.”