Allen smiles. “Look at that, us all being friends. You bringing her in?”
“Nah, not worth the trouble.”
“Too bad,” he says, eyes dragging down her body in a way that makes me want to fucking stab him. “See you at the station.”
As they drive off, Grace’s furious eyes burn a hole in my head.
Only when the cruiser is out of sight do I turn back to her.
I clear my throat. “Grace?—”
“Screw you,” she seethes, stepping closer. “And so you know. You put your hands on me in any way other than to uncuff me, Iwillnotbe a willing participant. You willnevertouch me again. Not like that.”
“I didn’t mean it, all right?” I rake a hand through my hair. “It’s just, Allen?—”
“I don’t give a fuck about him. You shit on the Sinners, on Axe and Jack, for being what they are? But you’re worse than them. At least they know who they are. You don’t stand for anything. Pick a fucking lane, Linc. Either be a piece of shit or don’t. But don’t go pretending you did that for anyone but yourself. Now uncuff me.”
With a sigh, I stuff my hand in my pocket and find the key. “You gonna try and hit me again?”
“Not worth the trouble,” she bites as she gives me her back.
I do what she asks. I uncuff her. I don’t touch her as she slides into the back of my cruiser. We don’t speak again. And she doesn’t look back when she walks up the stairs leading to Triss and Jack’s place and slams their bright red door in my face.
13
With a long,irritated sigh, I shift in the low office chair across from Axe’s desk. My legs stick to the leather like glue, and every time I move, I feel like a gross, sweaty suction cup being peeled off glass.
“No AC in here?” I ask, fanning myself with my loose white T-shirt.
The temperature has cooled significantly since the sun set, but Axe’s office hasn’t gotten the memo. The small room nestled at the back of Donovan’s Auto Repair has gotta be ten degrees hotter than it is outside.
Axe glances up from his phone, face scrunched into his usual scowl, but quickly drags his focus back to his screen.
I sigh again, sliding lower in an attempt to free my bare legs from the grip of the chair. “Are you doing this on purpose?”
“Doing what?” he asks without looking up.
“Yousummonedme in here, and now you’re not saying anything. It’s like you’re… punishing me. You got something to say or not? Because I can leave?—”
“Attitude,” he warns. “There’s no leaving until I’m done talking.”
I let out a frustrated growl. “Then talk.”
He sighs. “I was expecting your brother to join us. He’s responsible for you while you’re in town, so he should hear this.”
“You’remy brother.”
He snorts. “Barely.”
My responding sigh, this one longer and more exaggerated, makes mynot brotherglower.
“You doingthaton purpose?” he asks.
“Doing what?”
“Trying to annoy me.”
“Yes,” I say with a tight smile.
