I go to lie but stop myself. I’ve never told her who I work for or what I do. She just thinks she knows. So for her to ask this question means she’s been told something. So I keep my mouth shut and see what else she has to say.
Her eyes dart around the room before meeting mine again. “Mike told Nate that you guys worked for the Lords. That you guys kill for a living.” Her voice doesn’t waver in the slightest at her words. It’s like she almost expected it.
Mike starts to fight Alex, trying to get out the door, but Alex just pushes him farther back into the room. “How do you know about the Lords?” he demands to Mike.
Finn throws his hands up, facing Tyson. “I didn’t say shit,” he rushes out. Remembering the threat that Tyson gave us when he brought us on to work for him.
Tyson smirks. “Mike knows about the Lords because he was one once. Weren’t you, Mike?”
Mike slowly turns around to face the room but says nothing.
“But he couldn’t keep his nose clean,” Tyson adds. “When Barrington kicked him out, so did the Lords.”
This is interesting. “So Mitch …?”
“He’s not a Lord.” Mike spits out. “He wanted nothing to do with them.”
Finn scratches the back of his head. “Wait … when we arrived at your house, you said you had found them like that. Nate was dead. But Raylee just said that you spoke to Nate.”
His eyes widen, realizing that she just told on him. I step in front of her, blocking her from his view in case he decides to come for her. “He was dead.” Mike growls. “She killed him.”
Raylee reaches out and shoves me to the side, standing from the table. She stumbles on wobbly legs and pushes me away when I go to help her. She wraps the blanket around her shoulders, shielding her still naked body. “I heard everything,” she tells him, lifting her chin.
“No. She’s making shit up.” He starts laughing.
“Funny.” Finn smiles. “Nate said the same thing about her.” He refers to when we were back at the house last night, and Nate was calling her a liar when she said he was forcing her to leave with him. “He was also the one who was lying,” Finn adds.
Mike shakes his head quickly. “No. No. I’m telling the truth.”
“I heard you,” she argues.
“No!” he shouts, running his hands through his hair. His eyes dart around the room quickly. What the fuck did she hear that’s got him on edge? He lowers his voice and mumbles more to himself than anything else. “You were unconscious.”
“I was pretending.” She gives a rough laugh. “You told Nate that I wasn’t worth it. That I’m Colt’s whore. And that he’s destroyed every relationship I’ve ever had.” Taking another step closer to him, I grab her shoulders, keeping her in place. The need to protect her is strong, but I don’t want to hurt her. She’s already been injured enough. “Nate was going to let you have a piece of me. And after you guys were done with me, you’d cut me up and dump my body in the woods. Let the animals eat what was left of me.”
“You what?” I growl, stepping in front of her. He was going to kill her? Dump her body in the woods? My pulse races at the thought of anyone doing her any harm, let alone taking her away from me completely. I fucking love this woman, and I swear on my life that no one is going to hurt her ever again. I was dumb enough to let her walk away from me this morning. That’ll never happen again.
“No.” He places his hands up. “I never said that. Nate said that.”
“Then you left me there with him. Said you had to meet someone in fifteen minutes. Told him not to touch me until you got back.”
I charge him.
“Colt—”
My fist clocks him in the face before he can finish whatever bullshit he was going to say. “Alex.” I growl his name and he removes his belt. He leans down, wrapping it around Mike’s neck, yanking him to his feet and holding Mike’s back to his front, choking him.
I look over to see that she’s now standing next to me. Angry tears fall from her eyes. “You told him that you didn’t want him doing anything that couldn’t be covered up. That you didn’t want cops at your house because they found a dead body in the woods with a blood trail leading back to your place. And to sit down, have a drink, and wait. That when you returned, you’d come up with a plan together.”
I fist my busted hand, getting ready to hit him again. It’s been a while since any of us killed a guy with our fists. That’s how we got this job in the first place.