"No." I bite at the inside of my lip, the bridge that's collapsed between us too far gone to repair. She was my best friend, but she lied to me, kept things from me, and sabotaged my potential happiness. How can I ever forgive her for that? And how could she ever forgive me for the outburst the other night and the mean things that I said to her and Simon? I don't have much longer until my fate is sealed with Ricardo, and I'm not ready to consider whether we could salvage things. It's better if I leave what we had in the past and accept that it's one less loss I have to deal with in a week if I deal with our demise now.
"It'll take time," Miller says, confirming my exact train of thought.
Time that I don't have.
"Anyway," he starts again. "Dom and Johnny are aligned. West and East Coast. Following me so far?"
I nod. "Yeah."
"I work for Johnny. I handle things for him."
"Okay."
Miller speeds through a light as it turns yellow. "Essentially, that means I'm the one dealing with stuff on the West Coast, the alliance and its business together."
"Right."
"Some of that said business has been having trouble lately. Logistical trouble. Shipments going missing. Being confiscated by the police. Big ones, little ones, even the decoys."
"And you're convinced Ricardo has something to do with this?"
"Exactly." Miller slows down to stop at a red light, his hand still gripping my thigh. He looks over at me, sighs, and grabs my chin to pull me toward him as he kisses my lips. "Goddamn, you're breathtaking." He returns his attention to driving, my heart speeding up as quick as the accelerator of this car is.
Does he have no idea the effect he has on me when he does things like that?
"So far, I haven't been able to prove it, but there's no way it isn't him." Miller carries on with his story unbothered. "I got the name of a guy working for Dom who is supposed to be the double agent, the one working both sides."
"I'm familiar with what a double agent is, I watch TV."
"Right, yeah." Miller laughs dryly. "Supposed to be meeting him tomorrow with Silver."
"I want to come."
"Absolutely-fucking-not."
"Why?" I ask him even though I know he's going to mouth off some shit about keeping me safe.
"Do I need to explain, really?"
"I'd be with you and Silver, are you seriously worried something's going to happen to me when I'm with you two?"
Miller keeps his sights trained ahead like I may have brought up a valid point. He slows to turn onto the street the hospital is on.
"And, you wouldn't have to wonder if I'm okay while you're doing your thing, because I'd be with you."
Miller pulls into an open parking spot and puts the car into park. "Not happening."
I cross my arms over my chest, ignoring the pain that shoots through me. I hate how fragile my stupid body is.
"You can pout all day long."
I push out my bottom lip and bat my eyelashes for extra emphasis.
"You're killing me."
My lips curl up into a smile. "Is that a yes?"
Miller rolls his eyes. "It's alet me think about it."
