Chapter 55
Ryder
“Idon’t like this,” Dex says, leaning back in the passenger seat.
“Which part?” I grunt. “Watching Les and Gage boost a car or them meeting Zane?”
“I don’t give a shit about Zane. I meant this whole thing with Nina. Viktor is going to hit back tenfold.”
I’ve already thought about that and know she’s more than ready for whatever Viktor throws at her now.
Something hits me, and I look at Dex. “What do you mean you don’t give a shit about Zane?
” He should because this man is hot on Les’ ass and has been for years.
If she didn’t get so fucking mad about him becoming a cop, I have no doubt they would still be together. And where would that leave all of us?
“I mean, Zane is the least of our worries,” he sighs, and I can tell whatever is about to come out of his mouth I’m not going to like. “He tried to kiss her at the house.”
“What?” I explode, slapping my hand on the steering wheel. “I fucking knew something was off when I walked back into that room.”
“He implied he was okay with sharing her. With us.” Dex finally looks at me. “She still loves him, man.”
Gage and Les get the car they’re taking fired up, and I drop my Explorer into drive.
“I know,” I reply, pulling out behind them.
It’s something I’ve always known, and she would never admit it.
She buried her feelings in anger. Now that he’s making his intentions known, it’s getting harder for her to hide how she feels.
“What do we do?” Dex asks.
“What can we do?” I ask harshly. “If we do anything to fucking hurt him, Les will have our asses.”
“I don’t mean that,” Dex replies evenly. “I mean about her feelings for him. She can’t keep that shit buried too much longer.”
“Are you telling me you want her to tell him how she feels?”
“No. I’m saying she needs to. It doesn’t matter what we want.”
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” I ask him because I’m pretty sure he has.
“I’m the only one who hasn’t lost their fucking mind,” he argues, fully facing me in the seat. “We agreed that Les gets whatever makes her happy because she deserves that. What if that’s Zane?”
Gage takes an exit off the highway, and I keep going straight.
We agreed this is as far as Dex and I can go for the risk of being seen.
We just needed to watch their backs in Concrete Row when they stole a car in broad fucking daylight.
We’re going to meet them after they drop Nina off so they can ditch the car, and we can go the hell home and finally sleep.
We dropped Holden and Leo off at the house, and Giovanni brought Micah, Evander, and Mateo over later.
I’m so damn tired, and all this talk about Zane makes me crazy.
“I don’t know if that’s something I can give her,” I answer honestly. Sharing her with these guys was hard enough at first. Bringing in the man that betrayed her isn’t something I think I can do.
“She’s going to eventually go after what she wants, and that’s Zane,” Dex says impatiently. “You might want to wrap your thick head around it now.”
“Why are you suddenly okay with this?”
“Since I talked to her about it. I would do anything to keep that girl.”
“Are you saying I won’t?” I ask angrily.
“Will you quit putting words in my fucking mouth? I’m just warning you now that if Les ever came to me and said she wanted to try with him. I wouldn’t tell her no.”
“I can’t, man,” I say gruffly. “I saw what he did to her.”
“And something tells me he regrets that decision.” He shrugs. “We’ve all done shit we regret. His is hurting Les.”
I pull into a vacant lot, throwing the car in park to wait for Les’ call. Laying my head back on the seat, I think back to her finding out.
She was hurt, but she was covering it up with anger.
She didn’t know I could hear her crying at night when I would stay over, and I never brought it up.
She cut him entirely out of her life and never would give him the chance to explain, and something tells me that’s her regret.
I watched the girl I loved for a fucking year sneak around with that asshole, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it; I was too big of a coward then to tell her how I felt.
I’m not that boy anymore, and I’ll be goddamned if he gets in between us again.
“It’s been too long,” I tell Dex after we haven’t heard from Les and Gage in over two hours.
It should have taken them an hour to drop Nina off with Zane and call us.
I texted them both over thirty minutes ago, and still no answer.
I probably wouldn’t have been as worried, but we got a call from Mani that said a creepy doll was dropped off at the front gate earlier.
The doll was tied inside a box and looked eerily like Les.
There was also a folder filled with pictures that reminded us her stalker is still watching her every move.
“You think they snuck off somewhere?” Dex asks with a chuckle.
Gage was pissed as hell when he found out about the beach house, so I shrug. “Could have, but I think she would message one of us with everything going on.”
“We didn’t,” he reminds me.
I jerk the car into drive and turn toward the direction they were meeting Zane. “I can’t shake this feeling, man. Somethings wrong.”
Dex nods. “Should we call Holden?”
I shake my head because there’s no use in worrying anyone else; they’re probably sleeping. “Nah. Let’s check the meeting spot and figure it out from there.”
We drive quietly to the meeting spot less than ten minutes away, with no sign of them or foul play.
“I’m telling you, Gage is balls deep in her somewhere,” Dex jokes.
I want to agree and chalk it up to being away from Les, but something is gnawing at my stomach. I got a text from the pilot earlier that he had Nina, so I know that part is taken care of. If Gage snuck her away and didn’t tell me, I’ll kick his ass.
We drive up and down the road they may have taken, seeing nothing. She’s supposed to call to tell us where to meet her, so everything is kept a surprise, so I have no fucking clue where they would have been going.
“I don’t fucking like this,” I finally say, dialing Holden.
“Hello,” he answers groggily, and I feel like shit for waking him up. He isn’t used to these missions that sometimes keep us up for over forty-eight hours.
“Hey, Bello, I need you to track Gage and Les.”
“What’s wrong?” he asks, instantly alert.
“Maybe nothing,” I assure him. “I might be being a paranoid dick, but we haven’t heard from them in over two hours.”
I hear rustling and then a door opening. “I’m going downstairs,” he says, and I can tell he’s jogging. I listen to him open his office door and keys clicking. I try to stay patient while he taps away, but I can feel the edge of panic creeping up. “Ryder,” he says quietly. “They aren’t together.”
I jerk the car to a stop on the side of the road and look at Dex. “What do you mean?”
“They’re firing up in two different spots. Hold on,” he says, and I can hear the tapping intensify. “Gage’s phone is like two miles from you.” I stomp the gas and ignore the beeping of the horn from the car I just pulled out in front of. He rattles off the streets to turn down. “Right there!”
I stomp the brake. “I don’t see anything, Holden.”
“It’s right there,” he says desperately.
I connect the call to my phone and step out of the SUV. We’re in a shitty neighborhood, and people are eyeing us warily.
“What can I do for you, fellas?” An older black gentleman asks, leaning against a brick wall.
“We’re looking for someone,” Dex says. “Six-two. Dark wavy hair might be with a pretty girl with black hair.”
“You lose your girl?” the guy chuckles, and I try to keep my temper in check. He shakes his head. “Haven’t seen him.” This is the type of neighborhood where they never see anything.
“We aren’t fucking cops,” I say impatiently, tired of the games.
“I know who you are,” he says, narrowing his eyes. “I don’t like your kind around here.”
“My kind?” I ask incredulously.
“Mafioso. Boys with egos too fucking big, thinking they run the place.”
“Come on. We don’t have time for this shit,” I tell Dex, and we start to walk away.
More guys step out from behind the building, blocking our path, and I’m done with this shit.
I pull my Glocks at the same time Dex does.
“If you know who the fuck I am, then you know I’m not playing games. Move,” I threaten.
“Ryder!” I hear Holden yell from my phone and put it back to my ear. “The phone is flashing two buildings down; I narrowed the search.”
“We seem to be in disagreement with the neighborhood friendlies,” I tell Holden.
“Look, man,” Dex says, never lowering his weapons, “The girl we’re looking for is the girl I love, so I suggest you tell your boys to move, or we will level this fucking neighborhood.”
The guy tilts his head and flicks his cigarette toward us.
It lands right at my boot. “Go on then,” he finally says and jerks his head for the others to follow.
They all slink back into the building the guy was leaning against. We tuck our guns away and take off at a dead sprint.
We round the corner of the building Holden indicated and come skidding to a stop.
The car they stole is full of bullet holes, and Gage is slumped over the steering wheel. We run at the same time. I jerk open the driver’s side door, and Dex pulls open the passenger side.
I put my phone on speakerphone and lay it on the dash. “Gage,” I say softly. His eyes are shut, blood pouring from his head and out of his mouth. I’m afraid to move or touch him, so my hands flutter around him. “Gage!” He doesn’t stir, and I meet Dex’s eyes from the passenger side.
“There’s no sign of Les, and there is blood in the seat,” Dex says, closing his eyes. They burn with panic, worry, and anger when he opens them again.
“What’s going on?” Holden asks, and I can hear the quiver in his voice.