Chapter 6 Unfortunately, Mine

Lily

Waiting was bullshit. I had officially decided that. Maybe I could have it added beneath my Shadow patch.

SHADOW DOESN'T FUCKING WAIT

It had been forty-three minutes since Darius called Tyler. Forty-three. I knew because I'd checked the clock approximately four hundred times.

I was sitting on one of the couches in the main room now, though sitting was generous. I'd started beside Darius, moved to the edge of the cushion, stood up twice, paced once, got told by Knox to sit the fuck down, told Knox to kiss my ass, and somehow ended up tucked against Darius's side. His arm rested around my shoulders. My legs were curled beneath me.

One of his fingers traced mindless circles over my arm. It was irritatingly soothing.

"You're doing that on purpose."

"Doing what?"

I looked down at his hand. "That."

He stopped. My eye twitched. "Why'd you stop?"

Darius looked at me. Slowly. A smile pulled at his mouth. "You're fucking impossible."

"Never said I wasn't."

He resumed. Better.

Across the room, Knox sat at the bar with Elias and Marcus, going through paperwork. President shit. Apparently becoming President involved significantly less shooting people than Knox had probably anticipated and significantly more paperwork.

Because I did. Unfortunately. If Jinx and I had gone charging into that warehouse when I saw those three women, we would've had no idea what was waiting inside. How many men. How many women. How many exits. Nothing.

Knowing that didn't make sitting here any easier.

My eyes drifted toward Darius's phone again. He caught me. "It hasn't rung."

"I can see that."

"Then stop staring at it."

"Maybe I can intimidate it."

"It's an iPhone."

"And?"

"It doesn't have feelings."

"You don't know that."

Darius stared at me. Then looked toward Knox. "She's your problem."

Knox didn't look up. "No refunds."

"Asshole."

"I heard that."

"You were supposed to."

The hallway door opened. Jinx finally appeared. Jesus Christ. He looked like he'd spent the last hour fighting technology personally. His hair was sticking up in several directions. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, and he had an energy drink in one hand while several sheets of paper were crumpled in the other.

He made it three steps into the room. Stopped. Looked at me. Looked at Darius's arm around me. Then looked at the way I was practically curled against him. His eyes narrowed.

"What happened?"

Knox answered without looking up. "She tried to organize an unauthorized raid."

I sat up. "I did not."

Knox finally looked at me. "You asked Atlas how many armed men he could have ready in ten minutes."

"That was a hypothetical question."

From somewhere near the pool tables, Atlas spoke. "No, it wasn't."

Traitor.

Jinx slowly looked at me. "That's organizing."

"It was curiosity."

"You asked me how much C4 we had before we left the warehouse."

"That was also curiosity."

Jinx took a drink. "Baby, I know you."

"Don't baby me."

He glanced at Darius. "So how'd you get her to stop?"

Darius shrugged. "I talked to her."

Jinx stared. Then looked at me. Then Darius again. "Holy shit."

Darius frowned. "What?"

"You figured out how to turn her off."

My mouth dropped. "Excuse me?"

Jinx's eyes widened. "Not sexually." A pause. "Although—"

"Finish that sentence," Darius warned, "and I'll shove that can up your ass."

Jinx considered the energy drink. "Sideways?"

Victor started laughing from across the room. Darius closed his eyes. "Why the fuck did Knox make you Sergeant-at-Arms?"

"Natural leadership."

"Brain damage," Elias muttered.

"Also possible."

I couldn't help it. I laughed. Just once. But Jinx heard it. His eyes snapped toward me. "There she is."

My smile disappeared. "Don't."

"Too late."

He came over and dropped onto the couch beside me. Then he leaned forward and looked at Darius. "Seriously, what'd you do?"

"Nothing."

"She was ready to murder Knox when I left."

"I wasn't going to murder him."

Knox lifted his coffee. "Seven knives."

"Jesus fucking Christ, are we still discussing the knives?"

"Yes," three men answered simultaneously.

I looked around. Knox. Darius. Jinx. Unbelievable. "I hate all of you."

Jinx rested his head against my shoulder. "No, you don't."

Unfortunately, he was right. That was the fucked-up part. Somehow, somewhere between blood, betrayal, death, and everything else we'd survived, these three assholes had become mine. Not in the same ways.

Knox challenged every fucking thing about me. When I wanted to charge forward, he planted himself in front of me and demanded I think first. Sometimes I wanted to punch him for it. Sometimes I wanted to climb him like a tree. Occasionally both.

Jinx? Jinx would help me burn down the tree. Then ask if we could blow up the stump afterward. There was something comforting about loving someone whose brain seemed to operate on approximately the same level of questionable judgment as mine.

But Darius... I glanced beside me. He was watching his phone again. Darius was different. He didn't fight the fire. Didn't feed it. He somehow stood inside it with me until I remembered how to breathe. That scared me a little. Maybe because I hadn't realized I needed that.

Jinx followed my gaze. Then looked at Darius. Something passed between them. No jealousy. No anger. Just understanding.

We were still figuring this shit out. There wasn't exactly a handbook for Congratulations, You Accidentally Fell in Love With Three Criminals. If there was, Nicole hadn't given me a copy. But they were figuring it out too. The three of them had spent so long circling each other because of me that somewhere along the way, they'd stopped being rivals. They weren't friends exactly. That word wasn't strong enough anymore. Brothers, maybe. Extremely dysfunctional brothers who occasionally slept with the same woman.

Jesus. Our family tree was going to look like a fucking pentagram.

Jinx suddenly lifted his head. "Oh!"

I jumped. "What?"

"I forgot why I came out here."

Darius groaned. "Of course you did."

Jinx slapped the papers onto the coffee table. "I ran the plates."

That got Knox away from the bar. He crossed the room. "And?"

"Van's stolen."

"Expected."

"Second vehicle is registered to a company that technically doesn't exist anymore."

Marcus joined us. "What do you mean?"

"Dissolved eighteen months ago." Jinx tapped another sheet. "But somebody's still paying insurance on the vehicle."

Darius leaned forward. "Who?"

"Shell company."

"Can you trace it?"

Jinx looked offended. "Can I trace it?"

Darius sighed. "How long?"

"That's better."

"Jinx."

"Working on it."

Knox picked up one of the photographs. "What about the men?"

"Two unknown. One has a record for assault and unlawful imprisonment."

My stomach twisted. "And the fourth?"

Jinx's expression changed. "That's where things get interesting."

Before he could continue, a phone rang. Every person in the room froze.

Darius looked down. His phone. Tyler. My heart slammed against my ribs.

Darius answered immediately. "Hale." Silence. We watched him. His face gave away nothing. "Yeah." Another pause. "How many?" My stomach dropped. Darius's eyes came to mine. "Understood."

He hung up. Nobody spoke. I couldn't fucking take it.

"Darius?"

He stood. "They got the warrant."