I paused, mentally preparing myself for what I was going to find in there.
Drug dealers, I’m sure. Other homeless people. People high. Any and all? Other people? A few gangs operated in this territory, but as far as I was aware, they all had an understanding with one of the three. West, Walden, or Creighton. I knew they were supposed to be havinga meeting sometime, where I assumed they’d just finalize the standoff that had happened at the warehouse.
Still, I knew that wasn’t a carte blanche for protection because it only worked if someone who was about to hurt me knew who owned the territory, and a lot of people didn’t know. They were just getting by.
I was still going in. I needed to move before I lost Satya.
I was about to step off the block, cross the street to enter her building, when a hand grabbed my arm. My body instantly warmed, relaxing, as I was pulled against his chest. His scent washed over me, further fucking with my head because heat burst inside of me. My heart spiked.
He was here. Finally.
My mind caught up, and I rounded to shove him away from me. “Don’t—” I didn’t have time for this. “Don’t you dare follow me—”
“Where?” Creighton didn’t grab me, but he quickly shouldered me back against the nearest brick wall behind me. He loomed over me, his eyes almost glittering from the moon over us. He was all angry and sinister right now.
A sensation slid down my spine, wrapping around it.
He felt my body’s reaction and paused, giving me a once-over, which only sent heat to spread through the rest of my body. It wasn’t that I was aroused. It was the wrong time and place. It was relief because he still cared. And happiness because I’d missed him.
I instantly loathed my own body. Traitor.
“Into that warehouse? Because if you have the idea that you’re going in there alone and unprotected, baby, you are sorely mistaken.”
My heart picked up. I ignored it. “It’s none of your busines—”
“Youare always my business,” he cut me off.
My eyes slid toward the warehouse, but I didn’t think Satya had left. My gut was saying she was in there, and my gut further squeezed at the thought of who else was in there as well.
“Creighton, I—” The old exhaustion slammed over me. When he was like this, it took all of my strength to fight him. He was a wall, andhe was immovable sometimes. But I had to get in there, and I didn’t have the energy to fight him on it. Not on this.
Creighton gave me one of his usual stares, before he stepped away from me. “This is my area. There should be someone, at least one person, in there who’s connected to me. If you get into trouble, you use my name. Got it? I know you can handle yourself, but if you get in a situation, just use my name. Your girl will need you. It’ll save you time too.”
What?He never gave in, not like this, not so easily, so quickly.
Or so reasonably.
I tried getting a read on him, but it was his usual flat affect on his face. There was nothing there to read.
He gave me more space. “I can see this is important to you, and I know you think I didn’t listen to you the last time we talked. You asked for space. I’m giving you space.” A third step away, and I had to bite down on my lip because part of me didn’t want him to keep going. I wanted to reach out, grab hold of his shirt, and pull him back to me.
His hand lifted, cupping the side of my face before he touched his finger to my bottom lip. His finger smoothed over the dip in my chin. “Go, Blake.” His hand fell away.
I watched it go, and ached inside.
Why?
I didn’t have any more time to waste, and he knew it. He moved until he was in the shadows again, and I blinked, almost unable to see him at all now.
My heart hurt, but I crossed the street and went inside the warehouse.
Alarm and fear hit me hard, but I held them at bay, knowing I’d need to keep my head calm and clear in order to maneuver being inside. A guy immediately wafted over to me, his breath reeking, “Hey, ba-bee. Whatcha you doing here? Huh, honey? You here for a good time? You want a good time?”
The building was a vacant office of some sort. The front lounge area was where a few other homeless people were living. A girl was unconscious in the corner, a needle still in her arm.
I watched her chest and was relieved to see it rising at a steady pace. She was just passed out.
A hand waved in front of me. “Hey, you. Little girl. I’m talking to you.” The same guy began to get closer, his voice rising. A little sharper.
