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“Stop it, Theo. Please?”
He kissed my forehead and pulled me close so I was tucked under his chin and cocooned in his arms. “Go to sleep.”
By Thursday, the pain had eased enough—thanks in part to daily naps snuggled with Theo—that I was pissed. I wasn’t the type of girl who took my hits lying down. If I got knocked on my ass, I came up swinging.
Admittedly, this had been a pretty big hit, but I was done feeling sorry for myself. I wasn’t going to be afraid of my shadow just because a guy, who I already knew was scary, acted like a big scary guy. That wasn’t a surprise, and I should have expected it. The fact that Reno, and by extension, Amir, had any power over my life, made me mad enough to want to break shit.
I needed to deliver a message to Reno, but there was no way I was doing it firsthand. I may have been pissed, but I wasn’t stupid.
Amir lived off campus in a Cape Cod–style house with a big porch running along the front. It was surprisingly...housey for a gun-carrying drug dealer who was quite possibly a little psycho.
Like he knew I was coming, Amir was sitting on the porch, his feet kicked up on the rail. I climbed the steps, somewhat deflated I couldn’t pound on the door and demand he come out and speak to me.
“You look like shit, baby girl.” His face remained impassive, so I couldn’t tell if he actually cared or not.
“No kidding. You should have seen the other guy.” I snapped my fingers. “Oh, that’s right, you’ve seen him. It was your brother who backhanded me, strangled me, then let his bitches loose to kick my ass. I almost forgot.”
His jaw tightened for a beat, then he went back to being impassive. “My brother is not me.”
I shrugged. “You’re his little errand boy. Guilty by association, dude.”
He dropped his feet, braced his elbows on his knees, and steepled his fingers. “I think you misunderstand, Helen, but I’ll explain. I don’t necessarily always agree with Reno’s actions, but I am not your friend. You will not come to my home and disrespect me. Since you’re injured, I’ll let it pass, but I won’t next time. Be sure there isn’t a next time.”
“Got it.” Amir may have been the lesser of two evils, but this was a helpful reminder that he was still evil. “I wish I’d known you were a woman beater when I had a crush on you in high school. I would have gotten over you a lot faster.”
Amir’s nose twitched, and his lip curled into a snarl. “Helen…”
“No, no, I heard you. You’ll beat me bloody if I get too mouthy. My lips are sealed.”
He gave me a long look from beneath a furrowed brow, then kicked the chair beside him. “Sit. Talk. Then leave.”
I sat, only because it was easier not to stare down at him and the walk off campus had worn me out more than I would have ever admitted out loud.
I took a filled envelope out of my backpack. “This is for next week. I want it out of my possession so I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Then I need to rework my loan payments. I don’t think I can keep up the—”
“Keep it.” He pushed the envelope back to me. “No more payments.”
I clutched the envelope hard, suddenly afraid again. Was Reno calling in the entire loan? Holy Christ, was he actually going to kill me and I’d just served myself up on a silver platter?
“What the hell does that mean?” I couldn’t even pretend to keep the shake out of my voice.
Amir pressed his fingertips together, frowning hard at me. “Obviously not what you’re thinking. Chill, girl. I got a visit from your boy on Sunday. He inquired how much you owed. I told him. He was back the next day with the cash. I’m surprised he hasn’t had you down on your knees to thank him.”
My mouth fell open in shock. What the ever-loving fuck? “I owe like thirteenK.”
Loan shark interest was no joke. I could actually kill my mother for thinking it was a great idea to borrow money from Reno. I would have questioned what had been going through her mind, but I knew her well enough to know the answer: not much.
“Owed, baby. Past tense. He got you out from under that bitch.”
“Why?” I breathed out.
Amir canted his head, frown deepening. “Baby…” he cooed, “I know you’re smarter than that. That boy came here with bruised knuckles, ready to throw down if he had to, and he wasn’t doing it for his health. That was foryou.”
I still didn’t understand, so maybe I wasn’t so smart. “You’re talking about Theo, right?”
He nodded once. “I thought he was a little pussy bitch. It’s rare someone changes my mind, but I might be swayed by how he showed up for you. It’d have been better if he’d shown up a few weeks ago but can’t change history.”
I rubbed the center of my forehead, worried my brain had been more damaged from my beating than I’d thought. “Theo paid it all?”
