Page 12 of Broken Promises

“I appreciate the offer, but that’s my home,” I said quietly, getting a nod in return.

“It is. Stay between the two places if you want. It’s obvious you’re not sleeping or eating properly. I won’t pry, but you can talk to me if you want. I know what it’s like to be too paranoid to sleep. Did you want to come to fight night? We’re heading to the Shed soon. Beckett’s fighting.”

“I don’t want to offend you, but I really don’t want to get involved with crew stuff,” I said slowly, a light laugh leaving her.

“I’m not offended. You’re more than welcome to go to bed and catch up on more sleep. I just thought you might want to watch Beckett fight, that’s all. You two seem to be good friends. It’s rare she gets along with other women.”

Watching Beckett fight would be awesome.

“Should I go? Would Beckett like that?”

She grinned. “If you’re trying to impress Beckett, that’s almost impossible, but she wouldn’t be mad about having you cheer her on. I promise, we have extra security for fight night since a lot of people outside the crews go. Currently, we’re not at war with any other crew. You’re technically the dangerous one, since you have the mafia after you.”

“I’m putting everyone in danger,” I groaned, raking a hand through my hair as I finished my cigarette. “I shouldn’t be here.”

“You don’t think I could handle the mafia? Have faith in my lack of patience and my itchy trigger finger,” she scolded. “Who do you think I am? A rookie?”

“You’re the woman that girls like me want to be when we grow up,” I said without missing a beat.

“That’s concerning,” she grumbled, but I could tell she appreciated it.

“You came from nothing and built a fucking empire, Rory. Just because people don’t all know you were once that neglected Heights kid yourself, doesn’t mean they don’t look up to you. They see everything you’re doing for those less fortunate,” I promised, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Okay, motivational speaker. How about you find your shoes and a jacket so we can go and watch my sweet daughter beat people up?”

I laughed at that, waiting for her to stand so I could follow her back into the house, almost running into Noah, who gave me a look of apology. He went to speak, and I shook my head.

“It’s fine. To answer your question, I ate a few days ago.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Days?”

“Yeah,” I mumbled, slipping past him and heading towards the living room, where my hoodie and shoes still were from this morning.

Diesel and Marco were sitting on the couch, kids piled up on their laps as they watched something on the TV. The baby was asleep on Diesel’s chest, and he gave me a smile when he saw me.

“Hey. Feel better after a nap and some food?”

“A nap? I slept all day when I was supposed to be working,” I huffed, slipping my ratty shoes on. Marco’s eyes lingered on them, but he didn’t say anything as Diesel shrugged.

“Sleep was more important. A good sleep and a meal can fix anything.”

“Are you guys going to the Shed tonight?” I asked curiously, since it seemed they were comfortable and weren’t moving any time soon.

“I am,” Diesel confirmed, motioning to Marco. “He’s on babysitting duty with some of the others. I’ll help with the kids for a while though, so you go with Rory and I’ll catch up after.And Raven? Don’t let Beckett con you into a fight with anyone. I know she’ll try.”

“I don’t want my name tied in with crew activities. I already have a fucking hit out on me,” I grumbled, wincing as one of the kids sitting next to Marco repeated the curse word.

They didn’t seem bothered by it though.

“Don’t panic, he arrived with that word,” Diesel drawled with amusement. “Go on. Rory likes being early.”

I said goodbye as I pulled my hoodie on and walked off to find Rory, only having to wait a few minutes for her to finish getting her things together before she led me out to the garage. There were cars everywhere in here, all worth millions of dollars, and the thought of having that much money made me feel a little sick.

There were a lot of people living here though, so it wasn’t a surprise to see so many cars.

“I’d hate to know what you guys pay for insurance,” I said absently, and Rory let out a laugh as she unlocked a shiny red car.

“It’s sickening, you don’t want to know.”

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