Our brother shook his head. “Police aren’t involved. Last bit of intel I got said they were too behind on paperwork to even bother with your case. No, whoever this is, they’re smart. And they’re asking all the right people.” He dropped the cigarette onto the gravel and snuffed it out with his boot. “Someone’s talking.” Haze looked at him with a worrisome look. “Until we can figure outwho,you need to quit wandering off. Boss’s orders. You need to come back with me.”
“What about Indi?” he asked. “I can’t keep leaving her, Felix. She needs me.”
Felix looked at me with his burning green eyes. The same eyes as Haze and our father. My eyes. “I’ll see what I can do. Aiden can get her home, right?” He looked over at the silver-haired man who nodded with a big smile. “That settles it. Tell her bye, Haze. We don’t have all night.” Felix ducked back into the car and slammed the door behind him.
I felt sad. He was leaving…again.
Haze stepped in front of me. I looked up at him, visibly upset by the fact that he had to leave, but more so worried about what was happening. “Please don’t go,” I whispered. He tried to force a smile. “Please.” I looked up at him with begging eyes, seeing the struggle within his own.
“I don’t have a choice, Indi. Felix is right, I need to go.” He lifted my chin. “But know that if I could, I’d take your ass back inside that club and repeat what we did on Halloween.” He pulled me close and kissed me. “I’d break all the fucking rules for you, little sis.” His tongue glided along the top of my mouth as I released a sad, whimpering moan.
I kissed him back, holding off swelling tears. “I just wish I could find a way to at least talk to you.” He glanced down and wiped my eyes. “There has to be some way to know you’re okay when I’m not around.” He studied me closely. “Haze.”
He pulled away, kissing my forehead one last time before shooting a look at Aiden. “Get her home safe,” he snapped. It was more of a warning than a request.
Aiden nodded. “I’m always careful,” he teased.
I watched Haze reluctantly jump into the passenger side of the classic car. He and Felix both turned to me, and before I could blink, my brothers drove away.
Underground network, huh? Whatever the fuck Haze has gotten mixed into, it’s got to be big, especially if Felix is here. At least they’re together.
TWO
INDI
An unfamiliar ringbroke through the silence of my room as I slept. I could hear it in my hazy dreams, disrupting them. I tried rolling over, as if that would make it stop. It didn’t. The sound just kept going and going until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Uhh! What the fuck is that sound?” I groaned, keeping my eyes shut. The ring ended for a moment. “Thank god.” Then it quickly returned. “Fuck me—Mary-Jane!” I shot up with heavy eyes and half expected to see her standing there with her phone. But to my surprise, I was alone in my bedroom. No Mary-Jane or anyone else. Just me, Kush, and that fucking ringing.
My eyes adjusted to the peeking sunlight from the windows as I searched for the cause of the odd sound. “Where are you?” I searched around my bed, tossing pillows and blankets all over the room until I finally found it.
I had to look twice as I noticed the sound seemed to be coming…from the cat. “Kush?” The sleeping cat was curled up next to me, passed out. I swear the sound was coming from within him. “Kush, did you eat a phone or something?” The cat slowly stretched and moved, purring as he revealed an unfamiliar phone beneath him. “What?” I picked it up as the bedroom door swung open.
“Jesus Christ, Indi! Would you turn your fucking phone off?” Mary-Jane shouted, half awake. “Fuck, it’s too early for this shit.”
I hid the phone between my knees, silencing it as I looked at her. “My bad.” She groaned and stomped away, leaving my bedroom door open.
Someone’s not a morning person.
I looked back down at the phone. It seemed new and was in a neon green and pink case that had a cute little hemp leaf pattern. The phone vibrated and lit up, showing me the screensaver. It was a photo of me, sleeping next to Kush. And I was wearing the pajamas I am in now. “What the—” I swiped the unlocked phone open and saw a number of missed calls, all from the same number, saved under the name: Masked Admirer. “Who the fuck is this? Kush, who left this?” The cat yawned and laid back down. The phone vibrated again. I tapped the screen and saw a text from Masked Admirer. “What?” I tapped the message.
Still sleeping in I see.
My eyes widened, and a second text quickly came in.
Hope you don’t mind, but I snuck in and left this with our little pothead.
I read the text again, instantly relaxing. It was Haze. I nearly squealed from how happy I was. Not only did I have a way to talk to him, but he was actually responding.
A third text came in before I could even reply.
I told Felix what you said, and he found a way for us to chat. Let’s just say…I owe him a favor. But you can’t tell anyone about this, understood?
I sent a reply:I understand.Nice name by the way. So original.
He responded almost immediately.
Funny, isn’t it? Better than Felix’s idea. He wanted to put me under Hazelnut. Fucking dick.
