Page 20 of Stone: The Precursor

“Stone.”

I turn and see Riggs walking toward me. Members move out of his way, much like they do with me. They know he’s unpredictable, and as much as Hadrian hates his flesh and blood, he knows he needs Riggs. Needs his intelligence, his ability to hack into complex systems. Riggs’s knowledge is the bread and butter of the club. It’s what keeps them flush in cash. The selling and buying of legal pharmaceuticals, the firearm sales, illicit drug sales, and the most lucrative of all, the acquisition of data from billionaire companies. It’s what keeps the Legion Lords swimming in money. Money that Riggs manages. It’s that access, that precise, detailed knowledge that keeps Hadrian from outright having his brother killed. Riggs is valuable to him as much as he is a vulnerability.

I walk away from Hadrian, knowing that he hates the brotherhood I have with his half-brother.

We meet halfway, and Riggs nods at me before I follow him back the way he came. We walk through the back door, past a few members too busy snorting cocaine and fucking to pay us any attention.

He opens the door and I exit behind him, heading for his truck. He punches in a code on his phone, and the doors unlock. We slip inside, and he turns on the engine, initiating the GPSjammers and signal blockers that prevent any devices from tracking him or recording his conversations.

Not wasting a second, he gets to the point.

“One of our informants told me that Hadrian was seen talking to the second in command.”

“Fuck.” I bite out harshly. “They sure?”

“She’s fucking the second in command and confirmed she’s seen Hadrian there multiple times. She planted a device in the room they use.”

“What the fuck is he thinking?”

Riggs shakes his head and leans back against the headrest. “He’s planning something and I don’t know what. He also has two men watching me. And that means he’s watching you as well. Even Onyx.”

“Does he know?”

“That we are stopping 90 percent of Los Mestizo’s trade? Maybe. Not sure. No doubt he’s been told that the shipments are being rerouted and hidden. But he’s suspicious of me.”

“What are you doing about it?”

“Nothing. He’s being goddamn messy dealing with them. They will betray him, and that makes everything dicey. I’ve got eyes on him and a tracker set up. He’s not smart enough to realize it and that’s the way I like it.”

“When’s the next shipment?”

“Soon. They’re pissed they lost the last one. Millions gone.”

“Good.”

“She could be a target.”

I freeze at his words and blow out the heavy inhale of smoke. I know what he’s referring to, and it makes my skin crawl thinking that the Mestizos could get near her. “She won’t.”

“You don’t know that. Jace wouldn’t want his sister involved in our shit, Stone. This isn’t a game.”

I know that more than anyone, but the need for her is too strong. Even if I only indulge in it from afar. “Nothing’s going to happen to her.”

He doesn’t respond to my statement, and I look at him, one of the three men I count as friends. Hesitation is written all over his face. Some anger, too, but it doesn’t matter. I can’t give her up yet. I won’t. I need more time with Camryn Park.

∗ “Stupid bitch.I don’t want to feel your teeth! Can’t suck my cock to save your life. Maybe you need to die.”

Chapter 9

September

“You’re a fucking bitch you know that? How am I supposed to pay rent without your help?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Fuck’s sake, Camryn! This is punishment! How long are you going to rake me over the coals!? I made a mistake!”

I stop, rearing back, staring at the man I lived with for almost a year. “A mistake? Try six mistakes.” I continue haphazardly tossing my things into a cardboard box. “Six women, Reed,” I say calmly, not even really upset at him anymore. It’s been over between us for months. We’ve been roommates for longer than we’ve been together. I’m honest enough to admit that I’ve avoided him whenever possible, avoiding this very moment, spending as much time as I can at the studio, sometimes bringing my sleeping bag back and sleeping in my little art storage room surrounded by images ofhim.When I should have been working on figuring out how to dump Reed, I was fantasizing about a man who literally said zero words to me.