A shaky smile curves my lips. “Thank you, Wynter.”
“No problem. These sneaky fuckers wonder why they’re having trust issues with their members and they go and set up shit like that.”She sniffs. “Well, I’m not shady. In my world, a snitch doesn’t get stitches. They just get long-term residency in a shallow grave.”
I grab her hand. “You don’t know what that means to me.”
“Wouldn’t you have done the same for me?”
“You know I would.”
“Then I wasn’t speaking out of my ass.”
“Why didn’t you mention it?”
“I completely forgot about it,” she admits with a wry twist of her lips. “I got into this massive argument with one of my… friends back home, and he was the reason I headed to the liquor store in the first place. I needed to clear my head.
“Then that prick comes in and thinks he can threaten my people?! Ha. By the time I returned to the house, a stripper had made an appearance?—”
“At a baby shower?”
“Fucked-up senses of humor,” she drawls. “Anyway, it turned out that Link, he’s Lily’s partner, had sabotaged the stripper and was giving everyone a show. My mom and I had to make sure he hadn’t disposed of the stripper permanently, and that whole BS just faded to the back of my mind.”
Anxiously, I pluck my ladybug hairpin from my bun and twirl it between my fingers. “I bet.”
“Story of my life.” Wynter pulls a face. “We’re here.”
“Shit.”
This time, we’re not manhandled out of the car.
But the driver and his other goon open both doors and we exit on our own.
I make sure all the buttons on Maxim’s coat are fastened and I take the opportunity to breathe in his aftershave—there’s peace in that scent. Home. Happiness.
I just need to get back to him.
It’s freezing outside, but I make the decision to walk barefoot. Whatever I’m facing, I’ll be safer with frozen toes than in ridiculously high stripper heels.
I may look like the blonde in a horror movie, but I won’t be killed as easily as one.
“Think they’ll kill us?” Wynter whispers, her thoughts unerringly mimicking mine as I toss the shoes in the back seat.
“I doubt it. But… there’s always a risk. I won’t let them hurt you, Wynter.”
Her hand snags mine and I cling to hers in turn.“Same.”
Together, we approach the building, well aware that the driver and goon are shepherding us toward it.
A few short steps later and we’re back in the foyer.
And thank fuck for that—can frostbite settle in that damn fast?
Even as I study my pedicured toes that are stinging like they’ve been dipped in hydrochloric acid, I realize we’re alone.
“No Jerry,” she whispers.
“No.” I force myself not to wring my hands. “Shame.”
“Yeah. I thought…”
