“Were those men at the hospital cartel, or bike crew?”
I didn’t skip a beat. “Cartel.”
“Are you with them? Or, no?”
I shook my head. “No. My crew is fighting them back.”
“What started that fight?”
I scoffed. “To be honest? We aren’t quite sure. We refused to sell to a customer one day, and then we blink, and we’re entrenched in a battle we’re struggling to fight.”
“So, you didn’t want to sell to them, so they figured they’d wipe you guys out and take over. Is that it?”
I furrowed my brow. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
“And because we once fucked back in the day, I’m now a target.”
“I intervened on your behalf at the hospital, so they know that you’re important to me.”
She clicked her tongue. “So, it doesn't matter that I don’t give a shit about you. All that matters is how they perceive things.”
Her words stung, but I deserved them. “Correct.”
She drew in a deep breath. “So, you want to keep me safe while you’re off fighting a war with the cartel that’ll probably get you slaughtered all because you intervened when some guy was choking me out in the hospital after his friend died on the table.”
That was news to me. “Wait, the guy died?”
She nodded. “Yeah, he did. I came in for my first night of work and the GSW victim came in. I was asked to guard the door while the doctors worked in the E.R. as best as the could. From what I gathered, he lost too much blood and they couldn’t replace it quickly enough. His body simply gave out.”
I cocked my head. “You’re not a doctor like I knew you wanted to be? Why not?”
“Focus, Dean. I still have questions.”
I sighed. “All right, all right. Yeah. Go ahead. Hit me with ‘em.”
She pushed off the couch and took a few steps toward me. “Why did you intervene the other night?”
“What?”
“You heard me. Why did you intervene? Another security guard would’ve found me, and things would’ve been just fine, butyouhad to intervene. Why? Did you know your intervention would put me in their crossfire?”
I nodded. “I had a feeling it would, but I couldn't just let you stand there and get--.”
“So, it’s technically your fault that I’m in this position right now.”
“No, you’re in this position because you stood up to them and they didn’t like it—threatening them with the police and all that shit. Now, they see you as an enemy.”
“But you didn’t know that the night you stepped in, did you?”
My back stiffened. “We have to talk about how we’re going t--.”
“Did you, Dean?”
I growled. “No, I didn’t.”
She scoffed. “So, you know your presence in my life would make me a target in the middle of some war you’re fighting, but you did it anyway because… you wanted to get your dick wet? You wanted to be back in my life? You wanted to torture me some more? Is that it?”
I took a step toward her. “You’re wanting to lay blame when all I want to do is--.”
