Page 96 of Slayin Villain
Pregnant.
Had my luck ran out?Was I dying this time?
Would I leave Rachel and the baby all alone?
Chapter 43
Rachel
Royal Road had no business feeling like a goddamn purgatory.
I sat there with a paper cup of stale coffee, chewing the inside of my cheek and wondering if pacing would make it better or worse.Kingpin’s office door stayed shut, and nobody had come out to update me.Not Riff.Not Irish.Not even Eve, who’d promised she’d keep me looped in.
I checked my phone for the twelfth time in as many minutes.
Still nothing from Villain.
No missed calls.No texts.
He was supposed to be back by now.
Something in my gut twisted, hard.
I looked over at Thorn, who stood near the front window, one hand on the blinds, the other on the butt of a pistol holstered at his side.He was tense.More than usual.
I asked.“What’s going on?”
He didn’t look at me.Just muttered, “Shouldn’t be askin’ me that, darlin’.If I knew, I’d be talkin’.”
It was the darlin’ that gave him away.Thorn didn’t use sweet talk unless he was nervous or someone was about to bleed out.
That’s when Eve stormed in through the side door.
Her heels clicked too fast.Her face was flushed.Her ponytail, usually slick and neat, looked like she’d run through a tornado.
“Where the hell have you been?”I asked, already pushing to my feet.
Eve threw her hands up.“Get your shoes, girl.We gotta go.”
I had on my shoes.That was just Eve’s sayings.
I froze.“Go where?”
She paused just long enough to meet my eyes.“Sassy’s Slop House.”
The bottom dropped out of my stomach.“He went to meet Ember there.”
“I know.”
My voice dropped.“Did Ember show?”
“No,” she said slowly, grimly.“Rome did.”
The car ride was hell.
Eve drove like a woman on a mission, country music low on the radio, her lips tight, knuckles white on the steering wheel.We were flanked by motorcycles as the men rode alongside.
“Why the hell would Rome try to hurt him?”I asked, trying not to scream.
