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“Abby.” He smiles, but the response she gives him back is frosty.
“Leave me alone,” she warns, stepping around him and moving toward the truck. I quickly follow after her and when I drop the sugar, the man bends down to pick them up for me.
The smile he flashes me as he places them back in my hand makes me shudder.
“Please. I just want to talk to you. Give me five minutes, Abby,” he begs, continuing to follow after us. “At least let me give you some money to buy some decent clothes.” He looks down his nose at the way she’s dressed.
“I don’t need money, I like the way I dress these days,” she answers him back, handing me both the coffees so she can open the driver's door.
“You look like one of them,” he snarls at her cruelly.
“One of who?” She turns her head back toward him defensively.
“One of their whores,” he answers her bluntly.
“Oh trust me, this isn’t how the whores dress, Daddy. The whores rarely wear clothes.” She snatches the coffees back off me and leans into the truck to place them in the cup holders. “Now if that’s all, I’d very much like to get back to my friends.”
“You’re making a mistake. All I’ve ever done is try to protect you, Abby, I will do whatever it takes.” I’m shocked when he roughly grabs hold of her wrist.
“Get in the truck, Shaniya,” she orders me, and when her father’s eyes peer into mine, I feel my stomach turn. On the outside, he looks like the sort of man you could trust, but I see darkness inside him. A different kind of darkness to what the Soul men have.
“I know the judge disappearing had something to do with them. A man like him doesn’t just vanish.”
“A man like the judge had every reason to just vanish, you don’t know him as well as you think you do.” Abby manages to yank her arm away from him, and I quickly scurry around to the other side of the truck and get into the passenger seat while she gets behind the wheel.
“Sorry about that.” She quickly pulls back out onto the street, leaving her father looking furious.
“I’m fine, are you okay?” I check.
“I will be.” She smiles to herself as she stares out to the road in front of her. “Now drink that coffee before it gets cold.” She passes me one of the coffees from the holder and I take my first sip. It tastes delicious and warms me inside the same way seeing Troj does.
“Told ya you’d love it,” she giggles, appearing to already be over what just happened.
I don’t see Troj for the next few hours, nor any of the other outlaws, but I keep busy in the kitchen helping the women, who continue to show their kindness and make us feel welcome.
It’s after Maddy’s mom, Marilyn, has supplied everyone with lunch that Troj comes back to find me, and I don’t like the worrying look on his face when he makes eye contact with me.
“What is it?” I march toward him, desperate for answers, and his eyes flick cautiously around the room before he pulls me out of earshot.
We’re in the corridor now, and he places his hand against the wall behind my head making the space between us tight.
His taut arm muscles flex, and he leans forward into me as he speaks.
“Your uncle’s alive,” he informs me, and my body immediately feels lighter with relief. “Ivan has him, just like we thought. Prez made contact and he’s prepared to meet with us tonight to discuss things.”
“That’s great, you can get him back. My uncle will trust you if you save him, Troj, I know he will. We can save the reservation if we all work together.” My hope builds up into a smile, which quickly fades when I realize Troj isn’t joining me.
“Ivan wants to make a deal, and we don’t know what that deal is yet. What we do know is that Ivan Cooper doesn’t play fair. He’s underhanded and sneaky as fuck. I don’t know what he’s gonna expect in return for your uncle but you can’t rely on Prez being able or even willing to give it him.”
“Then I must come and speak to this Ivan too. Maybe there’s something I can offer him for the safe return of my uncle.”
“Not gonna happen.” Troj shakes his head, the authority in his tone telling me that arguing back at him would be pointless. “But don’t think that I ain’t gonna try everything I can to get him back to you. I wanna keep you here where you belong,” he adds, making my cheeks lift again, and when he notices, he scrunches his forehead at me, looking confused.
“I always thought you all hated us. Now it seems you do not wish us to leave,” I say my thoughts out loud.
“You belong here, darlin’. Who else could I spy on when I take my morning run?” He looks almost shy as he pulls some of his hair back behind his ear with the hand that isn’t against the wall.
It’s the first time either of us has mentioned seeing each other at the river, and when I imagine him naked again it causes a tiny throb between my legs.
