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Icy fucking cold.
“Vince Martelli,” Hawk repeated, pinching at the bridge of his nose. “You’re sure that’s what they said?”
“Yeah. Martelli.” Evan’s enthusiastic head bob gradually began to slow as his eyes moved between us, taking in our reactions. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
Hawk coughed out a laugh and slammed his palm against the man’s back. “You’re talking about moving states to get away from him? I’d try moving countries. Get as far away as possible, as soon as fucking possible. My suggestion would be tonight.”
It might have sounded dramatic, but thankfully the man saw past Hawk’s playful tone and was instantly running after the doctor, demanding his daughter’s release.
Hawk fell into step beside me as I turned on my heel and made a beeline for the exit. “This is not fucking good,” he hissed out the side of his mouth as we all but ran through the waiting room. “Shay said Vince threatened to kill her.”
We both knew what that meant, and I was already kicking myself for letting her walk out of those damn doors when my gut was screaming at me to stop her.
Shay had played off the threat like it was nothing, and honestly, in her line of work within the emergency department, I’m sure she’d had her fair share of drunks and addicts throwing around threats of violence.
The difference was who it came from.
Because Vince Martelli was the son of Detroit’s most notorious crime family.
And the Martelli’s didn’t make threats they didn’t intend on following through with.
“We need to get to Shay, and we need to get there quickly.”
Chapter Eleven
SHAY
“I swear I’m fine,” I told Calli for the fourth time as I pulled into The Exiled Eight MC clubhouse. “I’m home now. I’m gonna go up and go straight to bed.”
I’d given her a brief rundown on what had transpired this morning, leaving out a few key details I knew would have her losing her mind. I didn’t like lying to Calli—hated it, in fact—but I knew exactly what her reaction would be if she thought something dangerous was happening. She’d drop everything, be on the next plane home, and probably lose the internship. I wasn’t about to let her do that.
She released a heavy sigh. “I should just come home.”
Like I said…
“I swear to God, Calli.” I laughed, throwing the car into park. Bishop had all but forced me off the road on my way home that morning. I’d gone along with his plan to drag me in here just to keep everyone calm, but I was still confused as hell about what was actually going on. “You must get your dramatics from your dad because that man…” That overbearing, controlling, masculine, bearded, sexy man. Jesus. I cleared my throat. “He stormed into the emergency department earlier like he was ready for a fight. With me!”
She chuckled, the familiar sound I missed a lot, forcing me to slump back into my seat. “He knows how important you are to me. Of course, he’s going to be protective of you.”
Right.
I needed that reminder.
“I’m going to have a sleep. I’ll catch you up on things later.”
“You sure?” she questioned, and I just knew her face was pinched together in that worried frown that always made me smile. “You’ve been quiet lately, and Missy said you didn’t go to Sunday lunch. Something happen?”
With a heavy sigh, I dragged my tired body out of the car, moving strategically to keep from twisting my ribs too much. “I’m just adjusting to this new sleep schedule,” I explained, following Bishop toward the clubhouse, trying to hang back so he couldn’t hear the entirety of my lies. “Between the night shifts and me still being a little nervous about being alone at night, I’m just not getting as much sleep as usual. But it’s fine, Calli. It’s a work in progress.”
While I wasn’t straight-out lying, I also wasn’t completely telling the truth. I hadn’t been sleeping well, and the night shifts were kind of killing me, but that wasn’t why I was missing Sunday lunch and avoiding spending time around the club.
He was the reason.
Fear of my growing feelings was the reason.
I couldn’t tell Calli that, but I needed to give her something because if I just tried to play off like everything was sunshine and rainbows, she’d instantly know that I was lying. She’d been my best friend for like six years, and we’d been living together for ninety percent of that time.
“You know you’re always welcome at the clubhouse, even if it’s just so you can catch up on sleep for a few hours,” she reminded me for like the tenth time. “Missy and Hawk are always there, and Dad would have you in a heartbeat.”
