Page 148

He suddenly stilled in surprise at my outburst. I almost never yelled. Cut marks marred his cheek. Blood sprayed across his face and shirt. His t-shirt too was ripped.
I tried to catch my breath. "This is on me, Coulter, not you."
"It motherfucking is on me, Knight."
"It's not. I did it, not you."
"It doesn't matter and you know that," Coulter spit out. His chest was heaving but his anger was starting to subside. "You know I won't let you take the fall."
"Fuck that and fuck you," I growled. "This is all on me." I leaned down, nose to nose, eye to eye. "All. On. Me."
We stared at each other like that and, for a brief moment, I saw something in his gaze I hadn't seen in a long time.
Fear.
Fear for me, or for his family, I wasn't sure. I knew that Aster and him were trying to have kids but, so far, were unable.
That, and Rose's belly was growing bigger; it wouldn't be too long before she was going to have her baby.
The cartel had been breathing down our neck, Bourbon uncharacteristically letting them take advantage of us.
The Kings were on top now. After killing Nero, Bourbon and Coulter were on top, but that didn't mean it would last.
On the contrary, they became a bigger target.
One the cartel was going after.
And now, with everything that was happening to Tatiana, and not understandingwhy her, things were quickly spiraling out of control.
He didn't answer, and I grunted, letting him go. I climbed up and off of him.
Tatiana was on the edge of the bed, kneeling, her eyes wide, looking small and vulnerable, engulfed by my t-shirt.
I rubbed a hand over my eyes, then through my hair as Coulter heaved from the floor below me.
I put a hand out to offer him a boost upwards. "We'll work this out. I swear, we'll fix it."
He grasped my hand but didn't let me pull him upwards yet. Just grasped my hand, holding me over him. "This isn't over."
Closing my eyes, unable to look at him, I nodded, yanking him to his feet. "I know man. I know."
The floor was littered with broken furniture, the walls scuffed with marks from where we'd bashed against them. Miraculously, my cell phone had survived untouched, and it chimed, the device lighting up.
My heart thudded even faster as the words on the screen sunk in.
I grabbed it, calling the number displayed.
Maya answered on the first ring. "Knight. I need you.Right now."
THIRTY-FOUR
Knight drovelike a maniac until we reached Maya's house. He barged inside without knocking, his eyes wild, his hair sticking in all directions. He'd changed out his shirt and quickly cleaned the blood from his nose, but it was still swollen, and his eye was beginning to bruise.
My own heart was in my throat, my breathing at the edge of panic.Not Honey.
Maya met us right inside the doorway, her cheeks wet with her own tears. "Knight. Thank god you're here." Behind her stood Abby with a group of uniformed cops. She looked on the edge of breaking down. "Sh-she's just gone!"
"I need to see her room." Knight tore past her and up the stairs.