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Knew I should have checked the damn car better. I was seriously slacking. “Thanks.”
“Least I can do. You bring me the best shit. How much more you gotta go?”
MJ was one of the very few people who knew I owed Wakeman. The other person who knew didn’t give a fuck.
“About a hundred grand left.” I’d been keeping track since I started paying him back. I was so close. By graduation, I would be done, and then bam, there would be nothing tying me to him anymore. I’d be halfway across the world, sipping coffee on a beach and watching the waves while the sun rose.
“Wipe that dreamy look off your face, girl,” MJ said and gestured to the tracking devices in my hand. “There are two different ones. That much, I can tell. My guy found them in separate places too.” MJ stared at me for a long minute, but I had no answers for him. I thought I’d checked the damn thing. “You in more shit?”
Instantly Richard came to mind. The second tracker, who the fuck knew? I’d figure it out. “Nah, my mom.”
MJ sucked in a breath through his teeth. He was only a few years older than me. Wakeman had been the one to introduce us, but he’d made it clear from the start that he didn’t work for him or was his friend. Business, that was all it was. Maybe that was why I trusted him, and I still seemed incapable of getting over a childhood crush.
“Sounds like you have a problem. When are you going to get rid of that mother of yours?”
My chest squeezed with the familiar ache. “I’m out the moment I graduate. What she does with her life is on her.”
MJ didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t call me out. “You better get going.”
I nodded and headed toward the office door, only stopping when he whistled.
“I wouldn’t trust Wakeman.”
“I don’t,” I reassured him. There was nothing trustworthy about him. Even if he promised me the world, I wouldn’t believe it.
MJ opened his mouth, and I waited for him to say something else.
“Aye, yo MJ, we got another one,” one of the crew called.
MJ stood up, and we walked out of his office together. He placed a rough, calloused hand on my shoulder. “Be safe, and don’t let those rich types beat you down.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know me. I’m tougher than that.”
He shook his head. “Too tough. Shouldn’t have to be, though.” The sad look he aimed my way was one I was familiar with. He’d looked at me like that since we’d met and he saw the shit I’d been trapped in.
“You know I can handle anything.”
He nodded and headed away from me. We never said see you next time or goodbye. A part of me wished I’d taken MJ up on his offer a few years back. He’d given me an out, but past me had been weak. Too soft to leave behind the woman I desperately craved love from. With me gone, mom would have to pay, and the only thing she’d pay with was her life.
I hopped behind my wheel and stared at the tracking devices before placing them in the cupholder. Why in the hell were there tracking devices on the car? Inspecting them wouldn’t do me any good. I had no idea what I was even looking at.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I blew out a breath. Gathering my strength, I whipped the car back onto the street. I stopped at the stop light and stared at the red glow.
“I could run.”
The idea had popped into my head more times than I could count. For years I thought about it and even got close a few times. Every single time, though, it never worked out.
As if the universe knew that this time was it, my phone rang. It connected with the car instantly. I expected Mac’s name to pop up. He’d already called multiple times. I wasn’t ready to talk to him. I had no idea how I felt about him calling the kings. No, I knew how I felt. I was pissed off and a bit hurt. However, that was my own fault for trusting someone in such a short amount of time.
I was saved from ignoring his call again. It was mom. Yeah, the universe knew exactly how to fuck me. My thumb hovered over the answer button before I gave in like I always did.
“Kee!”
My heart pounded against my chest, and instantly I was on alert. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Where are you?” she asked.
I looked around, and as the light turned green, she kept talking. “Richard and I are here worried sick about you. Why didn’t you tell anyone where you were going? Kee, you need to get back home now.”
