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So much for getting away.
“You know, I told you that shit with Zeke can’t bleed over into the organization. No bringing the personal shit to work, kid.”
“It’s not. There’s no shit with us anyway,” I mutter, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans.
“Yeah, ok,” he smirks. “Everyone knows it, Riot. You’re pretty much best friends with my girl, you think she doesn’t tell me quite literally everything?”
“Fucking Spencer,” I shake my head and laugh. “Remind me to keep my mouth shut around her from now on. Listen, it’s nothing like that boss. Nothing to worry about from us. You have my word.”
“That’s all I needed to hear. I trust you,” he withdraws his feet from the desk and sits up straight in his chair. “Now go get him on the line and work out the logistics for surveillance at Rico’s. With Spencer so openly connected to the Brotherhood now, I need her protected at all times. I can’t have any more shit happening like last week. So get it fucking done.”
Nodding my head in response, I push up to my feet and retrieve my phone from the back pocket of my jeans.
“Later,” I murmur as I turn on one foot and exit the office.
Deciding it’ll be easier to just talk with Zeke before I make it down to my bike, I opt to take the stairs instead of the elevator. Swiping my phone’s screen, I tap on his name in the contacts and wait while the line trills.
“Yeah,” he grunts.
The buzzing in the background combined with the distracted tone in his voice tells me he must be in the middle of an appointment.
“Hey, it’s Riot.”
“‘Sup, baby?” his voice softens but he’s still equally distracted.
Someone hisses in the background and grumbles under their breath. Yep, mid-appointment.
“Listen, Travis is all over my shit about getting a new surveillance and security system set up at Rico’s. You think we can meet up later to game plan?”
“Yeah, of course. I gotta finish this sesh though. Give me a few hours?”
“Yeah, ok. I’ll meet you at the studio around 6.”
“Sounds good,” he responds and the line immediately disconnects, leaving no room for another word.
I love you. I love you.
I.
Love.
You.
The words invade my head, scattering through every cell in my brain, and flood my mouth. If he hadn’t disconnected when he did, they might have sprung free and fucked everything up.
Get it together Riot.
Chapter three
Zeke
Bzzzz.
Bzzzz.
When my attention is focused on the low, steady hum of my machine, nothing else in the world matters. Not the hell that I ran from. Not the pain that I inflicted. And damn sure not the love I feel for this green-haired, murderous little criminal. Because I’m not allowed to love him. Love isn’t in the cards for me. Happiness isn’t in the cards for me.
I’ll never give myself permission to live out a happily ever after, when I’m responsible for stealing the storybook ending away from the most beautiful soul I’ve ever known.