Page 67 of Shattered Pieces

“No shit. I have a tense lifestyle,” he grunted, stepping back and motioning for me to have a go.

“You going to tell me what’s up?” I asked once I was in position, aiming at the target and firing. The bullet hit the center of the target, and I turned to find Skeeter eyeing me.

“Diesel visited Rory today,” he said, and I rolled my eyes.

“I thought that would get him executed or something?” I said tightly, lining up another shot.

That one missed.

“It’s pointless using death as a punishment for a man who prays for it,” he grumbled, raking a hand through his hair. “He had a breakdown on Monday. Rivera found him trying to shove a needle in his arm and got me once he’d calmed him down. I’ve never seen Diesel so at peace with defeat. He told me to kill him or he was visiting her, and when I refused, he held a gun to his fucking head. I don’t know what to do with him, Holloway. I can’t excuse him from the crew, it doesn’t work like that. If I could let him leave, I would.”

I took another shot before turning to face him. He looked like he’d aged ten years since the weekend.

“Does the crew know?”

“Brick does, but that fucker’s on team Rory too,” he huffed, looking annoyed. “I’m at a loss.”

“Maybe you should go and see her. Look her right in the eye and⁠—”

“And what? Feel guilty? Let her make me feel bad so I help her? Then what? She gets out and we all act like she wasn’t sneaking around with the Devils? There’s only so much willpower I have with that fucking girl,” he snapped, putting his gun on the table and scowling at himself. “The cunt could cut my damn dick off and I’d let her apologize. I need to stay the fuck away from her. She won’t make a joke out of me, not like Marco did.”

I put my gun down too, eyeing him. “What the fuck are you going to do then?”

“The same thing I’ve been doing since I was seventeen when Marco fucked me over. Block it out, curse them out before bed each night, and wake up like I got a decent sleep,” he said dryly, motioning for me to finish up so we could leave.

We’d been at the range for hours, and my growling stomach told me it was past dinner time.

“Did Diesel say anything about her?” I asked as we tidied up.

“No, he knows better. She’s in with Lexi’s fucking crew now, so she has some protection. No idea who shivved her though.”

“Do you really think she was spying on you for the Devils?” I asked, making him pause to look at me. “I’d probably believe she was sneaking around with the guys because she wasn’t really discreet and did the same thing with Slash, but being a spy?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. She was sly about them, so who knows?” he said flatly.

“I miss Ty,” I admitted, and he gave me an amused grin.

“It was a pretty strong bromance.”

“Don’t you miss the way things were a few months ago? I feel like everything’s changed.”

“It has. Go and see him, nothing’s stopping you. You’ll have to go alone though because I’ll kill the little fucker,” he answered before we switched off the lights and headed past the counter to say goodbye to Brendan. Once in the McLaren, Skeeter glanced at me. “I can appreciate you backing me, but you don’t have to. I know it’s putting strain on you and Josie.”

“Mom doesn’t get it. She likes Hunter and Marco,” I said with annoyance.

“They’re stupidly charming,” he agreed as he started the car. “They swear nothing was going on, but is it an act?”

“Let’s get food and head back to yours for a beer. I’m too sober for this,” I grumbled, checking my phone to find a message from Tyler.

Tyler: Xbox?

I might have been beyond pissed with Rory, but I was full of guilt about Tyler. Despite our current Rory issue, I didn’t hate him. I was simply frustrated that he was too blind to see that she was playing everyone, and every time we got together, we argued.

I understood, he had abandonment issues, so there was no way he was going to cut her off, but me avoiding him was probably causing him a lot of grief. We’d barely been apart for more than a day or two at a time our whole lives.

His text was an olive branch, a small way of reaching out without making it a big deal, and I sighed before putting it back in my pocket without replying, swallowing down the guilt. If he was gaming, it meant he was probably playing with Marco.

Regardless of my feelings about missing Tyler, I still wanted to stomp Marco into the fucking ground.