Dex: Be at my place tonight @ 11.
I typed a text back:Busy.
Dex: You can bring Mia. I’d love to meet her.
My jaw flexed. I quickly sent another text:You have jokes.
A picture came through. It was Mia wearing destroyed loose denim, a crop top, and her face hiding behind a pair of aviators with a market bag hanging from her arm as she crossed the street. It had to be taken just last week, which meant Dex had eyes on her, and my vision blurred from unfathomable rage.
Dex:I’ll see you tonight.
I’d left the car running on the curb and jumped out, running toward Adrian and James, who were both covered in blood. James came up and threw another fist across his jaw by the time I’d reached them, and I pushed myself between the two and smashed my palms against James’s chest to hold him back. “What’s wrong with you, mate? Cool off!”
I turned back to see Adrian swiping his fingers under his nose, regaining his balance.
“He came at me!” James shouted, pointing the finger at Adrian.
Blood soaked both of their shirts, and there was too much for it to come from either one of them. I pulled my hands back and took a step off to the side, my heart pounding hard inside my chest. “What happened?”
“It was a deal gone wrong,” Adrian frantically explained, gripping the back of his neck with both hands. “Reggi, man. He’s gone. And it’s all your fucking fault.” He launched at James again.
I jumped to intercept and gripped Adrian’s shoulders, I couldn’t hear anything aside from my anger and the heavy thumps inside my chest. “No, no, no. Tell me it isn’t what I’m thinking.” I fisted his blood-stained shirt and smashed my forehead to his. “Tell me he’s not dead.”
“He’s dead,” James confirmed from behind me, and I pushed off Adrian and ran my hands through my hair over and over, shaking my head. “I didn’t know. We were dealing with the fucking BOGs. They got one over us.”
“You set it up!” Adrian shouted. “Admit it, James. You’re jumping ship.”
“It isn’t like that, man. It wasn’t supposed to go down like that.”
My arms flew up at my sides. “You’re scared, yeah? Dex is taking off, and you’re scared he’s not bringing you along.” James had gotten nervous, made moves with the enemy for a place to go once Ghost was dead, and the Links would be nothing but a heap of rusty and brittle metal. “You’re out.”
“You can’t push me out,” James laughed. “It’s not your call to make.”
Without thinking, I grabbed Adrian’s gun from around his back, knowing it was tucked into his waistband, and cocked it before pointing it at James. “It’s my fucking call. You’re done.” James couldn’t be trusted anymore. James had gripped loyalty in his fist and crumbled it as soon as he made that deal with the BOGs. I cared too much about Adrian to watch him fall to ash at the hands of fear. I’d known desperation, and how far some of us would be willing to go. I couldn’t take the chance. “Run along, James. And if I ever fucking see you again, I won’t hesitate.”
James’ eyes bounced back and forth between the two of us before he swiped his jacket off the lawn. “Watch your back, A.” He lifted his chin, taking a step back. “At least I know I’ll be protected when the Links fall.”
Then James shook his head, turned, and walked away from us.
Adrian and I entered the home, and Dex was posted in the kitchen, counting money with a blunt between his lips. He held up a finger before licking it and sifting through the filthy heap of dosh, then pounded the stack over the counter and wrapped a band around it. “Take a look at the pictures and tell me what you think.” He slid his phone across the counter.
One of his men died tonight, and Dex’s calm behavior only fed the fury burning inside me. I snatched the phone from the counter, and my gaze scattered over numerous naked photos of Leigh. My finger scrolled through the shots, one right after the other of her lying over a pink comforter in a princess-style bed, breasts out, and a finger between her teeth. The last one was her on all fours, and her head turned back with a frown. “Who took these?”
“Hell if I know. They’re good, right? I’m sending them over to my contact to confirm the appointment. She’s perfect.” He grabbed his phone from my clenched fist and admired her picture, smoke spilling from between his lips and over the screen. “Too bad we need her innocent for the exchange, the virgin’s pussy is gonna make me a lot of money.” His finger ran over the screen, and I looked up to see the sick bloke smile.
“We’re not actually doing an exchange,” I reminded him. “I’m killing Ghost before I hand her over.”
“Yeah, right.” Dex clicked off the phone when the screen turned black and pocketed it.
“Dex …” I hissed. “What exactly is the plan?” There was something he wasn’t telling me, and I didn’t like walking into this appointment blind.
“For right now, it’s a need to know basis.” He took another long drag of the blunt before holding it out in front of me between two fingers. “Don’t fuck this up, Oliver. You have one shot at this.”
Baby Lehman arrivedtwo weeks late on August 7th, and I’d fallen asleep in Ollie’s lap as we waited in the waiting area for Summer to deliver him. There had been complications, and Summer was rushed into the operating room for an unplanned C-Section, but after a grueling sixteen hours, Ollie and I stood over the bed as Summer cradled her son.
“Do you want to hold him?” Summer asked, looking up at me through tired but joyous blue eyes.
“Oh, no. I couldn’t.” I’d never held a baby before, and I’d always destroyed everything my hands came across. “Trust me. You don’t want me to hold your child.”
