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"Ah, yeah," I mumbled, looking up into his deep blue eyes and feeling a heaviness settling on my chest.
And through the heat and the pressure of trying to fit in and the ever-present worry about what could happen to me at any moment if they found me or The Henchmen found me out, I felt another realization dawn on me- Repo was trouble.
First, because he was in charge of me.
Second, because he was attractive and I wasn't exactly unaffected.
Third, because he was definitely willing to take me to bed.
Normally having a really hot, somewhat alpha badass you were attracted to who wanted to take you to his bed would be a good thing. But for me, yeah, it was another major complication. If he decided to act on his attraction, I was in for some deep shit. Because I would have to turn him down. And turning him down would bruise his ego. And bruising his ego could be enough for him to want to kick me out.
Shit. Shitshitshit.
"Maze," Repo's voice called in a way that was almost... soft. When my eyes found his again, he exhaled a little heavily. "Relax. That's not a line I'm crossing."
I swallowed hard. "It's not a line I'd let you cross," I countered, but a part of me was pretty sure it was bluster.
"So we understand each other," he said, taking a step back. I was getting ready to step away when he quirked a brow. "Did I say you could leave?"
I felt myself jerk at the chastisement, biting my tongue to keep from lashing out. "No," I said, my tone clipped.
"Right. Because you're going to keep your ass right here and hand me tools."
"Hand you tools?" I repeated, my tone a little dumbfounded.
"Yeah, probie," he said, his tone going so dead that I felt a sliver of cool rush through me. "Forget your place already?"
My place.
Nope. I definitely didn't forget that.
And I got the distinct impression that if I ever did so, for even a second, someone would be right there to remind me.FourMazeFor the next week, Repo decided to tick off me and, by extension, all of my fellow probates, by switching up patrol rounds daily with no notice. One day I was working the early morning shift, then I was informed only minutes after completing it that, surprise, I was pulling the afternoon one. With Fox. The next day, I had the overnight with Duke. The next, I was back on my early morning. Then the overnight with Renny. I was getting the impression that the overnight was too important to The Henchmen to screw with it. For whatever reason, Reign, Cash, Wolf, and Repo trusted Duke and Renny more than the rest of us and therefore always wanted one of them on the shift.
By my ninth day, I was sick.
Literally sick.
Over a week of a weird sleep schedule and being out in the unyielding heat or rain at any given time with no protection from the elements, I woke up from a short sleep to start my early morning patrol to realize that every single inch of my body was sore. I groaned as I rolled off my bunk, not realizing how weak my muscles were and collapsing into Duke's bed, my hand slamming down hard on his stomach.
He flew awake on a grunt, hand automatically moving to my throat before his eyes focused and released me. "What the fuck?" he whisper-yelled at me as I pushed myself up.
"Sorry, I... my legs gave out," I admitted, each word like swallowing glass to my sore throat.
"You sick?" he asked, taking in the croaking weirdness of my voice.
"No. Nope," I said, shaking my head and ignoring the dizziness brought on by the motion and my clogged sinuses.
"Billy, don't be a hero," he said, moving to follow me out of his bed. "I'll take your..."
"No," I snapped, wincing at how loud the word came out. It was loud enough to make Moose's snores stop as he rolled around in bed. "It's fine. I got it," I objected, biting my cheeks to keep from groaning as I bent to tie my boots.
"Ace, come on," Duke said, reaching out as I straightened and putting a hand at the side of my neck. "You're burning up..."
"I'm fine. Go back to sleep. Sorry I woke you."
With that, I made my way up to the stairs, cringing when each step made me feel like I used to at twelve, lying in bed with growing pains bad enough to prevent me from walking.
It was okay. I just had to make it a couple of hours and then I could take a handful of medicine and crash. Plenty of people had to do worse jobs feeling a whole lot shittier than I did right then.
I grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen and made my way outside to find Renny. "Violet, you look like hell," he said as I approached at my grandma pace.
