Jaylyn Sloan

Knock. Knock.

I internally groaned as the noise rang through my head from where I laid on the couch. I hadn’t moved much since Elsie and Nick left the night before. There was a pounding behind my eyes that would not ease up and the burning at the back of my neck made me want to vomit. I curled up into a tighter ball, willing the noise and lights to go away.

Knock. Knock.

“Ryker, get the damn door.” I growled from my fortress of solitude.

“Hey. Fuck off.” He snorted. “Attitude.”

“Fuck you.” I growled again.

I could hear his heavy footsteps making their way closer to the door. The air changed in the room when he opened the door.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” Ryker rumbled.

“You two sound like you’re in a mood.”

I rolled my eyes at Abraham’s dark undertones. If being close to Ryker meant that I would have to deal with Abraham, I wasn’t entirely sure that I would be able to cope. Him being in the same room was annoying, let alone the same damn planet. I closed my eyes tighter, trying to tune out their conversation with obvious distaste.

“No. At least, I’m not.” Brief pause. “But as for someone else...” The statement left unfinished.

I snorted. “Fuck both of you and your loud ass mouths. What the fuck do you want, Abraham?”

“Well, hello to you too.” He rumbled, causing the hair on my arm to stand, and then a sudden weight dipped on the other end of the couch, nearly catching my toes. “I’m just here to hang out with my boy.”

The jovial tone in his voice made my foot shoot out and kick him right in the ribs.

“Fuck, Jay.” He snarled, reaching forward to snatch my foot but missed as I buried it back in my hole.

“Joy to my world, now I have to deal with two assholes.”

“Did you feed this thing today?”

Ryker chuckled somewhere away from me. “We haven’t eaten yet today.”

“Feed the beast, man. She’s extra cranky today.”

“I wouldn’t be if you two would shut the hell up.” I grumbled.

“You hungry, Abe?” Ryker sounded almost cheerful. Asshole.

“What’re you getting?”

“I don’t know. Probably tacos. It’s the fastest thing around here.”

“Yeah. I’m down.”

I could hear Ryker walking away and suddenly the daylight pierced my haven causing an audible hiss. Abraham yanked my blanket off my face.

“Damn you, Abe.” I growled, shielding my eyes.

“What’s the matter with you?” He studied me like a specimen.

“I got my ass beat. What’s it to you?” I raised a brow.

“Well, you look like shit, if that makes you feel better.”

I pursed my lips.

“So, who was the lucky one that got a shot at you?”

“Green Jade’s ringleader.”

“No shit? What’d you do to piss them off?”

“Not me.”

Abraham looked confused when I motioned towards Ryker.

“What business does Ryker have with the Green Jade?”

“Apparently, extraordinarily little. Owes Lee a fair chunk of money and his car off a race. But Lee is not aware that Ryker got cheated. And if he does know, then he obviously doesn’t care.” I tried to sit up and hissed as my hair rubbed against the wound on my neck.

Abraham leaned towards me and helped remove the strands of hair that had decided to snag on the healing burn. His touch was featherlight, so unlike his usual jackass nature. I watched him out of the corner of my eyes. When he leaned closer to me, I froze.

“You need to wear your hair up more often, at least until its healed over completely.” His breath touched the nape of my neck and my eyes narrowed.

“So, I’m going to get him out of it.” I changed the subject.

“Excuse me?” He sat back and stared at me.

“Lower your voice.” I smacked his arm and peered over the couch. Ryker was still arguing with the food delivery guy. “Will you help me?”

“Are you crazy? Lee will have you killed on the spot just for working under Dominik.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m aware. But I’m going to make him an offer he cannot refuse. I just need to get in the damn door. That’s where you come in.” I smiled.

“How the hell am I supposed to get you in?”

“Act like you’re going to betray Dominik to them.” Simple. Easy. A monkey could do it.

He stared at me for a moment in silence. “And what am I supposed to do when Dominik finds out?”

“Let me take care of Black.” I kept watching Ryker over the couch.

“You must really care about him to stick your neck out for him like this.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“That’s a weird way to ask for help.”

“Abraham, will you help me or not?”

“Fine. But if Black comes down on me, I’m throwing you under the bus, quick as shit.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” I smirked.

“When do you plan on doing this?”

“As soon as possible. Hopefully tonight. So, I need you to get into contact with them and set up a meeting and I’ll just be your tag along.”

“And how do you reckon I do that?”

“I don’t know. Get creative.” I snorted.

“What are you guys talking about?” Ryker asked as he set his phone down on the counter. “Tacos will be here soon.”

“The cops showing up at the races the other night. I was just saying how I don’t like running.” I piped up quickly.

“Oh, yeah. Man, she complained so much on the way back.” Ryker laughed, but it was not real. It didn’t reach his eyes. He obviously didn’t want Abraham to know what we ran into that night. Or his situation. My phone started to ring, interrupting his laughter.

I looked down and grimaced before turning my phone off again.

“Again?” Ryker asked.

“Yeah.”

“What?” Abraham looked between us.

“Jaylyn is dealing with a little bit of a light stalker. Haven’t seen his since the night she kicked the shit out of him, but he is constantly calling. What was his name again?” His humor annoyed me.

“Aiden.” I grumbled.

“Ah, yes. Aiden.” He chuckled. “The ex-boyfriend from hell. She damn near broke all of his ribs.”

Abraham joined in his laughter. “Why don’t you just block him?”

“Because then he might try to do something really stupid, not just show up here unannounced.” I explained.

“Makes sense.” Abe agreed.

The afternoon rolled by slowly and when Abraham finally left without it seeming suspicious, I decided it was high time to get my ass in the shower. I got up, Ryker on my heels.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“Getting my clothes to shower.” I snipped. “I am perfectly capable of showering on my own.”

“I’ll be waiting just outside the door.”

“That’s unnecessary.”

He stood firm and I sighed.

“Jaylyn, I’m just trying to take care of you, but you’re making it so damn hard.”

“I don’t need a babysitter. I’ve had worse. A burn is nothing to shout about.”

“It was a fucking branding. Not just a common burn.” His tone was clipped. “And it was my fault you were there in the first place. You wouldn’t have gotten hurt if it weren’t for me.”

“I am fine. I don’t know how many times I must tell you that for it to penetrate your thick skull.”

“Regardless.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

I rolled my eyes and went into my room and hurriedly grabbed my towel and a change of clothes, tucking my bottle of concealer underneath it all away from his view.

“I’ll be out in a minute.” I snapped the door shut to the bathroom and turned the lock. His insistence to constantly be near me was starting to wear thin and it was getting harder and harder to keep him in the dark about the real reasons I was here in the first place.

Once I was fully dressed, Abraham texted that he was ready to go and waiting outside. I sighed. How was I going to get my way out of this one?

I stepped out of the bathroom and tossed my soiled clothes in a corner of my room, too hurried to put it away. Ryker watched from my door and I growled shutting him out.

“Where are you going?”

“To get some air. You’re literally suffocating me.” I yelled.

I grabbed out my duffle bag and slid the gun into the waist of my jeans under my shirt, along with some of the knives that had accompanied it.

I pushed my way around Ryker when he blocked the doorway as I opened my door.

“Let me come with you.”

“I’m fine, Ryker.”

“Jaylyn.”

“Stop. Please. Abraham is going with me.”

“What?” He seemed blindsided.

“Abraham is going with me. I’ll be fine.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Jaylyn.”

“No. Don’t.” I held up my palm as I shoved on my boots and grabbed my phone.

“I’ll be back later.”

“But Jaylyn.”

“I can’t hear you.” I lied as I let our apartment door close and rushed downstairs before he could follow and hopped into Abraham’s truck.

Abraham watched me for a minute before he took off.

“Everything alright?”

“Apparently, I’m dodging more than just one bullet this week.”

“Maybe you should just tell him the truth if it means that much to you.”

“He’ll hate the real me.” I sighed.

“You might be surprised.” He offered.

“Just drive.” I grumbled leaning against the window.

The drive over to the Jade’s warehouse was shorter than I had expected. The ride had been a quiet one and I knew that Abraham was on edge just as much as I. He was not much of a conversationalist, and for that I was grateful. We were most likely walking right into a trap and I would have to talk faster than Lee’s bullet if we wanted a chance to walk out of there without a blood bath.

Abraham parked his truck and we sat on the edge of our seats, inspecting the surrounding area of the outskirts of the warehouse. It was fenced in. If you didn’t look too closely, it almost seemed abandoned. There was no noise coming from the inside that could be heard from where we sat, nor any lights, and not very many cars parked around it. With only three people keeping surveillance outside, it might be an easy night.

Boy, was I fucking wrong.

“You going to be able to get us out of this?” Abraham asked as we were ushered inside the sliding doors.

“I have a plan.” I lied, trying hard not to swallow.

The brand on my neck tingled as a reminder of what could be.

We followed a member of Lee’s crew further into the maze of the building, zigzagging between massive crates that were larger than Abraham’s truck. Looked like Lee had just received a fresh shipment right off the barge. The deeper we were led into the jungle, the bass of music started to thump against the boxes of metal and wood. Abraham was close on my heel, his fingertips brushing against my back, level with my gun.

When we reached a stairwell that led to the underneath, I paused and thought about what it was worth. Ryker had gotten himself mixed in with the wrong crowd by doing something that was illegal in the first place. He messed up. Was I really willing to take a bullet for him if absolutely necessary?

Unfortunately for me, the answer was yes. Even if he did not know what I was up to. Even if I had to ignore the slight betrayal that flickered in his eyes before I walked out the door. He didn’t know much about this kind of life, the darkness that lingered beneath the city. The cold, unfeeling part of my world that swallowed every ounce of good and twisted it into a dark, dirty thing. He only had a mild taste of what was offered below the streets he raced on, and I was not about to let Lee be the one that would get to educate him.

Abraham nudged me out of my thoughts, and I sucked in a deep breath as we descended the staircase. When we entered through the door at the bottom, the entire atmosphere changed. Music poured in and out of hidden speakers peppering the room. I could hardly hear the nearest person talking with how loud the music blared. Dancing girls littered every table and I tried to keep my eyes at a respectful level.

It was a fucking strip club.

Fuck me.