Ugh. I bury my face in a cushion, wishing I had a crystal ball or a hotline to their minds. The timer on the oven pings, and I grab my pizza, cutting it into slices as I contemplate where I go from here.
I sit on the couch with a plate in my lap, munching on pizza, as I consider my options. I only have a short window to decide, because Sinner is expecting me to show up for training and initiation, and questions will be asked if I don’t make an appearance soon.
I remove the burner cell I purchased on the way up here and tap out Diesel’s number. Thank fuck, I had the smarts to memorize all my key contacts. He answers almost straight away. “I need you,” I say before he has uttered one word. “I’m at the cabin. How soon can you get here?”
“I’m on my way.”
Diesel shows up four hours later, and I’m roused from slumber by the simultaneous beeping of the alarm at the front gate and my ringtone. I’m spread-eagled across the couch, where I nodded off. Hauling my weary limbs up, I head to the study and grant him entry. Then, I make a fresh pot of coffee and leave the front door ajar, stifling a yawn as I wait for my badass trainer to arrive.
“Are you okay?” he asks, striding toward me and sweeping me into his arms.
“Define okay,” I mumble against his chest, sinking into his warmth and his familiarity.
“Is this something to do with what went down in Landing’s Lane?”
My eyes widen in shock. “How do you know about that?”
He purses his lips. “I keep an eye on you, Lo. You know that.”
I’m sensing that’s not the full truth, but whatever. “I was there,” I confirm, because there’s no point asking him to come here and then lying. “And Sinner pulled me aside after the fight ended to tell me he’s claiming me. Saint was supposed to take me to their training facility to start initiation, but he wanted to take me to a safe house. Galen took me to Darrow Knight instead. Passed me off in some kind of sick exchange. Darrow was meant to kill me, but I talked my way out of it, stole his car, and came here.”
Diesel’s jaw slackens. “What the actual fuck?”
I sigh, shuffling to the counter and pouring two cups of coffee. “It’s a fucking clusterfuck to end all clusterfucks, and now, I don’t know who to trust.”
“Back up there a sec,” Diesel says, accepting the cup I offer him. “Sinner isclaimingyou?”
I nod. “He says they’re admitting women to membership now. It’s a ploy to keep the heat off the guys who are apparently coming under more scrutiny from the authorities.”
“This is tied into your kidnapping.”
I bob my head, sipping my coffee to avoid spilling the entire sorry story. Diesel doesn’t know the part where The Sainthood blackmailed me into copying paperwork from my dad’s office and handing it over to them. Or that it went on for years. Or that my father knew about it and was deliberately leaving false intel for me to copy hoping to trip Sinner up, to incriminate him.
I should tell him, but I hate the thought of him thinking less of me. It doesn’t matter much in the overall scheme of things, but what does matter is Diesel’s opinion of me.
“I have their mark on my back,” I admit. “It’s why Dad arranged for the tattoo. He was trying to cover it up and protect me.”
He flops back on the stool. “Jesus Christ.” He runs a hand over his cropped dark hair. “Why is he making a move now?”
I slide onto the stool across from him. “He thinks I have stolen evidence in my possession, and he was using the guys to intimidate me into giving it up. When that didn’t work, he brought me into the fold.” I scoff. “As if that would make any difference. If I had that evidence, the only thing I’d be doing is turning it over to the police.”
Diesel sits up straighter and the vein in his neck visibly throbs. “What evidence?”
I eyeball him, hoping I’m right to trust him with all this. Not that Diesel has ever given me reason to doubt him, but I’m doubting my judgment after tonight.
This happens when you let emotions get in the way, and I’m better than that. Even if Saint hasn’t betrayed me, I have opened myself up too much, and that’s got to stop.
“Evidence that proves The Sainthood kidnapped and murdered Daphne Leydon.”
He jumps up, spilling hot coffee all down the front of his shirt. “You need to leave town. Immediately.”
I eye him curiously. “Why exactly?”
“She was the president’s niece, and he’s pulled out all the stops to find out what happened to her. There are all kinds of rumors circulating about how and why, and when this thing blows up, it will implicate everyone involved. I don’t want you mixed up in that.”
He paces, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. “I know a guy who can get you out over the border, and I have a few safe places in Europe. I can send you there.”
I walk to him, stopping his frantic pacing. “I appreciate the thought, and I know you want to protect me, but I’m not running, Diesel. I’m already in the thick of it, and I won’t rest until I nail Sinner’s ass to the wall. He killed my dad, but I might not get the evidence to prove it, so if I can pin Daphne Leydon’s murder on him and the other board members of The Sainthood, and they go down for that, at least then justice will be served.”
