“I’m not. But when Rose calls in the middle of the night, asking for me to help her friend…” his eyes moved to Hadley, “…I answer.”
I was actually relieved. There wasn’t much my brothers could do being so far away and traveling together in a group brought more attention than we wanted.
Angelo on the other hand, he was smooth. He moved like a shadow in the darkness, and the added bonus was, people didn’t fuck with him. He worked for Anthony DePalma, Rose’s uncle. We’d come to heads with them a while back, but when push came to shove, the DePalma family held the same values as we did—family first.
With Rose now Blizzard’s Old Lady, it connected us.
“You think you can drive another hour?” he asked.
I felt fatigued, but if going with them meant that Hadley would be safe, I’d fucking stay awake. “Yeah.”
He nodded, waving to his men to get into the vehicle parked just out of sight across the street. “Follow us. I have a house you can spend the night at. Tomorrow, we discuss what’s going on.”
I nodded. I knew that if Angelo was here, Blizzard and Optimus knew. Rose would never do this without her man’s permission so I would trust them.
We followed their car into the night. Hadley asked me question after question about who they were and their relationship with Rose. We talked about the rest of the club, what had happened earlier, and how Rose’s father had manipulated and tortured her.
I think her plan was to keep me talking so I’d stay awake, rather than just wanting to know the story.
I was relieved when we finally pulled up to a large home, with gates surrounding the perimeter. Angelo led us inside, leaving his men outside the front door. A woman in a robe greeted us at the door, and he laid a soft kiss on her cheek, thanking her. She seemed nervous, but I could tell she trusted him.
“Go back to bed,” he told her quietly, brushing his hand across her cheek. “I’ll come up after the guests are settled.”
She nodded, turning and walking up the staircase.
Angelo directed us down the hall, pushing open a doorway into what I assumed was a guest bedroom. I guided Hadley inside with my hand on the small of her back. She moved over to sit on the bed. I stood in the doorway, turning to Angelo. “Girlfriend?” I asked with a smirk.
“Friend,” he replied, giving nothing away. “We will talk in the morning.”
He turned and walked back down the hall before I had a chance to reply.
I rubbed my hand over my short hair. It was now 5.00 a.m. We’d been up almost twenty-four hours, and after the rush of everything that had happened that night, I was ready to shut my eyes and prepare myself for tomorrow.
I needed to be on my game. Therefore, I needed to rest while I could.
Hadley was already stripping and climbing into the bed. “This is good, right?” she asked.
I walked over, pulling my cut off and lying it on the end of the bed. I wasn’t sure what would happen tomorrow, and how willing Angelo would be to help when he found out we were mixed up in a mess with the FBI. But we would deal with it then. “Yeah. This is good.”
I hope.