Page 74 of Riding Bare

Nothing is fucking good.

But I don’t tell him that. Instead, I just dip my chin in a single nod. “I guess it’s time to go home. Not much else to do.”

He doesn’t make a move immediately and instead watches me for a long moment. Arching a brow, I wait for him to say whatever it is that’s rolling around inside his head, because clearly, he’s got something going on up there.

“Gotta say, this is anticlimactic. I thought we were going to get into some shit.”

“You wanna get into some shit?” I ask.

He rests his wrist against the top of his steering wheel, then shrugs a shoulder. “Wouldn’t be opposed to having a little fun and causing a little trouble,” he mutters.

I’m not sure what we can do, because I’m going to kill someone, and I don’t think Officer Lee would want to be a party to that shit. “Next time I do something that is going to just be a little trouble and mostly fun, I’ll contact you.”

He smirks, but there’s something behind his eyes I don’t quite understand. I’ve known Lee for years, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this expression on him. I start to ask if everything is okay, but he shifts in his seat and starts the car, and we’re gone, back to Boulder City.

I’m wondering if this was the right choice to make—bringing him along with me. Maybe I should have asked Wrath or someone else. I thought Lee was a good call, that he might be able to get me some intel if I needed it.

“You ever think you picked the wrong life?” he asks.

His question comes out of the blue and startles me slightly. “Wasn’t really something I picked, more like something that was expected,” I state. “You?”

“Yeah,” he exhales. “I fucking hate my life.”

“Lee?” I ask as he continues driving.

He doesn’t say anything else immediately. His fingers grip the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white, and then he pulls the car over to the side of the highway. Luckily, it’s not a heavily traveled road, so there’s nobody behind us.

“You good?” I ask when he doesn’t say anything.

Slowly, he turns toward me, his gaze locking with mine, holding my focus for longer than I feel fucking comfortable. I start to shift backward, reaching for the door handle—whatever the fuck is going on inside his head, I don’t think I want any part of it. But then he shifts, and I’m staring down the barrel of a goddamn fucking gun.

“What the fuck?” I hiss.

“I can’t let you do whatever it is you think you’re going to do to that guy,” he whispers.

“Lee? You wanna explain to me why the fuck you’re pointing a goddamn gun at my face?”

I keep my voice even, my tone calm. As much as I want to scream in his face, distract him, and knock the gun out of his hand, I don’t do any of that. We’re in a confined space. I’m not sure I could actually win, and the alternative would be losing my life—which I’m not willing to do.

“I have to provide for my own family, Dare. You understand that now that you’re having a kid, right?”

I shake my head slowly from side to side, because I’ll never understand betrayal. Not fucking ever. Instead of telling him that, I press my lips together in a thin line to keep from telling him to fuck right off.

“I need money. That’s all. No hard feelings.”

“Want to expand on that?” I ask.

His hand is trembling slightly along with his voice, which tells me that he’s not only scared, he’s nervous, and he’s unsure. That’s fine by me. It’s better if he’s nervous. Confidence might be a fucking problem, but I can still find out what the fuck is going on and stop him. Maybe get him back to the right side of things.

“The Perovs want to see you. Specifically Rustik.”

“He can call me himself or text. He knows my number,” I state.

Lee shakes his head. “He wants me to bring you to him.”

I open my mouth to ask him just how the fuck Rustik even knew we were acquaintances, and then I realize that I gave Rustik the information when we discussed who I had in my corner and my pocket in Boulder City. I spoon fucking fed him that information just so he could fuck me over.

“You betraying bastard,” I hiss.