Page 59 of Colt

It was glaringly obvious something had been discussed that had put her on the back foot. A part of me wanted to show patience and let her work it out before talking about it, but I wasn’t that man.

I reached out and clasped her thigh. “What’s up, baby? Somethin’s botherin’ you.”

Her head swiveled to face me, and she bit her lip nervously. “Promise you won’t lose your mind.”

My chest panged. “Can’t promise shit, baby, but I’ll try.”

Freya’s hand covered mine. “Cash worked it out.”

I frowned. “Come again?”

“Cash knows about us,” she reiterated.

My gut plummeted. This was all we needed. “How?”

“He’s observant, I guess.” She shrugged. “You raised suspicion when you destroyed a cell phone the morning before you came down. He put two and two together, and he’s not the only one.”

I scrubbed a hand over my face with a tremoring hand. “Fuck!”

“Kit’s in on it too,” she added. “The good news is, they’re going to keep quiet and let us do things at our own pace, though Cash thinks we should go to Dad immediately.”

“I need to call him,” I muttered. “Find out if anyone else has got the bead on us.”

“Good idea,” she agreed.

I rubbed a sweaty palm down my jeans.

If my brothers got chatty, we’d be fucked. “It’ll get out if too many people know, baby. You prepared for that?”

“I know that whatever happens, we’ll be okay.” Freya’s eyes washed with tears. “But I’m beginning to understand how you feel about the whole lying thing. If Dad finds out my brothers knew before him, it’ll make things a gazillion times worse. He’ll be hurt.”

I’ll be hurt too,I thought.Though physically, not emotionally.

“Do you want me to talk to your dad when we get back?” I asked, ignoring the warning bells in my head. “I’ll drive up tonight and tell him now if you want me to.”

“No,” she said thickly. “You’ll get beaten and kicked out. We need to sort out where we’re going and what we’re going to do first. We’re not ready, Colt.”

“I’ve got plenty of scratch,” I argued. “We can go wherever we want.”

“And what about work?” she asked. “I know you won’t be happy unless you’re using that big brain of yours, and I need to interview for my internships.”

Freya was right; it wasn’t the right time to leave the club, but not for the reasons she stated.

There was a lot of work to do before I abandoned them. The Speed Demons needed me, and I wouldn’t let them down more than I already had. I was well aware of the consequences, but I could try and make up for what I’d done over the next few months by tying up as many loose ends as possible. The least I could do was leave the club in a strong position.

My heart tugged with the thought of saying goodbye, but at the same time, I couldn’t help the thrill of anticipation when I thought about the things I could achieve working for the Feds. The icing on the cake was that I’d get a life with Freya, something I hadn’t dared to dream of until now.

It was the thought of all the lies we’d have to weave over the next few months that made my chest ache. After everything that had happened with my family, I swore I’d never turn into my father.

But maybe it had always been on the cards.

Maybe I never stood a chance of being decent.

Betrayal was in my blood, after all.

When we got back to Freya’s apartment, I showered and then waited for her to do the same before lying back on her bed. I picked up my cell phone and scrolled until I found Cash’s number.

My heart felt like it was about to thud out of my chest, but I took a breath, shoved down my nerves, and hit the call button.

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