Manageable.
I feed in bills and buy everything that looks edible. Chips. Crackers. Peanut butter cups. Two granola bars pretending to be healthy. A bottle of water. Then another.
My earpiece crackles.
Ghost again.
I stare at the motel room door down the narrow back lane.
Inside is a woman with baby blue eyes, scraped hands, and a missing sister. Salazar’s men know her name. Landon wants her handled. And I’ve just put myself between her and whatever comes next without talking to my prez or my brothers, with nothing solid beyond keeping her breathing.
Smart.
Real damn smart.
I should be thinking about logistics.
Routes.
Cameras.
How fast the club can mobilize.
Instead, I keep feeling her teeth in my palm and her hands around my waist.
I tap the mic.
Ghost answers before I say a damn word.
“You secure?”
“For now.”
“The girl?”
My gaze stays on room twelve.
A shadow moves behind the curtain, small and restless.
“With me.”
Ghost goes quiet.
He knows me too well.
“That a problem?” he asks.
“No,” I say.
But I don’t look away from the door.
And the lie sits heavy on my tongue.
Chapter 3
Talia
Assoonasthedoor shuts behind Shadow, I lock it.
