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Kane
Each rattle of the handcuffs grates against my raw nerves, but I don’t trust her to stay put. I even moved her to the front seat so I could keep an eye on her. She has more grit than the girls I usually pick up, and she’s a fair bit more intelligent as well. I wouldn’t put it past her to figure out how to escape the cuffs if left alone for too long, so I’ve tethered her to the passenger door. You can’t see the glint of metal unless you’re looking over her lap.
Pup sits obediently between us, and I reach down and stroke her head. When I was little, I always wanted a dog. Something menacing, like a Doberman. My father never let me have one, and it’s comical that I ended up with this little dog. Not the manliest breed, but she’s mean as shit. Kinda like me. Why she seems to like the dropout is beyond me, though.
“Do you plan to tell me where we’re going?” she asks. “You said south, but where?”
“Texas.”
“That’s nowhere near New York,” she mutters.
“I see you passed geography. Would you like a fucking cookie?”
Thankfully, that shuts her up.
More specifically, we’re heading toward Houston, but she doesn’t need to know the details. Especially the part where we meet The Nameless.
I didn’t keep in touch with the brothers after high school. I happened upon one of them by chance in the produce aisle at a store in our hometown. Even sketchy middlemen need to shop for groceries, I guess. As we were catching up, I disclosed my current profession, and he asked me to move some merchandise for them. I soon found out the merchandise was, in fact, women.
It rubbed me the wrong way at first, but then I found the right motivation. The truck of my dreams. I didn’t have enough credit on my own, but The Nameless have connections. And now I owe them.
I think they’re Russian, but I’ve never asked, just like I’ve never asked the name of their operation. It’s better if I don’t know. They direct the women to their next destination, often out of this country, and I get a little shaved off my debt.
I can’t wait to hand this one off. The few acceptable specimens I’ve brought to The Nameless sat shivering in fear in the corner, too afraid to take a step out of place. I didn’t even have to cuff them. This one? She has too much...something. Something that makes her very difficult to break. I want to call it bravery, but it could be stupidity for all I know. Either way, I have to be way too careful around her, and I don’t like it.
I’m also sick of tending to her. She has to piss every few miles, and she’s always hungry. If she keeps this shit up, I’ll hand her a bucket and a pack of crackers and tell her to make it work. There isn’t a word to describe how much I can’t stand her.
Tobin fucking loves her, though. He left a note basically saying as much. I choked her nearly to death and she came from it. That’s his love language. Choking and fucking.
Jax started simping over her the moment we saw her, so there’s no question that he’s attached. And that’s a fucking problem. His purpose is to protect me, so what happens when we have a conflict of interest?
She’s causing dysfunction in my system, and I don’t appreciate it.
In the end, both of my alters will have to let go of something they’ve grown close to. We can’t keep her. Even if I could get past my distaste for her, I’ve already promised her to someone else. Someone who could cause a lot of problems for me if I back out. Jax and Tobin will have to get over it. We have Pup. We don’t need another pet.
I’ve been keeping a close eye on my phone. When they’ve lined up the buyer, they’ll let me know. Then it’s only a matter of completing the drive and handing her off. I’ll celebrate afterward. I might even pick up another girl. Jax can talk sweet to her, Tobin can fuck her, and then I can kill her. All will be right with the world.
“I’ve never been to Kentucky before,” she says as she looks out the window. “We should try the fried chicken while we’re here.”
“This isn’t a fucking vacation.”
“I’m well aware.” She wiggles her wrist, and the metal-on-metal sound rakes a nail across my brain. “Still, we have to eat at some point. Don’t you ever get hungry?”
I do, but not for anything I can pick up at a roadside establishment.
A sign lights up as we approach. It signals me to turn off at an inspection site a few miles ahead. Fuck. I can’t handle people. If they only asked one question, I could manage, but sometimes they hold us up for an hour or more while they nitpick everything about the truck and our logs. When my patience runs thin, I’m not the best at masking it. That’s Jax’s specialty.
I feel the tap behind my eyes, and I know I need to relinquish control to him. There’s only one fucking problem. The last time I let him have control, he let the girl run off. What if she rats us out? How will Jax handle that? Because she absolutely will rat me out.
But maybe not Jax.
The wheels in my brain begin to turn as an idea forms. Sweet son of a bitch that he is, she might have a little sympathy for him. And it might be just enough to keep her pouty lips sealed. I’m taking a risk either way. If I let him have control, he might set her free, but if I don’t, she might try to set herself free by blowing the whistle.
Sweat coats my hands as my grip tightens around the steering wheel. I try to control my breathing, but my chest feels like someone is wringing my lungs in their hands. I can’t skip the stop. I’m guaranteed a shitstorm if I pass by.
I have no choice but to let him out. No choice but to let him protect us all.
Chapter Seventeen
