Not wanting him to think I’m brushing him off, I say, “I really do, but you still owe me a date.”
A grin spreads across his face.“I do?”
“Yes, you do.”I get into my car and close the door, then wind down the window.“Blade?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t leave it too long.”I wink at him, start my car, and drive away.
Chapter Nine
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Blade
It’s been five dayssince I saw Hannah in town, and everything has gone to hell.I can’t get her out of my head, and now, this job has me tangled up in a mess I wasn’t ready for.The delivery that night was supposed to be simple—a homesteader needed some items, a deal I made with a handshake.Everything was fine until he tried to screw me over, tried to shortchange me.I wasn’t about to let that slide.When he pulled a gun, I didn’t hesitate.He shot me in the shoulder, but I took care of business—gutted him with another of my knives.It isn’t as good as the one I gave Hannah, but it did the job.
Nobody fucks with the Kings.
Now, Ranger and Vex are keeping an eye on the man’s associates, trying to figure out if any of them will make a move over what happened.Ranger seems sure there won’t be any trouble, especially if the dead man was planning to double-cross us from the start.We do things at a reasonable price, don’t ask questions, and never spill the beans on where the homesteaders live.Killing him wasn’t the plan—it was a mess, but sometimes things don’t go the way you expect.
And now, here I am, dealing with the fallout.I feel the weight of the wound in my shoulder, dull and constant, a constant reminder of the shit I stepped in.But my mind keeps drifting back to Hannah.The way her smile lights up the room, the way she feels in my arms, the way she kisses me.It feels a world away from the blood and violence I’ve been through.
“You okay, Prez?”Scout asks, his voice laced with concern as he looks at me from across the room.
I take a deep breath and rub my shoulder, the injury still a dull throb that reminds me of how things have spiraled out of control over the last couple of days.
“Yeah, man,” I mutter, my gaze drifting out the window.The night’s still quiet, but I can sense something coming, the calm before the storm.“It seems lately nothing is going to plan.It all started with the booze run.”
My mind keeps replaying what happened with the homesteader and if I could have changed anything.
Scout steps closer, his brow furrowed in thought.“You think someone’s working against us?”
I shake my head, trying to shake off the heavy feeling gnawing at me.“I don’t know.Maybe?The whole damn situation with that guy, it’s just too messy.It doesn’t feel right.We do what we do, nothing more, nothing less.But someone’s making things harder than they need to be.”
My fingers curl into a fist, the pain in my shoulder a reminder that this isn’t just about the deal anymore.It’s about trust, about keeping things under control.The thought of someone in the background stirring shit makes my blood run cold.Things were never supposed to get this complicated.
