Page 176 of Shattered Pieces

“I assume none of you have had any more sleep, so I won’t bother you about skipping school today. Thanks for sorting out the hotel, Ty.”

“Anything for you, Mom,” Tyler replied sweetly, and once she’d seen everyone with her own eyes, she headed back to the car to leave.

“Thanks for the clothes,” Rory mumbled, peering up at me. “I can nap, right? We can chase people down later?”

“Yeah, babe. Go lie down. Take the guys with you,” I murmured, steering her over to the others. Jensen and Lukas instantly took her from me to take her to the spare bedroom, while Caden and Tyler decided to stay in the kitchen with us.

I’d give it a few hours then knock on Hendricks’ door. If I went without Rory, I’d almost believe she’d actually kill me.

CHAPTER THIRTY

RORY

Ididn’t sleep for long, waking up at nine and dragging my ass out of bed to let the guys sleep a little longer. Hunter was still sitting at the kitchen table, typing away on his laptop and most likely hacking something from the concentrated look on his face, while Tyler napped in the recliner and Caden scrolled on his phone on the couch.

“You guys didn’t sleep?” I asked, making them all glance up. “Where’s Mark and Diesel?”

“No, we didn’t. Ty only nodded off half an hour ago,” Hunter replied, his eyes running over me as always. I was still in his clothes, and I probably looked like hell. “Mark’s dealing with something for me, and Diesel got barked at to get to the Shed.”

The thought of Marco running off to deal with the Reapers made my eyes narrow, and I dropped down onto one of the chairs to steal one of Hunter’s cigarettes.

“You sent him off to talk to Hendricks?”

“No.”

“Then what’s he doing?”

He held out his lighter for me, giving me a smirk as he waited for the cigarette to spark up before leaning back in his chair.

“You think I’d do that to you? C’mon, babe. I know you want to come with me, so I was waiting for you to wake up. Mark’s at the warehouse dealing with Dom.”

“What did Dom do?”

“Got too drunk at Wet Dreams last night. Violet called to let me know he got too handsy even after she told him to stop, and I don’t play when it comes to that shit. My guys know better,” he answered bluntly.

“You guys seem pretty tight with Archer’s girls.”

“Good business relationships are important. It leads to information, favors, or good deals. Those girls might be Archer’s, but they hold a sense of loyalty to me. They know they can call me if they need help,” he explained, and I kind of loved that about him. He was dangerous, but he could be so kind too.

“True. Do you guys sleep with them too?” I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

A chuckle left him and he reached out to pat my arm. “You already know the answer to that.”

“I take it Ocean is Mark’s favorite? She seemed to like him at the party.”

“Jealous?” he asked, but he didn’t sound amused by it.

“No. She looks exactly his type,” I snorted, ignoring the pinch in my chest.

“Marco doesn’t have a type, as long as it’s got a pussy or a cock,” he huffed, checking his phone. “Get in the shower and change. We can catch Hendricks before he goes to Wet Dreams.”

“Where does he live?”

“On a house boat at the docks. I don’t know how he and Lexi live on that thing. It would make me seasick,” he shuddered, stealing my cigarette after I’d taken another drag. “Go on. I’d rather not have this conversation at the club with half of his boys around.”

“Are they likely to shoot or something?”

“No, but you are,” he deadpanned, getting to his feet.