He’s more my age than Bane is, and yet he doesn’t hold a candle to the asshole who’s my jailer while I’m here.
“You okay?” he grins.
Sighing, I slump back in my chair. I honestly don’t know if I am or not.
I’m conflicted.
I was convinced Cooper “Bane” Benson and the Kings were the devil. That they did something to my dad, but everything I’m learning about them is saying something completely different.
I mean, they’re throwing a lot of fucking resources into finding Heather. “I’ll be better when we find the girl.”
“Wewillfind her, Frankie. I know it seems hopeless, but we’re close. I know it,” Cyber promises.
“Yeah,” I sigh. I hope he’s right.
“You can?—”
“Delivery!” Bane calls out, cutting Cyber off as he swaggers in with a tray of coffees in one hand, and a white bag with pink curly lettering in the other.
“Please tell me that’s from the Sugar Shack,” I ask, my mouth already watering at the smell of warm sweet treats filling the air.
Bane’s lips twitch as he drops the bag into my grabby hands. “It is.”
Dipping my head, I breathe in the sugary goodness. “Doin’ the Lord’s work,” I hum.
“I don’t know about alla’ that,” he chuckles, sidestepping me and pulling one of the cups of joe from the drink tray, handing it to Cyber.
Cyber eagerly accepts Bane’s offering and slugs back a long drink. “I do. Thanks, brother.”
“No problem,” Bane says, his eyes coming to me. “Y’all find anything?”
My excitement about the glazed donut holes vanishes into thin air at his question. “No.” I shake my head. “Nothing. Every time we get close, we hit another wall,” my voice breaks. I know it’s going to take time, but I feel overwhelmed, like I’m failing.
One by one, the big crocodile tears start to fall.
“Shit,” Cyber curses, his eyes rounding when he sees that I’m crying.
Bane’s eyes swing my way, and his face softens. “Hey, hey. None of that,” he says gently, pulling me into his arms, and just this once I let myself melt into his embrace. “It’s gonna be okay, baby,” he whispers.
Nodding my head, I sob. I want to believe him, but it seems impossible. Another sob slips past my lips as I hang onto Bane, trying to hold it all in, but I can’t. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for the last month, trying to find my dad and learning that the Kings were the last ones to see him alive. Or so I thought. And then sneaking around the dark web, draining Bane’s bank, which I now feel really bad about because he clearly isn’t the man I thought he was. He’s trying to save an innocent girl from real monsters. I’m such a bad person.
I cry harder.
“We’ll find her, babe. I promise we will.”
After a long beat, I finally rein in my emotions. “I’m sorry,” I apologize, rubbing my nose against the soft fabric of his t-shirt.
“For crying all over me, or using me as your personal tissue?” He teases, rubbing my back in a soothing motion.
Closing my eyes, I lean more heavily against his solid chest. “Both.”
“You’re tired, baby. You need some sleep.”
I sigh, nodding. I am tired, and I like it when he calls me baby, which is a whole other problem I don’t have the mental capacity to deal with right now.
“She good to leave for a while?” I hear Bane ask Cyber as he tightens his arm around my back.
I turn my head to see Cyber flashing me a sympathetic grin. “Yeah, I think a shower and some shut-eye sounds like a good idea.”
