A noise draws my attention, and my gaze slides down the alleyway to where a man is rummaging through the trashcans. It’s dark and creepy, but I can’t just walk away from him when it looks like he’s starving.
Everyone else is walking by, not even sparing a glance to the man in the alleyway, acting as though it doesn’t exist as long as they don’t look. The sidewalk is safe and clean. The alleyway is as grimy and dirty as he is.
Against my better judgment, I decide to do what’s right and walk toward him, stepping over some piles of trash he’s already tossed out in his hunt for something edible. As I slide my phone into my pocket, I hear my father’s voice in my head. “Never approach anyone alone, no matter how much you want to help them. If something goes bad, you can’t handle it alone, Bo. Trust me.”
“Do you need food?” I ask him, maybe feeling a little bit defiant as I move deeper into the alley. The sidewalk isn’t too far away. I’m safe enough.
His head jerks toward me, and he eyes me cautiously. Anyone who has been cast aside and forgotten always has those haunted, pained eyes. His are harder, letting me know this life has been his for a long time.
My first instinct is to retreat. When someone’s eyes are that hard, there’s a stronger possibility they’re dangerous. But I’ve been the selfish one lately, drowning in my own misery and not being the person I truly am.
The least I can do is make sure he gets a real meal, even if he isn’t someone I can save.
“I’m hungry,” he says in a gravelly, deep voice. He’s so skinny, but he’s tall. His beard is unruly, and I can smell his stench from here, even though he’s five feet away.
His eyes dart around us, as though he’s expecting a trap of some sort, but I pull open my purse to fish out some money. With my head down, I never see him approach, and years of sneaking around has taught him enough stealth to not make a sound.
The only thing that registers is the pain that explodes against the side of my face, and my vision dimming as I crash to the ground, banging my knees hard enough to split them open on impact. My hands barely shoot out in time to stop my face from slamming into the pavement just as hard.
The unmistakable taste of copper and rust invades my mouth as blood slowly trickles out from between my lips. Something jerks my arm, and I end up falling to my back as my purse is ripped away. The pounding of footsteps rushing away is the last thing I hear before my vision is swarmed with little black dots.
Chapter 47
JAX
Bo isn’t here. In fact, it doesn’t look like she has any intentions of coming. I’ve been here for over two hours, possibly three. Hell, I beat most of the Sterlings over here.
I keep nursing my beer, staring at the gate to Corbin’s backyard as all the others laugh and enjoy the gathering.
Ruby walks in front of my gaze, cutting it off as she puts her hands on her hips.
“You didn’t really think it’d be that easy, did you? Lure her here? Ambush her with another apology? She’s sick of apologies, because that means someone fucked her over. Again.”
I reach over and grab the steak knife from the patio table and hand it to her. She takes it, but she looks confused.
“If you want to cut me, then do it literally. I can’t really handle too much more right now.”
Her eyes soften, and she slowly lowers herself to the seat beside me.
“If I could talk to her about you, I would,” she finally confesses. “Right now, I’m the only person she’s letting around her. I can’t screw that up by pushing her, or she might shut down again.”
I nod absently. Ruby doesn’t owe me any favors, so I don’t ask anything of her. It would be selfish to ask her to do anything anyway, since Bo needs at least one person she feels is on her side. Ruby’s the one who can give her that. She’s loyal. She doesn’t fuck her over.
“I thought it would be resolved by now. I realize I handled shit bad, but couples argue all the time.”
“Bo doesn’t argue,” she says quietly. “Ever. At least not passionately. She shuts down when people argue too intensely and gives them what they want. Which is why her family tends to bully her without even realizing they’re doing it. You wanted out. She gave you that. Until you, she hasn’t ever been passionate about anything but design.”
Really wish she’d just use that knife and get it over with.
“This is more about her dealing with her own issues than dealing with you right now. I don’t know if she’ll work through it, but I hope she does. I’ve never seen her like this, and I think it’s because she’s never opened herself up the way she did with you. She felt like an equal for once.”
Ruby clears her throat like she’s getting emotional, and I try not to get emotional with her.
The gate opens, and I sit straight up, feeling a knot ball up in the pit of my stomach as hope inflates my chest, but just as quickly, I sag back in defeat when Rye walks through. However, I tilt my head when a fuming Brin walks in right behind him with green hair.
“The hell happened?” Maverick asks, laughing as Brin scowls at him.
Rye is grinning smugly as he grabs a beer from the cooler, and Brin turns to glare daggers at his back.