Vicious Rebel (82 Street Vandals #2) - Heather Long Page 0,2

the truck, there’d been some real regret in me. I hadn’t wanted to say goodbye, and at the same time, I hadn’t wanted to leave him without some acknowledgement that he’d come through for me.

“You’re in shock.” He said it almost too softly. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing,” I said slowly. “I just—” I had no idea what to do.

“You won’t go to the hotel?” It was a question.

I shook my head.

“I’m guessing you don’t want to go with Liam.” It wasn’t a question. Rome’s twin glared at me, but it wasn’t hate in his eyes.

Worry.

He was worried about his brother.

“I—I don’t know,” I said slowly. “I need to think.”

That wasn’t really an answer. But I needed to go somewhere. Right? I’d just managed to escape. I couldn’t go back.

I rubbed a hand over my face and winced. My mouth hurt. So did my head. My nails had bits of blood under them. “Will Jasper really hurt Rome?”

“Fuck, I don’t know,” Liam said, shocking me. There was a puffiness to his nose, and blood still decorated his face as he drew closer to us. “If he could pin it on me and shoot me, he’d probably leave Rome alone. But they’re turning the city upside down looking for fucking Freddie, and all he wanted was for Rome to make sure you were safe.”

Freddie.

My heart clenched.

“They haven’t found him yet?”

Liam stared at me, eyebrows up. “I have no clue. I’ve been following you for the last couple of hours. Then your boyfriend.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Doc ground out. “Don’t even joke about that.”

“Hey, Doc, just calling it like I see it. I saw her kissing you before she got out of the truck, and you sure pulled up conveniently when she was out there walking.”

“Wait,” I said, waving aside the posturing bullshit. “You followed me? I didn’t see you.”

“You weren’t supposed to.” Liam smirked.

“I walked for a long time and you just let me go?” Suspicion curved through me. That sounded remarkably convenient. “I thought you were worried about your brother.”

“Yeah,” Doc murmured. “If you were that interested in protecting Rome, why let her get that far at all?”

“I just wanted to see where you were going,” Liam said.

“And?” Because there was more to this.

He leaned over and spat blood onto the pavement. “And I debated just letting you go. Fine? Is that what you want to hear, Pr—Hellspawn?”

The fact he edited himself went a long way for me. “Why did you change your mind?”

“Fuck if I know.” Liam glared at me, then at Doc. “You know what? This shit is not worth it. My nose fucking hurts—nice hit, by the way.” He said that to me as almost an aside. “You ever want to work on that southpaw, you let me know. You take her back, and I’m getting out of here. This side of town gives me hives.”

“Hey, Mockingbird,” Doc said before Liam even made it halfway down the alley. “You’re trying too hard.”

The other man flipped him off, and then he was gone.

Leaving me alone with Doc.

“Where do you want to go, Emersyn?” I should have expected the question. I had expected the question. The problem was I didn’t have any kind of answer.

Not anymore.

“I don’t have anywhere to go,” I admitted after a long time. There was one person I could call. Maybe. Well, no maybe. But I still wasn’t sure I should involve her.

Doc sighed and tilted his head back to stare at the sky.

“I’m sorry,” I told him. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll figure this out.” Bit by bit, the trembling abated, and I stopped chasing my own mental tail. I needed a plan. Understanding the need for one was the first step.

Making one would be the second step.

I went to touch his arm, then curled my fingers against my palm. Doc had done more than enough. Now he’d even gotten into another fight for me. “Thanks, Mickey.”

He let me get three steps away before he said, “Where are you going, Little Bit?”

“You don’t have to worry,” I said over my shoulder. “I’ll figure it out.”

His sigh followed me another three steps. On the fourth one, he was quiet. By the fifth one, I was sure he’d let me go. Yet, it didn’t surprise me to find him standing next to me when I reached the next street.

When he held out his hand to me, I stared at it for a long moment. Taking it meant going back. At least with Doc. Taking