“You already know the story,” I reply without looking at him.
“I mean now. Why does she still have you by the balls?”
Because I’m still in love with her. Because I never got over her. Because I hate myself for fucking it up. Because she was the only girl ever to captivate my heart and soul. “She doesn’t have me by the balls. You know it’s better to keep them in your pocket than your enemy.”
“You have that wrong. She has you in her pocket. You know damn well you don’t keep people like her in check.”
I finally look at him. “People like her?”
He looks at me like he’s talking to someone that’s slow. “Violent. Murderers. Criminals. Do I need to keep going?”
I shake my head. I refuse to keep having this same argument with him. I know what they are because I used to be one of them. I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t thought about turning over what I have on Ryder fucking Venchelli to put him under the prison and away from Alessa for the things Jay just described, but it wouldn’t do any good. I hate Ryder with every fiber of my being, and every cross word that comes out of his mouth toward me pushes me that much closer to getting rid of him for good. I tolerate the rest of her guys, Gage, more than others because I witnessed what his dad did to him more than once when he couldn’t deal with Gage’s ADHD and mood swings. He isn’t my friend, but he isn’t my enemy either.
“Ignore me all you want, Zane, but one day, these little jobs youdo for her will bite you right in the fucking ass, and the only one who will go down for anything is you.”
Deep down, I knw that she’ll throw me right under that bus if I ever get busted for running her jobs. “I won’t get caught.”
“Come on,” he says harshly, “Get your head out of her ass. You need to move on. Find you another girl. A good girl.”
I shrug. “I don’t want a good girl. I don’t want a girl, period.”I just want her.
“Man,” he throws his head back against the seat in exasperation, “wasn’t she just seen getting close to the new Perez brother?”
I used to be able to follow her all over social media and watch her every move like a fucking stalker, but she’s been missing from any paparazzi pictures for over a week. The last picture I saw of her was the night she was seen leaving her favorite restaurant, Catch 35, with a guy no one knew. I found out who he was in minutes, except he came back as Leonardo Janelle, not Leonardo Perez. That shock came later when he was pictured with Evander and Mateo Perez, except no one had put the connection together until now. What she was doing with them after what their father did is beyond me. They are also on the list for investigation, and I have no ties to them, so it’s easier to give over information. One wrong move and the Perez brothers are going down.
“It was just dinner,” I point out. “And she can do what she wants.” I look closer out the window. Tall, slim, pants hanging off his skinny ass, pale white face, greased back blonde hair. “There he is,” I say, nodding toward my informant. He walks to the driver's side window, leaning in like he’s doing a drug deal.
“What’s up, Jeffrey?” I greet him with his real name with a grin.
His eyebrows turn down over his watery blue eyes. “It’s Playboy.”
“I need information,” I tell him, ignoring that stupid ass name.
“On what?” he asks, casting a nervous glance around.
“6567 Mikee. In that white building.”
“The apartment with all the kids?”
I nod. “What do you know?”
“They sell for Xander out of there.” Xander is the leader of theVipers, the gang who runs this part of town, and a thorn in my fucking side. “They had twins that slang out here, but they disappeared, man.”
I frown. “Disappeared?”
“Disappeared, bro. Like they ain’t here no more.”
“When?”
“Yesterday. They were at their corner, and this dime in a black Explorer talked to them, and they got into a car with a big bald dude.”
Jay raises an eyebrow thinking the same thing as me. “What did this dime look like?”
“Yo, man, she had black hair and a fat ass.” He bites his lip and groans. “Fuckin’ dime.”
“Did she have anyone with her?” Les isn’t the only girl with black hair running around, but Ryder drives a blacked-out Ford Explorer. Coincidence?
“Four dudes. One of them was the crazy one who busted up Xander’s garage a month ago for not following the rules.” That would be Gage Lawson, so it was Alessa. But where are the missing twins?
