AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My jaw starts to tic again. “And that no organization draws the kind of unwanted attention that can disrupt business.”
“Do they… work with the police?” Riley asks, her brow furrowed. Then, because she’s not just gorgeous, she’s smart as hell, she immediately shakes her head. “No, of course they don’t. Is that what that guy meant? That they don’t like that the cops know what happened today?”
“Right,” I say. “The Six know more about the dark underbelly of Halston than the police ever will, and they’ve made it clear that that’s how they want to keep it.”
Dante nods. “They don’t give a shit about our war with West Point, but if they’re calling both us and McKenna in to discuss it, then they’re seriously pissed that it escalated to the point that it’s drawn that kind of attention.”
“What will they do? What are they like?” Riley asks, her gaze bouncing between Logan and Dante.
But not me.
She’s avoiding my gaze.
I’m the one who deliberately put some distance between us after we fucked, so I’m not surprised that she’s acting a bit closed off.
What surprises me is how much it bothers me.
“The Six keep to themselves,” Logan tells Riley.
His dry delivery makes her laugh, even though I know Logan was just being factual as always.
“So you’re saying none of you have actually met them?”
“Not yet,” I say, my grim tone reminding us all that the clock is ticking. I turn the discussion to practical matters, then break up our little huddle once everyone knows what needs to get taken care of.
Dante and Logan head off, but when Riley tries to follow I catch her arm, stopping her.
She raises an eyebrow, her guarded expression silently asking me why.
Fuck if I know, but I have to say something, and what comes out of my mouth, surprising us both, is—
“Just wanted to thank you.”
She stares up at me, and for the life of me, I can’t read her expression this time at all.
Fair enough. Since I don’t even know what the hell it is I’m thanking her for, or if that’s even the right word for what I’m feeling right now, there’s no real reason to expect I’d have some great insight into her frame of mind, either.
She holds my gaze, clearly waiting for more, but I don’t think I can give it to her.
Not won’t.
Can’t.
All I know for sure is that I was in a rough place today, and she brought me back from the edge of that. I needed her, needed what we did, in a way that went deeper than I’m comfortable with. And yeah, I’m grateful for it, but gratitude isn’t all I feel. I just don’t have the words for the rest.
“Okay,” Riley says quietly before I can find them.
She pulls free of my hold and slips away to return to her room, and I let her go. I don’t have time to go all soft anyway. Hell, there’s never a good time for that. Sienna taught me that one, loud and clear, and even if Riley seems different—
Nope.
I shut that shit down fast and head down the hall to my office, putting my focus on where it needs to be tonight. On shoring up our defenses to get out ahead of the West Point threat and doing whatever else I can come up with to make sure that when we walk into that meeting with The Six tomorrow, we don’t just walk back out, but we come out on top.
I stare at the map on my wall, my mind spinning. I don’t want to challenge The Six. But getting on The Six’s bad side would put everything I’ve been building since the day I decided to not follow in my father’s footsteps at risk.
Which is why I won’t let it happen.
I scrub a hand over my face, then get to work. But despite my best intentions, amid all my focus—the planning, the strategy, the hustle—I can’t for the fucking life of me seem to stop thoughts of Riley from slipping in too.
