“And to think, I always looked up to you,” I hiss. “But you’re no better than him.”
“That’s enough,” Damien booms. “You do not talk to my consigliere like that.”
“Pfft,” I scoff, backing toward the door. “You should take this as a lesson, Boss, and be careful who you trust.”
Damien’s jaw pops with irritation, but he says no more.
“I need you working tonight. If you’re capable.”
“You don’t need to doubt my ability, Boss. My loyalty to you isn’t in question right now.”
I blow out of the room without saying anything else. I’m pretty sure my parting statement pretty much said it all.
I don’t look up until a familiar voice hits my ears, and when I do, I find the best sight before me.
“See, I fucking told you he was still alive,” Seb taunts as my eyes fall on the others. On the guys I’ve kept locked outside my flat for the past few days.
“What the fuck, bro?” Nico barks, clearly pissed that I’ve shut him out while I drowned.
“Sorry, man. Sometimes things have just got to be done, you know?”
“Like fucking the hottest girl in the room every night of the week,” he barks, his eyes sparkling with amusement as I step closer.
The second I’m in touching distance, he throws his arm out and wraps it around my shoulder, dragging me into his side.
“You’re good though, yeah?”
I think about what I’ve just got Damien to agree to—more easily than I was expecting, I might add—and a small smile twitches at my lips.
“I will be, yeah.”
“Thank fuck for that, because we’re going to party,” he announces.
I glance at the others and notice that they’re not dressed for work.
“Don’t tell me we’re heading for Lovell again.”
“Can’t do that, man,” Theo says. “No trouble tonight though. They’ve called a ceasefire of sorts. We’re just going to hang with Archer and his boys, show our faces. Let those stupid fucks know we’re still about.”
I look down at my black hoodie and jeans, glad I left the sweats behind for the first time in days.
“Right, let’s go then.”
With Nico on one side, Theo on the other and Alex and Seb trailing behind, we make our way out of the hotel and to the car that’s waiting for us out the front.
“What’s this about?” I ask, looking around as the others pile into the back behind me.
“We’re partying, remember?” Nico says as if it’s obvious. “You didn’t want to be capable of driving home, did you?”
“No, but I need to go back to school tomorrow,” I say. Reality is calling.
“When has that ever stopped us?” Alex asks, lighting a joint. He takes a hit and then immediately passes it to me.
By the time we pull up at the Wolves’ Den, I’ve got a nice buzz on, and that combined with knowing I did the right thing back in Damien’s office means I feel lighter than I have in days, maybe even weeks. But it’s not enough. And I know it won’t be until I get a chance to see her, to talk to her, to attempt to apologise for everything I did. Assuming she lets me anywhere near her, of course.
“This place looks better than the last time we saw it,” Seb says as we nod at the two Wolves guarding the door. They’re clearly expecting us, because neither says a word as we let ourselves inside, finding the place tidied up from our previous visit.
The last thing I remember from this place was broken furniture, loud grunts and groans and the odd gunshot that echoed around the vast space as we ushered the girls out to safety.