Page 58 of Locke 2

“I think that boy is with his mom—”

“He’s not—”

“You’re bored with this pretty little town, and that vanilla doctor, and you’re going to use Locke because that’s the kind of girl you are.”

“What kind of girl am I exactly?”

“The kind that’ll chew him up and spit him out.”

I studied him and the anger suddenly bleeding out of him. How fast he could turn. It reminded me of Locke. These Blackwater boys were temperamental little shits, weren’t they? I didn’t bother to correct anything he was saying. I wasn’t trying to convince him to find Lenny. I didn’t care about his views ofme, either. I didn’t value his opinion enough to want him to put me in high regard.

However, I did respect his bite. He was protecting Locke. He cared about him. Was that why he was here?

A car pulled up alongside us. I looked away from his mean eyes and at the black Mercedes with windows too tinted to peer inside.

“Have your fun,” Jem snarled.

I didn’t look back at him, but I heard his footsteps pound away. My shoulders relaxed as he took his mean energy with him. Dude was savage, and sort of right, and I was just fighting him for the sake of it because he pissed me off.

Anticipation zipped through me as I took a moment to gather myself. I was nervous. I was also really intrigued to see Locke. To stare at him in the daylight, especially after our rocky night. I wondered what he was going to say. I hoped he wasn’t going to be cold and snarky. I didn’t know how to handle that version of Locke. We didn’t leave things on a spectacular note. He’d shown me the picture, and we’d spoken, but we weren’t in a good place. I could see that I had pushed him away. I seemed to be doing that lately to everyone, even my fake sister.

Shaking off my nerves, I opened the passenger door and slipped inside. The smell of Locke hit me, and I nearly shut my eyes to breathe him in. Fuck, he was delicious, and I was in trouble.

I’d barely looked over at him or fastened my seatbelt when he drove off.

Twenty-Six

Kali

He didn’t speak. Not for a few moments. My eyes were already on him. Dressed in that black suit, his hair was still in disarray and needed to be combed back, and his cheeks were on the brink of stubbled, but it suited him. Clashed with the scary suited man in black that he was. It hinted at his chaos. That he could look so entirely presentable and yet not have tended to his hair or cleanly shaved. I wanted to be guarded and not show any emotion, but the simple sight of him stole my breath and replaced my cold bones with heat.

Still.

He fucked with my morning in the most brutal way.

“How could you?” I didn’t deliver it with malice or anger. I sounded too quiet and helpless.

He didn’t look at me. He hadn’t glimpsed at me at all in fact. “You stated you wanted to be part of finding the boy.”

I let his words sink in, and then I nodded. “I did state that, and I meant it.”

“Then you’re done with work.”

“I could have put in my notice, Locke. You didn’t have to humiliate me.”

Locke slowed in front of a red light. “What did Jem do?”

I eyed him. His expression was clear. There was no amusement. I realised then that he didn’t know. That my humiliating exit was entirely Jem. Of course it was. I shut my eyes and swallowed my annoyance. “Doesn’t matter. What are we doing?”

“We’re going to your home, and you’re going to pack your things.” He looked at me now, as if waiting for me to argue, but I said nothing. He’d already explained how dangerous this could be. If Lenny was in bad hands, those very people were in this town, unpredictable and dangerous.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” he repeated, suspiciously.

“I’m going along with your plan.”

“You’re not usually so agreeable.”

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