Page 60 of Shattered Pieces

“What?” he said quietly, his hands dropping to his sides. “D’s using again?”

“No, I stopped him. He’s on the edge. He’s not sleeping, you’re being an asshole, and you know he feels trapped in the crew. You and Rory are his lifeline, and he’s lost both of you.”

“He hasn’t fucking lost me.”

“No? You’re threatening to kill him. He’d rather relapse than talk to you about his problems because he feels like the second he brings up Rory, you’re going to just lose it on him. Trap him in the crew and take away that one last thing he’s found hope in, and you’re going to find him dead. If you really don’t want to deal with it, I’ll take him to mine, but I’d rather not do that and cause him more drama. Not to mention, Mark’s spiraling too, so the last thing they need is to feed off each other’s bullshit.”

He cursed, scrubbing a hand over his face. He was bruising from fighting with the guys earlier, and part of me was happy about it.

“He let you in his house?” he finally asked, and I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, so that gives you a good indication on how bad he is right now. I put the drugs down the sink and he claims there’s no more, but I didn’t check. So, are you going to go to him, or do I go back?”

“I’ll go. God fucking dammit,” he snapped, frustration seeping out of him.

“He needs support. He’s hurting, and you’re letting your hurt get in the way of your thought process,” I said calmly. “While you’re lashing out in anger, he’s being torn apart from the inside.”

“You don’t think I am too?” he bit out, giving me another shove.

“You’re using your experience with Marco against Rory. She’s not him. Even now, she’s still sitting in that fucking prison waiting for you to call her so you can talk it over.”

“She’ll be waiting a while.”

“I won’t let her suffer like that. You were worried about me stealing your girl before? Nothing’s holding me back now that you’ve discarded her like trash. I’ll fuck you right out of her pretty little head. You wanted her gone? Your wish is my command. Since she’s my problem now, you go handle D before he fucking offs himself. If I have to keep saving him too, that’s going to start looking bad on your part.”

He snarled before stomping inside, most likely to excuse himself, so I took that as my time to leave. There was a fifty percent chance he’d gone inside to get a gun or something and I really didn’t want to risk it.

The trip to the warehouse was uneventful, and I gave Marco and Tyler a dirty look when I found them at the bar with ice packs on their faces.

“Well, don’t you both look stupid.”

“You should be impressed with the stray elbow the little shit gave me,” Marco grumbled, icing his eye.

“I’d be more impressed if I could leave for a few hours without someone getting in trouble or ending up bleeding,” I deadpanned, motioning for Faris to get me a beer. “So, who won?”

“Me, obviously,” Marco smirked, and I reached out to take the ice pack off Tyler’s face to look at his nose.

He hissed in pain as I gently pinched either side of his nose to feel it.

“I don’t think it’s broken. If it is, it’s not too bad,” I said, handing the ice back. “I fucking told you not to fuck around with him today.”

“It was an accident,” Tyler grumbled, but Marco scoffed.

“Was not. I told you to defend.”

I rolled my eyes, taking my beer from Faris and leaving them at the bar while I went upstairs. I texted Diesel to make sure Skeeter had arrived, and once I knew he wasn’t alone, I got to work trying to figure out which cop I could bribe to get me some goddamn answers.

Skeeter

“Don’t shoot, it’s just me,” I called out as I opened the door at Diesel’s.

“Living room,” he replied, and I walked towards the sound of his voice, not remembering the last time I’d even been here. It was his sanctuary, and the Sasha shrine in the living room was definitely new.

Diesel looked like absolute hell, and I could tell he’d been crying. Nothing around the house looked broken, so he must have just had a meltdown not a crash out kind of breakdown.

“Hey. You should have told me,” I murmured, sitting beside him and sensing him pull back a little. “I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t.”

“I can’t though.”