Page 57 of Hurry Up And Wait

“You’re right,” he cut in. “What was I thinking? You have a life of your own with more important things to worry about than this woman. You should go.”

“There’s no fucking way she’s gonna go for this,” I said, pushing off the desk. I paced the small area, trying to come up with anything else I could do to fix this situation. “I’ll just kill the fucker and end the problem.”

“We don’t kill random people.”

“He’s not random. He’s a pain in the ass who wants Isla and anyone she knows to rot in hell.”

“And if you kill him, the courts are going to look at us.”

“Right,” I snorted. “And we wouldn’t want anything to stand in the way of your revenge.”

His face darkened. “Kavanaugh is the one who pushed this.”

I didn’t buy it for one fucking second. “You know, your brother was good at manipulating people, too. I always thought you were above that, but I don’t doubt for one second that you played it just right to make sure Kavanaugh felt fucking indebted to you.”

He stiffened, his face turning downright lethal.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure you said all the right things. How you couldn’t do that to him, how you knew his father was a piece of shit and you would never ask him to work with him. You’d find another way. I’m sure he ate that shit up. Hell, by the time you were done with him, he probably convinced himself it was all his idea.”

Cash shrugged. “I can’t control what he chooses to do.”

“Like father, like son. Like son, like brother,” I huffed. “Tell me, does your wife know what you’re doing?”

“Eva knows I would do anything to avenge my brother,” he snapped.

“Just not the cost.”

“Stay or go, but if you do leave, whatever happens is on your head.”

I gritted my teeth in anger. “You have two days to figure this shit out and then I’m gone.”

“Thanks for the help,” he said sarcastically.

I stormed out of the trailer and back to my car. I didn’t have time for this shit. The last thing I needed was to get involved with another woman. Whether she needed protection or not, there was one thing that was very clear to me, and that was that I didn’t belong somewhere like this. I did better on my own, where I could do the job that needed to be done without worrying about things like morals and the welfare of others involved.

I had men waiting on me to handle the less-than-savory aspects of the business, and they wouldn’t wait forever. One woman would not stop me from doing my job. It didn’t matter how much danger she was in. I wouldn’t give up my reputation to ensure her safety.

I would never let a woman interfere in my life again.

13

ISLA

When it wasclear IKE wasn’t coming back anytime soon, I wormed my way off the couch and went in search of a phone. It was nearly impossible to find and took way too much time to locate the house phone. There was a single line located in a huge office filled with computers. I was afraid to touch anything. It all looked so expensive, and I didn’t want to piss him off by breaking anything.

But I needed to talk to Riley and know that she was okay.

The line rang and rang, and I was almost positive she wasn’t going to answer. But then she snapped at me, and I sank back in his office chair in relief.

“Who the hell is this? Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“I’m well aware of what time it is,” I grinned, happy to hear her crank voice.

“You,” she seethed. “You know, the least you could do after getting blown up is call your sister!”

“You could have visited me in the hospital,” I countered.

“I was a little busy answering a million questions about your husband, the douche canoe.”