Page 35 of Havoc

She shrugs. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“You’re just in a…differentmood than you were earlier.” I tread carefully. “Figured I’d check.”

“Mm-hmm.” She slides her gaze to me. “Yeah, I suppose I am.”

“What changed?”

“Apart from Ghost charming me with his super sweet and sugary personality while he interrogated me this afternoon?”

I tip my head back in a laugh. “I’m going to tell him you said that.”

“No need.” Aimee shrugs. “I already did. Luna found it hilarious, which at least he seemed to appreciate.”

Her tone turns from playful to a little sad, and she turns her gaze to the horizon again.

“So what’s wrong?”

She shakes her head, avoiding my gaze. “It’s just different from what I expected at the clubhouse.”

“Ah.” I lean back on my hands, realizing what she’s comparing in her mind.

My nerves are wound tight as I stare at the horizon. The sun is a breath away from kissing the dirt as it prepares to set.

“How long were you with the Iron Sinners, Aimee?” I’ve avoided this question up until now because I’m a coward.

It’s easier to think she was taken around the same time as Reagan and that they didn’t get the chance to do anything too terrible to her. But when I turn to find her bathed in the glow of the setting sun with a broken look in her eyes, I know that’s not the case.

How could anyone hurt her?

My firecracker.

The most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Inside and out.

Aimee shrugs. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Really?”

She looks at me.Reallylooks at me for the first time in years. Nothing but raw honesty shines in her eyes.

It might have been her discussion with Ghost, or seeing the shop, or the ride. Maybe it’s the effect of being out here where nothing but earth and wind can hear our secrets. But her eyebrows furrow, and the barriers I’ve been scaling since I first saw her at the top of the staircase are a little lower.

“How long, Aimee?” I ask again.

Finally, she answers, “Which time?”

Two words that send ice shooting through my veins.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You haven’t talked to Ghost yet?”

I shake my head. “How many times were you with the Iron Sinners?”

And how many men am I going to need to skin to make them pay for it?

At least I manage to keep that question to myself.

Aimee lies down, relaxing back on the blanket with hands clasped over her stomach. “I was with them twice. This recent time it was only for a couple of weeks. But before…” She bites her lip, her gaze drifting to me. “Are you going to hover and stare at me while I tell this story?”