MONROE
Icouldn’t get comfortable. My insides were quivering, and I felt like I was about to crawl out of my skin. I’d joked with Loren that we needed to talk about her and Wells finding ways to stop bullets, but if my current predicament was any indication, I wouldn’t fare well if this continued. I was barely keeping it together, and it felt like at any second, I could lose everything.
“I can’t sit here anymore. I need to do something.”
Topher looked over at me, his eyes a little vacant, and I wondered what he was thinking. It didn’t matter though, even if he felt bad, it didn’t compare to what I felt. That might be selfish of me, it might be narcissistic of me, but I didn’t care. Not right this second, anyway.
“Where are the others?” I asked, standing as I started to pace. The sterile waiting room we’d been sequestered to for the past hour felt like a different kind of prison.
“I don’t know. It’s like my messages don’t go through. No one is answering. They haven’t since I spoke with Sax on the phone.”
“Isn’t there some type of protocol for these types of situations, then? I mean, you’re the fucking mafia, shouldn’t there be a chain of command?”
He looked at me, nonplussed by my outburst, probably because he was the fuckingmafia.
“That’s what we’re doing. We go to Doc’s, avoid the hospital, and meet up at a safe location. We’re on step two. How did you know to come there?”
He looked at me suspiciously for the first time, and I didn’t like it. “I got a message to meet at Loren’s office that something had gone down at the meeting. It was vague and short, like most of Sax’s text messages.”
“Interesting you showed up when you did.”
“Are you seriously asking me if I had anything to do with shooting my girlfriend? Are you insane?” I screamed, finally losing it.
The noise startled the dogs and our hostage, who was duct-taped together sitting in a chair. Topher had been relieved when I showed up, struggling to know what to do with Loren's bleeding and the asshole responsible for it writhing on the floor in pain. It had been a cluster, but we’d worked together to secure everyone and came here. But now he was questioning me? I shook my head, screwing up my face as I looked at him.
“Deal with your feelings and quit pushing the blame on me. As far as I’m concerned, we’re on the same side. So quit pointing fingers, and let’s figure out how to deal with this. Shit, why am I always having to be the parent? My girlfriend—”
“Is fine,” a voice said behind me, and I whipped around so fast, I almost fell over. Loren stood in a doorway, an elderly man behind her. He gave me a soft smile and nodded, patting her on the shoulder.
“Rest. I’ll see you next week for a follow-up, dear. Atticus knows where to send the money.”
Loren smiled, though her eyes were tired, and her arm was in a sling. I ran toward her, stopping before I crushed her in my arms, gently patting her.
“I’m not breakable, Roe. You can hug me. Besides, right now, I’m on such major pain pills, I doubt I’d feel a truck hitting me.”
“Let’s not test it to find out, okay?”
She gave me a crooked smile, and I knew she was putting on a good front. I could see the exhaustion on her face and the effort it took for her to stand. Placing my arm around her shoulders, I led her over to a chair. Topher had stood as well, looking her over carefully. I wanted to punch him for putting his eyes on her, but even I could tell it was all clinical. I didn’t know if it was out of genuine concern for her wellbeing or if he just didn’t want to be the one to tell Atticus or Sax she’d been shot on his watch.
“It’s just a graze, Topher. When you knocked the gun, I suppose it went wide. I can’t believe the fucker had actually tried to shoot me.” Loren shook her head, sighing in exasperation. “I’m so glad I squashed his balls.” She chuckled to herself, her eyes closing as she let herself relax.
“Now, do we head to that safe place?” I asked, ready to get out of the back alley doctor's office we were in.
“Yes. Can you get her and the dogs? I’ll get the asshat.”
“Yeah.” Together, we managed to get the passengers into the SUV. My phone buzzed as I buckled Loren in, and I pulled it out, happy to see messages coming through finally. I’d given Topher a hard time, but I’d also noticed a severe lack of messages in the past hour.
Wells: I’m bored. Entertain me dammit
Wells: Tell Kitten to send me a sexy pic
Sax: Status update?
Sax: Fucking hell, dude. What’s going on?
Sax: I’m going to kick your ass if you don’t report in.
Sax: That’s it. You’re grounded.