“Just spit it out. The suspense is killin’ me.”
I swear to fucking god a chill runs up my spine when he says, “I don’t know who to trust.”
I’ve never seen him like this. He’s not unglued, per se, but he’s worried. Worried enough to come to me, the person he hates the most. He really is more fucked up than I once thought.
“And you think you can trust me?”
“No, I know I can. You’d never put Willow in harm’s way, not on purpose.”
I like that he thinks I’m incorruptible, not that I really believe him. He needs my help and he’s out of options, but what’s worse is the idea that his words are really true.He doesn’t know who to trust.
This is serious.
“What happened? Start from the beginning.”
“Assuming you have a decent bottle of scotch stashed around here?”
Jesus, things must be bad if he’s asking for liquor. I don’t like this one little bit.
I press the intercom on the desk phone. Nova picks it up. “What now?”
“I’m gonna need you to go to the store after all,” I say, ignoring her sarcasm. “A bottle of top shelf scotch.”
“Anything else, your Royal Highness?”
I’ll deal with her later. “Just that, and make it snappy.” I hang up. Sitting back in my chair, I prepare myself. “You were sayin’?”
A moment passes, and I think he’s still trying to figure out if I’m full of shit or not.
“You can trust me,” I remind him. “Despite everything in the past, you know I’d lay my life down for Willow if I had to.”
He runs a hand through his hair. “That’s why I’m here. There’s been a threat on my daughter’s life. It seems as though there are some people who don’t like the idea of her making captain.”
“There’s a threat on Willow and you’re sitting here with me?”
“She’s with her brother.” He shifts in his seat. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear.”
Huh. Willow didn’t say anything earlier, and that brother of hers is a loose cannon. A big heart, yes, but wild all the same.
“Didn’t hear what?”
“Max is part of the Ridgehaven Hellions now.” His tone indicates he’s very unhappy about that, but also not entirely surprised.
Our Mississippi brothers. No fucking way.
“Since when?” I balk.
Bane is the MC prez over in Mississippi and we have an alliance. I can’t imagine fucking Max being useful to any of them, but he must be prospecting.
“That doesn’t matter right now, what matters is she’ll be safe until I can get back.”
“And then what? If there’s been a threat, we need to deal with it.”
“As I said, that’s why I’m here. Do you think I haven’t thought about all the consequences of my even being here?”
“What about your trusty friends on the force?” I throw back. “And anyway, we made sure the majority of corrupt cops went down not so long ago if you recall.”
“Like I said before, I can’t trust anyone.” He shifts again, and an uneasy feeling washes over me. “I have to show you something.” He pulls out his phone and slides it across the desk.
