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f course--that might help us backtrack and figure out who the hell is at the helm of all this.”
Rupert nodded slowly. “Shift the focus. I can get behind that.”
I pointed at my brother. “Which means we need those pictures and anything you've got on them A.S.A.P.”
John cleared his throat. “I’ll get on it big-time after lunch.”
I set my drink down. “Good.”
And before anyone could say anything else, I heard the doorbell ring from inside. Signaling pizza, more beer, and the eventual need to work.
After a nice nap, though.
My body needed a fucking rest.
7
Dani
My eyes began wandering away from my textbook and over to the wall. And as I stared off toward the middle of the library, my thoughts wandered back to Max. My afternoon classes had been brutal. It was all I could do to focus in my lectures and take decent notes. I was so mentally fried by the time my second class was over that I had to take a nap before coming to the library to study.
And I still wasn’t getting much done.
What has this man done to me?
I was worried about Max. I’d sent him a couple of text messages when I got up this morning, but I hadn’t heard back from him. No phone call. No text reply. Nothing.
It had me very worried.
“Come on. Be there,” I murmured.
I pulled my phone out of my leather jacket pocket and swiped at the screen. I had plenty of messages from Hannah. Memes. Pictures. Random shit she’d heard throughout the day. Nothing from Max, though. I cleared it all out. Everything from Hannah. The one missed phone call from my mother. Just to make way for when Max got back to me. I didn’t have the capacity to speak with my parents right now. They’d hear the worry in my voice and my mouth would start running off at the first sign of them inquiring about my life. And I sure as hell didn’t have the need to speak with my roommate right now. Especially since she practically chased me out of the dorm room last night.
I hadn’t come back until I knew she was good and asleep.
Which wasn’t until about two in the morning.
I kept thinking about Max’s injuries. How beaten he had been. The blood. The pain. The way he grunted every time he moved. The man needed a doctor’s watchful eye. He needed a hospital, for crying out loud. I wasn’t even sure he’d called the doctor he told me he would. For all I knew, his brother was playing doctor and feeding Max his own necessary pain medications.
I’d never seen anything like that before.
You’ve never seen a fight in your entire life, Dani.
I picked up my highlighter and uncapped it. I had to stay focused. I had to get my mind back on track. There were videos of the lectures I’d missed posted online, which meant I had to dig out my headphones. I’m sure there were various things I needed to jot down. Things I needed to highlight in the book. And I was prepared for that.
But as I rummaged around in my backpack, I couldn't find my headphones.
“Shit,” I hissed.
“Sh!”
I whipped my head up and saw the librarian staring at me past her circular glasses. She had a mean glare on her face and her lips pursed into a tight pucker, staring daggers at me as if I’d just set off a bomb in the middle of the place. I nodded at her and silenced my movements, carefully moving my stuff in an attempt to find my headphones so I wouldn't have to go back to my dorm room just yet.
But they were nowhere to be found.
Seriously?
I closed my textbook in front of me and shoved it into the worn-out bag I’d had since my freshman year of high school. I stood up, sliding it over my shoulder to make the trek back to my dorm room.
