Page 56 of Reacher
Her eyes widened, and she pulled at my hand.
“What? They did what? Oh god. Oh my god, poor Ice. Is he okay?”
I released her, backing up a step, hoping that maybe it’d keep my brains out of my pants for five minutes.
“He’s fine. The guy was caught, before he managed to inject air into the poor bastard’s veins.”
Tears pooled in Ally’s eyes, and it tore at me to see that.
“Woman, don’t. Whatever you have going on, whoever you’re afraid of, you’re not alone. Not anymore. Not ever again. They came for one of us, so now they have to deal with all of us, and we have strong allies now.”
She dissolved into tears, and didn’t fight me when I dragged her against my chest, finally getting my arms around her again. She’d realise it was where she belonged soon enough. For now though, we had to deal with these bastards.
Seventeen
Reacherletmecryfor a little while, but by the time I calmed down, he was already walking me to his office. When we stepped inside, I noticed a tired looking Stitch waiting there for us, and on the desk were three steaming mugs of coffee.
“You woke him?” I asked Reacher, as he towed me along to his chair, and dragged me into his lap as he sat down.
“Yes, woman, because this club is run by two super smart motherfuckers, so we need him on this. Brother, Ally here is about to tell us who she’s running from, and in doing that, we find out who attacked Ice. And then? Then we’re going to plan some fucking retribution.”
Stitch sighed heavily. “Should I have laced the coffee with something stronger?”
Personally, I felt like he really should have, but Reacher shook his head, pulling me tighter against him. I guess my time for holding back or stalling really had come to an end. They wanted answers, and I knew I owed them that, especially for Ice. How could my shit have come down on him like that?
“You want me to talk from here? In your lap?”
He let out a sharp bark of a laugh.
“You’re sure as hell not going anywhere else. I need you here right now.”
“Don’t get a boner if I wriggle then, old man.”
His arms tightened, and he let out a slow relaxed sigh, like he took comfort from my sassiness.
“Come on, woman. If you do this quickly, we can still get some fucking sleep tonight.”
Stitch lifted his coffee. “I’ll drink to that.”
I stared warily at Stitch. There was no way out of this, was there? I had to tell them, but would Reacher even still want to know me after this?
“Ally, please. I assume you’re feeling awkward or something, but you can tell me anything, and Stitch? He’s the closest thing I have to an actual brother, more than anyone else here. I trust him with my life. With all of my secrets. Hell… he’s seen the worst of me, and he’s picked up the pieces more times than I can count. So don’t hold back, okay?”
Shit. “This isn’t going to be easy, not for me to say, or for you to hear. Dammit, I need to pace. Can you let me move, please?”
His arms loosened, and then dropped away.
“If that’s what you want.”
It wasn’t. I instantly missed his arms, but also I couldn’t speak without thinking carefully about how to say it.
“Um… I’m not sure where to start. A few years ago, I was in a pretty average job. You know, working in an office, doing uh… finance stuff.”
They were both watching me as I paced, and my god. I was actually going to have to say it.
“Uh… the money wasn’t great. You know, one of those companies that keeps wanting every last ounce of your soul, but not enough to want to pay a decent salary.”
They were sipping their coffee, and I desperately wanted some, but it’d make me stall again. If I didn’t do this now, I never would.
