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Biting her lip, she stared out the window as they drove through the dark streets. Inexplicitly, she felt like crying. She wasn’t anxious to return to the lonely apartment, which made it tempting to call Nadia when she got there, just to relieve the boredom.

Changing into more comfortable clothing, she made herself a light dinner before popping a bag of popcorn, which she ate after turning on a comedy show.

At twelve, she turned the television off to go to bed. The sooner she returned back home, the better, she told herself. If she missed Desmond this badly after just two days’ absence, she didn’t want to know how it was going to affect her after spending the weekend at Gillis Island with him.

The lonely years she could see ahead looked bleak enough without adding the heartbreak of loving a man she could never have. Women like her didn’t get happily ever afters; they became cat ladies.

That’ll never happen to you, Haley scolded herself for being ridiculous. She was allergic to fur.

Twenty-Two

Desmond stood, looking up at the apartment window, seeing the lights go off. Taking out his cell phone, he texted Ice that he wanted to talk. He was tucking the phone into his jacket when the limo door opened and the president of the Predators got in next to him.

“You want to tell me how Haley was able to make out she was being followed?”

Ice’s frosty gaze leveled on him in the dim lighting. “Some of the brothers may have been lax in keeping out of sight.”

“Which brothers?” Desmond snapped. “Because I want to know which ones to remove from my payroll.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“How? I let the bullshit slide when you let King and Shade on my property without notifying me first. I won’t continue paying for protection that a six-grader could provide without the high price tag.”

“We’ve been spread thin lately with all the transactions going down in Queens City, which is why we had to let the prospects handle Haley’s detail. It’s hard for me to put someone on watch for her when all she does is stay in a guarded building while the other brothers are putting their lives on the line to make sure we get our cut from the drug buys going down, or keep upstarts from taking over our territory.”

Desmond had to bite back the response he was going to give. His current lifestyle didn’t make him blind to the life he had left behind. One false move, and someone would die. The struggle to remain on the top was just as brutal, maybe even more than being on the bottom.

“Who are you going to place on Haley? Whoever’s been doing her detail is failing.”

“That’s my mistake. I’ll take care of it. The brother has his plate full and didn’t want the job, anyway.”

“Then my suggestion is to remove him from my payroll.”

“Already done.” Ice’s frostbitten gaze became deadlier, letting Desmond know he was done being the whipping boy for whichever Predator had fucked up.

“Who did you place on her now?”

“Cole, when I’m not available.”

Understanding dawned on him as to why it took two attempts to get Ice to say who was on Haley’s detail.

“Cole? Max’s brother-in-law?” he asked to make sure he had heard Ice right.

“That’s the one.”

“You trying to get him killed?”

Max’s brother-in-law had brain damage from his stepfather’s attack. Casey, Max’s wife, had tried to bring down his organization to try to protect him.

“I give it a week before I get turned into the feds.”

“Cole’s got his head back together. He’s the right one for the job. No one will get within five feet of her, and he won’t get distracted by any ass walking past him.”

“What’s he going to do if shit hits the fan? Call Casey?”

“He doesn’t need anyone to watch out for him anymore. Cole served in the Marines before his stepfather tried to beat out his brains with a pipe. Don’t know how it happened, but he’s all there again. The problem with him now is Casey and Max being overprotective of him. It’ll give Cole something to do where they aren’t watching his every move.”

“Maybe there’s a good reason they’re still so protective. You think of that?”

“Thought of it, but I’ve seen the way Cole handles himself. Casey and Max have a house full of kids. He watches them better than Max. He’s got a protective streak a mile long. Nothing will happen to Haley. Cole would die before he would let anyone hurt her. Isn’t that what you’re bitchin’ about during the fucking night?”

“Watch the tone, Ice.”

Ice gave a harassed sigh. “What has you so up in the air about her protection, anyway? You’ve never given a single fuck before with your other bitches. I give it another week before you’re calling me to move my man to another pair of tits.”