Page 105 of All That Glitters

When I come around, I’m lying on the floor with my head in Legs’s lap. She runs her fingers through my hair, whispering to me.

“What happened?” I croak out.

“You got mad and blacked out. I’m glad you uncuffed me before you trashed the place.”

I look around and groan. “Shit.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s all fixable.”

“You didn’t leave.”

“Don’t read into it. I didn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

I reach up and take her hand, sliding it down until it cups my cheek. I cover her hand with mine and stare into her eyes. “This is what I’m talking about. Why the fuck would a woman like you want to tie their star to a fuck-up like me? I could have hurt you, Legs.”

She snorts. “I’m probably the only person safe from your wrath. If you remember anything, you snapped when you realized how much danger I was actually in.”

She pulls her hand free and presses against my shoulder when I try to get up. “I have more to tell you, and I want you to stay where you are because you’re less likely to flip again while touching me.”

I let my eyes drift close and nod. “Tell me.”

“I came home yesterday from work to find my place had been broken into. The whole place had been trashed. Cushions were slashed, cupboard doors hanging off their hinges, and food was scattered all over the floor. They’d even piled my clothes on the bed and pissed on them.”

I feel myself vibrating with fury, but she strokes her fingers down my face, distracting me.

“I called Del, my boss. She came and picked me up and took me home with her. She was the one who called the police, because at that point, we didn’t know who we could trust.”

“No matter what, you can always trust me, Legs.”

“It’s not that simple, Midas. You broke my trust along with my heart. A couple of ‘I’m sorries’ don’t fix that.”

“I know.”

“Anyway, cops came. They were kinda dicks about it all. Implied it was probably my fault, given the company I keep. They sure do have a hard-on for the MC.”

“I’ll talk to Havoc about it. We have a few local cops in our pocket, but the police station we went to isn’t ours.”

“Doesn’t explain why they hate you all so much.”

“Don’t usually need a reason. Cops see things in black and white. MCs are criminals as far as they’re concerned, and that’s the end of it.”

“Anyway, I didn’t expect to hear anything else, but a few hours later, I got a call saying they’d arrested someone and wanted me to come in and see if I could ID them, and the rest, you know.”

“They told you they arrested me?”

“Not you specifically, but yeah, why?”

“Because they keep changing their fucking story, and I don’t like it. It shows either a level of incompetence or they are making deliberate moves, for which we don’t know the reason yet.”

“Well, all I know is that asshole at the precinct made it clear to me that the police will never be on my side, so I’m not holding out much hope that they’ll find this guy. What I don’t get is, why me? I’m no longer part of the MC, haven’t been for months.”

“Here, let me up. I promise I’m calm.”

She lets me go so I can sit up and tug her into my arms. She protests, but I hold her tighter.

“Shh, just let me hold you for a minute. I need this.”

She sighs but relaxes. “Maybe we’re looking at it all wrong. Originally, we assumed that Lil had picked up a stalker from the center because that’s where she experienced most of her encounters. Notes were left on her car and she was followed from there.”