“Dammit, Rox, spit it out,” he commands.
She wraps her arms around herself and starts to pace. Shuffle follows her every move, and when she doesn’t ‘spit it out’, he takes a step toward her. I grab his shirt to stop him.
“Give her a minute,” I bite out.
“She’s my sister,” Shuffle argues. “I’ll?—”
“Saint is dead because of me,” she blurts, and his head whips in her direction.
“What?”
Roxie takes a deep breath and moves to stand in front of her brother. She squares her shoulders and rubs the back of her head. “You heard me. He’s dead because of me. I…” She licks her lips. “Jace didn’t break up with me. I left him because he beat the shit out of me.”
That seems to knock the wind from Shuffle’s sails, and his shoulders sag. Over the next few minutes, she spills all the sordid details of her relationship with Jace, how he hurt her, and how she ran. By the time she finishes, she’s crying, and I’m doing everything in my power not to lift her into my arms and carry her to my room to console her.
“So, you think Jace killed Saint?” Shuffle asks.
Crow steps forward and hands him the note we found with Saint. “Here.”
Shuffle reads it and swears under his breath. “Where can we find him?”
“That’s just it,” I say. “We have no clue. I filled Addison in, and she’s got her people working on it. I’m guessing the police are already at the scene.”
Shuffle nods. “Okay. Yeah, that’s good.”
Normally, we don’t like to involve law enforcement. But Addison is one of the good ones, and we all trust her. The fact that Shuffle isn’t fighting her involvement tells me all I need to know: He might be pissed at me, but he trusts us enough to follow suit with Addison.
“Ry, please believe me,” Roxie cries. “The only reason I didn’t call you or come to you is because I don’t know what more Jace will do. Saint’s gone. I can’t lose you, too.”
“I believe you,” he assures her. “But him?” Shuffle nods in my direction. “You hate bikers.”
“I don’t hate bikers,” she insists.
Her brother moves to stand toe to toe with me. “I warned you to stay away from her, Screamer.”
“You did.”
“If I remember correctly, I also told you I’d gut the next guy who hurt her.”
I look from him to Roxie. “Have I hurt you, sweetheart?” She shakes her head, and I return my attention to him. “See. No reason to spill guts.”
“What part of off-limits don’t you understand?” he counters.
“You don’t get to?—”
“She’s. Mine,” I tell him, cutting Roxie off.
“I don’t belong to you,” she argues.
“Are you claiming her?” Shuffle asks.
“Jesus, I’m standing right here.” Roxie waves her hands.
“I am,” I confirm, ignoring her.
“No, he’s not,” she snaps.
“Yes, sweetheart,” I say without looking at her. “I am. It doesn’t change anything other than your brother can’t do shit about you being here.”
