Page 132 of Fangs
“I think it’s a good idea if you don’t go anywhere alone for a bit,” Lee told me.
“I don’t need a guard.”
Sam narrowed his eyes at Lee but sighed and said, “No, I think he’s right, Shortcake.”
“You don’t know for sure any of that stuff is about me,” I argued. “Sometimes I have to leave in the middle of the night or real sudden. I’m not gonna wait for someone to come with me.”
“Don’t make me sleep in front of the door,” Lee warned.
“Mac and everybody will be back tomorrow,” Sam quickly cut in as I sucked in a breath to go off on Lee.
“Oh, that reminds me, I gotta go finish somethin’,” Jax blurted out, scrambling to his feet and darting for the ladder.
I waited until I heard him leave before I turned to Sam. “What was that with Jax earlier?”
He let out a sigh, bringing up a hand to scrub through his short hair. “Jax’s two older brothers were two of the kids who attacked Mac in training.” He glanced at Lee, and I heard what Sam wasn’t saying—two of the kids Mac was forced to kill with his bare hands. “At some point, his mom died, leaving Jax an orphan. We didn’t know he existed until after we finished training. One night, Jax broke into the bunkhouse determined to kill Mac with nothin’ but a rusty wrench, but once he got inside, he couldn’t do it. He went to leave and accidentally woke Mac up, and then he broke down and confessed everything. Trey, of course, immediately petitioned to add him to our crew, and Mac agreed. He’s been with us ever since, but he’s still afraid of getting kicked out.”
My heart ached. Of course, Trey would take the kid who snuck in to kill someone under his wing. No wonder Jax had been Trey’s constant shadow. I took a deep, shaky breath.
“Are they seriously bringin’ Lana back?” Clarity asked, her eyes on me.
“Yeah,” I said, but Lee’s expression darkened, so I hastily changed the subject. “The brothel’s not still operating, is it?”
“Nemo left it up to us,” Clarity said, fiddling with a loose thread on her shirt. “Some people are still workin’, but mostly ’cause they want to.” She glanced at me and caught the question on my face. “I think some just don’t know what else they could do. That’s what the rest of us are tryin’ to figure out.” Her mouth twisted in a bitter smile. “I couldn’t keep workin’ when I was havin’ fits from touchin’ people.”
I remembered how she’d avoided touching me that day in the clinic, and I opened my mouth to ask another question, only to be interrupted by the breakfast bell. The day hadn’t even fucking started yet.
“Clare, you want to go to the canteen?” I asked.
Clarity shook her head, glancing at Sky. “We should get back.”
“I’ll walk you back,” Sam said. “I gotta check on Jax, anyway.”
“And I’ll walk Freckles to breakfast,” Lee volunteered far too cheerfully.
As Lee put it, Wolf and the rest of his crew left the clinic earlier to give us “privacy,” which made me roll my eyes. I knew he reported everything he heard to my brother. I walked silently, my brain turning the events of the morning over and over. My skin seemed to buzz with a restless anxiety I couldn’t shake, and it put me on edge.
“Whatcha thinkin’ ’bout over there?” Lee asked.
“Nothin’,” I muttered.
“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit.”
I couldn’t get a good read on him. At first glance, Lee appeared to be an open book, but I was starting to realize how guarded he was. The jokes and the flirting were distractions—a sleight of hand.
“C’mon, Freckles,” he coaxed, slinging his arm around my shoulders again.
I cut my eyes sideways to glare at him, my temper immediately flaring. “Why do you care so godsdamned much?”
He stopped abruptly, his hand tightening on my shoulder to make sure I stopped, too.
“Why do I care?” he repeated, his eyebrows raising.
I pulled away from him and crossed my arms, waiting.
“You’re seriously askin’ me why I care?”
“Do you get this friendly with every bounty you catch?”
