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“I’m good here,” I blurted before I could change my mind.
“Ya sure, lass?” Nox asked.
“You fuckin’ heard—”
Judge’s words were cut off when I put my arm over his at my waist and reached my other back so I could cover his mouth—though the awkward angle meant my palm was mostly on his cheek and not his lips.
It was still effective, and he shut up before he said something that would cost him whatever business he had with Nox.
“Relax, Psycho,” I said, going extra-heavy with the condescendence by patting his arm.
“Message received,” he muttered, though I wasn’t sure if he was referring to him acting psycho or how insulting it was to tell someone to relax.
Hopefully both.
“I’m sure,” I told Nox. “But if I change my mind, you’ll be the first to know.”
After draining his glass, a grin split Nox’s face, and he leaned forward to grab his phone. “Ya gotta play this smart. Your folks still on that cruise?”
My jaw dropped and a trickle of fear snaked down my spine. It wasn’t that I thought Nox would do anything, but it’d be stupid not to be at least a little afraid of someone who could find out those kinds of details in less than a day.
“Yes, for another two weeks,” I said slowly.
“They coming to visit when they’re done?”
Ha!
Like most teens, I’d spent my high school years counting down until graduation because I’d been so excited to be an adult. My parents had counted down right along with me because that’d meant retirement for them. The day I’d left Rhode Island for school in Massachusetts, they’d left for sun and golf in Florida.
They’d gotten the better end of the deal. Adulting sucked.
They were great parents, but I’d been an accidental pregnancy when they were forty-one. Once I’d moved out, they’d restarted their lives doing all the things they’d been planning to do before I came along.
“We’re not close like that,” I said, keeping it simple. “They’ll call when they get home.”
“Just keep it business as usual. Same with your friends. You say something that worries them, they’ll start sniffing around, getting on radars they don’t wanna be on.”
Thankfully, most of my friends were also nurses, which meant our schedules rarely lined up. Me being unavailable for a while wouldn’t be anything new.
“And you’re out of work ‘til this is settled. Keep it vague—family emergency. They give ya shit, call me. There’s strings to pull and points to pressure, aye?”
I’ve been saying I need a vacation, but a biker clubhouse wasn’t the destination I had in mind…
Nox took the cigar and used it to point at Judge. “Share whatever ya think ya need to ‘cause I know your deal with lying, but Gus-Protocol is in full-fookin’-effect with this shit. Be in touch.”
With that, he ended the call, leaving me and Judge and the elephant in the room to our thoughts.
I wasn’t going full-Stockholm by agreeing to stay. There was a method to my madness, and it wasn’t that hot guy was so hot, I got the dumb.
Somehow, I’d gotten dragged into a mess. I had no clue what it was about, so I had no clue how to make it better. My place wasn’t safe, but Judge’s—I knew from frustrating experience—was secure and secluded.
Nox may have been able to offer me the same safe haven, but if the shitstorm turned into a Category Five shit-ricane, his attention and protection would be on his wife and family—as it should be.
The way I saw it, my safety was in my own incapable hands. I had a better chance of avoiding the path of the storm if I was out in the middle of nowhere. And if it reached me, I had to hope my instincts were correct, and Judge would help keep me safe.
I had a strong feeling he would.
Plus, I wasn’t acting on my gut alone. I liked Gus and loved Ms. Carol Anne, so if they both trusted Nox, there was a reason for it. And since he clearly trusted Judge, ipso facto…
