Was Allora targeted?
If she was, it means it was someone close to her. An ex-boyfriend? Lover? A jealous colleague? It’s hard to imagine this kind of revenge but it happens.
Now it’s my job to figure it out.
Chapter Eighteen
Allora
I recognize my dad’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle the moment we pull up to the Shadow Security headquarters. It’s teal blue with black flames on the body and my mother’s name embroidered on the leather seat. I also see Pete’s cherry-red bike and Metal’s blue one. Metal—his legal name is Arthur Conway but no one has ever called him Arthur, not even when we were kids—is one of the only guys in the club I can stand. We’re the same age and went to school together starting in middle school. His nickname was Metal because he likes heavy metal music and refuses to listen to anything else. It stuck when he joined the club.
If I was smart, I would have dated him instead of Pete, but we’re all dumbasses when we’re teenagers. I’m positive he wouldn’t have become a prospect if we’d been together because he wanted out as much as I did. He just didn’t have anywhere else to go as another kid in the foster system.
At least now he has some semblance of a family with the club.
Elliott grabs my bags and we go inside.
“Hey, Allora!” Luna smiles from behind the reception desk and I grin at her purple hair. The last time I saw her it was red.
“Great hair,” I tell her.
She makes a face. “Thanks! But my hairdresser told me it’s all going to break off if I keep changing the color.”
“Well, I know a great deep conditioner,” I say, moving to the desk and grabbing a business card. I turn it over and write down the name. “Once a week, without fail. Your hair will thank you. It’s pricey but worth every penny.”
Her eyes widen. “Thanks, I’ll give it a try!”
“Mornin’, darlin’.” Pete comes across the lobby with a smile.
It’s a shame he’s so good-looking because he really is an asshole. Even at seventeen I knew he wasn’t the guy for me, but he’s never stopped trying. One of a million reasons I avoid the club.
“Hey.” I glance up with a polite smile.
“Face is healing,” he says, nodding. “You’re looking good.”
“Thanks.” I start to move away but he takes my arm.
“You, uh, think we could talk?”
I arch my brows. “About what?”
He glances over at Luna and then pulls me farther away, so she can’t hear.
“You know. About us.”
I sigh. “There is nous, Pete. It’s been nearly ten years.”
He shrugs with his signature sheepish grin. “Can you blame a guy for not wanting to lose the best thing he ever had?”
“I repeat—it’s been a decade. Besides, you have a different bunny in your bed every night.”
His eyes narrow. “That’s just sex. And it’s not like your bed has been empty all these years.”
“I was simply pointing out that you’re not pining for me.”
“A man has needs.”
“And you should absolutely take care of those needs. Just not with me.”
