Chapter Twelve
AMBROS
I pullup outside Citi’s place and climb off my bike, finding Capone outside waiting for me.
“Thanks, man. I wasn’t sure if I should have called Tink or if having another woman here still wouldn’t make her feel safe.”
“She wouldn’t feel unsafe with her sister, but she wouldn’t feel relaxed either. At a guess, she’d have a plan in her head about throwing Star to Nevaeh so they could run, and Citi would provide the distraction.”
“You mean she’d be the sacrifice.”
“If it meant protecting her sister and daughter? What do you think?”
“That’s just it, I don’t know her well enough to know how she thinks. I’m pissed at Tink and Havoc for not planning this out better. I get they want to help, but this could have gone really fucking badly. The absolute last thing I want to do is scare her.”
“And Tink knows that.”
“She might, but Citi doesn’t.”
“Fuck,” I curse. He’s right. “Thanks for calling me. I should have been here. I should have thought?—”
“Dude, chill the fuck out. Even Tink and the pres didn’t think of it, and they’ve not been running themselves ragged the last couple of weeks.”
I grunt, not disagreeing with him but also not wanting to use excuses. I should have tried harder to make everything work.
“Where the fuck is Pig anyway? He was supposed to be on Citi duty today.”
“No clue. She arrived with Star alone.”
“Come on.” I jog up to the door, stopping when I realize Capone isn’t following.
“I ordered some pizzas. Should be here in a second. Go on in without me.”
I turn back to the door and knock. It takes a minute or two before the door opens a crack, the chain preventing it from opening more.
“Ambros?”
“Hey, angel.”
She looks at me warily, not that I can blame her. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you and hopefully, help make you feel a little more comfortable around Capone.”
“So Capone called you.”
“Yes,” I answer slowly, feeling like I just walked into a trap.
“So you’re only here because of him?”
“No—”
“Would you have come if he hadn’t called?”
“Yes. Maybe not tonight, but I was planning on coming tomorrow. I was just waiting for cover.”
“Cover?”
“I had someone quit at the gym and had to fire someone else. It’s left me short-staffed.”
