Page 69 of Cole

They started to make small talk about the shop, one of them drawing laughter at some comment before their chitchat stopped short. I almost lifted my head to find out why before I remembered where I was and who I was hiding from. For a long beat, all I could hear was the wind shifting through the broken windows and trees, but something must have caught the Hounds’ attention.

And then headlights broke through the darkness of the industrial district. Three black SUVs pulled into the lot, the windows dark and the license plates missing. I stayed motionless, my heartbeat pounding against the cold metal of the container beneath me.

Fuck.

twenty-two

COLE

The lot hummed with tension as we watched three SUVs pull in and park in a neat little row. Their headlights were blinding, but I refused to put my hand up to block the glare. Gage, Maddox, John, and Burke stepped in line behind me, quiet and waiting. The SUVs sat idling, black and heavy as the night surrounding us, as their drivers waited for the word to move.

I kept my stance loose, but I was ready, my weight balanced, and my Glock resting against my hip. My eyes didn’t stop moving, scanning the shadows and the roofline of the warehouse.

The sound hit me before the lights broke through the darkness of the side road. A single bike engine was tearing straight for us. My jaw clenched, and I tasted blood as I ground my teeth together.

Finn.

I should have known he would pull something like this on the one night I needed to keep a clear head. He slid into the lot like he owned the place, turning so sharply his tires spat gravel. His jacket was half zipped, and his hair was windswept. He killed the engine and hopped off his bike with a swagger he had no right to.

“Made it,” he announced with a shit-eating grin.

I was on him before he could take another step.

“Have you lost your goddamn mind?” I ground out through clenched teeth. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

He blinked, confusion sweeping across his face.

“You were not invited. I didn’t give you any orders to be here,” I snapped. “You don’t walk into a handoff of this size without my say-so. You hear me?”

“The kid’s going to get us all killed,” Gage muttered under his breath.

Maddox stood as still as stone, arms crossed in front of him. He had a glint of anger in his eyes that didn’t find its way there often.

“You told me I could come!” Finn said.

“Like hell I did,” I growled at him.

Finn looked so confused. “You left me a note at The Clutch. I got it after you’d left… you said to hang back, watch for tails… I did what you wanted.”

I stared at him a long moment. I’d left him a note? Nope, didn’t happen. Something else was going on. Someone wanted Finn here to throw me off, and it was fucking working.

Finn straightened his shoulders. “Anyway, I can handle it. I can show you⁠—”

“You can handle shit when I say you can,” I shot back at him, injecting coldness into my voice. “Not a moment before then. You’re lucky that I don’t put your ass back on your bike and ship you back home.” It was too late to send him away, but I needed him to get that this wasn’t a fun outing.

“So I get to stay?” Finn asked with a flicker of hope.

“Only because if I send you back now, they’re going to find it suspicious,” I said, subtly nodding toward the three SUVs. “You keep your mouth shut tonight. Not a single damn word. You stand behind Gage and Maddox, and you don’t breathe unless I tell you to. You got that?”

Finn worked his jaw before nodding once.

“Say it,” I said with a sharp glare.

“I’m not a kid,” Finn muttered. “This is humiliating.”

“You are a kid!” I spat back at him. “Now fucking say it like you mean it.”

“Yes,” he said, loud and defiant.