Page 16 of Spinner's Luck

“What?”

“People... caring,” she said, glancing at me again. “It’s not something I’ve had a lot of.”

Her honesty surprised me, but I didn’t let it show. Instead, I nodded, leaning back and stretching out on the cot. “Well, get used to it,” I said simply. “Because you’re not on your own anymore.”

She didn’t respond, but the tension in her shoulders seemed to ease as she leaned back against the pillows. I turned off the desk lamp, plunging the room into shadows, the faint light from the window casting silver streaks across the walls.

For a while, the only sound was the soft rustle of the blanket as Lucy shifted, getting comfortable. I lay still, staring at the ceiling, my mind buzzing with thoughts of what I wish we were doing right now.

“Spinner?” she said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks,” she murmured, her voice softer than I’d ever heard it.

“Anytime,” I replied, my voice just as low.

CHAPTER EIGHT

THIS PLACE SMELLEDlike dirty fucking feet,the strong kind of smell that settled into your bones if you spent too long around it. I wasn’t fucking used to it, Zeynep always kept my shit clean, it would be fucking nice if someone cleaned this shithole. But right now, that was the least of my problems.

I couldn’t sit still, my boots pounding on the worn-out rug as I paced back and forth, my thoughts swirling like a fucking hurricane.

MyZeynep with thosebastards.

Lookingat other men.

Talkingto other men.

What if they were fuckingtouchingher?

The thought alone was enough to make my blood run fucking hot, but the rage didn’t stop there. No, it was deeper than that. It was The Devil’s House MC as a whole and they took what was mine and thought they could walk away. Fuck that, they would feel the hand of death. They didn’t know who the hell they were dealing with.

I wasn’t my fucking grandaddy!

Hell at thirty years old I was already building a club that would outshine anything he ever did.

Sure, they hit us hard once, but only because of that fucking James. I should have known, but the chance to get one of their bitches was too much of an opportunity to pass.

“They fucked up!” I snarled, slamming my fist on the table. The empty bottle of Jack sitting there, rattled but stayed upright. “Stealing from me. Taking what belongs to me.”

Fang leaned back in his chair, his face calm as always, though his green eyes gleamed with that predatory glint I’d come to rely on. “They didn’t steal her,” he said, his voice like gravel. “Zeynep ran away. That’s not the same thing.”

I stopped dead in my tracks, running my hands through my dirty blond hair, and taking a deep breath. Then I turned to face him, pissed he reminded me of that fact. “Does that make a difference? She’smine, Fang. And now they have her. Do you have any idea how crazy that makes me?”

He took a drag from his cigarette, letting the smoke curl around him like a lazy fog. “You know this obsession you have with Zeynep isn’t doin’ you any favors,” he said bluntly. “But it also gives us the perfect excuse to hit ‘em hard.”

I wanted to kill him just for saying that about Zeynep. But he wasn’t wrong, and that made me hate it even more because I was addicted to her, she was blood in my veins, and I felt like I would die without her. My jaw clenched as I sat down across from him, leaning forward with my fists braced on the table.

“I don’t need an excuse,” I growled. “I’ve been planning to take their territory for months. This just made it even more... personal.”

Fang leaned forward, matching my posture. “Personal don’t win wars, Drago. Strategy does. You want her back? Fine. But we need to be smart and not rush. Take their territory. Their supply lines. And break apart their ranks by sowing distrust.”

I gritted my teeth, my anger was simmering hot and ready to combust. Fang was good at this—too good sometimes—but it didn’t make swallowing his advice any easier. “They’ve got her locked up in that clubhouse,” I muttered, needing him to feel my impatience and I knew just how to do it. “And did you know Lucy’s there, too?”

At that, Fang’s calm exterior fractured, his lip curled into a snarl, eyes darkening with something raw and dangerous. “Lucy.”

I smirked, leaning back in my chair, glad I kept that piece of information to myself until now. My plan is to kill the bitch. I know she was the one who helped Zeynep get out. Fang doesn’t need to know what I have planned until it’s done. “What? Thought I wouldn’t notice you still have a thing for her?”