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Something flashed across his face and was gone in an instant.

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

He shrugged. “It’s not. I just know a bit more than I’d like. They know who I am.”

And who is that?

She moved to the side and tugged his hand. He slid in next to her on the couch, and Cookie sighed happily.

“Thanks for telling me.” She leaned her head into his chest. “I’m really glad you’re not a biker. My dad would’ve been pissed.”

He chuckled.

“Are Aaron and Wheeler involved in all this?”

“Wheeler runs a security company. They take contracts with people who need security, which can brush up with the bikers. They know who he is, but he tries to keep it clean.”

So, criminal-adjacent? Was that good or bad? Right or wrong?

His hand stalled on her arm for a moment before he went back to moving it up and down. “Aaron’s in tech.”

It had all seemed so easy before. Andrew and the police were good, the bad guys were bad. She hadn’t thought about it too much.

But Nico was a good boss, and Wheeler worried about Cookie’s mental health.

The finer points of ethics and morality had never been her strong suit. Kristi liked arguing the little details and what-ifs and edge cases.

But it wasn’t her.

Maybe it should be.

“Huh,” she said, her head heavy. She just needed to rest. She’d think about it later, when her eyes didn’t feel like they’d been rubbed with sandpaper.

“Can we have a nap?”

Saint laughed softly. “Yeah. Yeah, we can.”

Chapter 29

Riley

Riley woke up and stretched as the smell of cedar soap floated out of the open bathroom door. The shower was a dull rush in the background.

She felt tacky.

Someone else’s fear and anger simmered under the sleepy distance between her and earlier. It was a strange time in the afternoon. Normally she’d be counting down the last hour or two of work before catching the bus home.

But here she was.

She slipped out of bed and crossed the floor, avoiding the lines between the planks of the hardwood.

“Do you want company? To save water?” She waited at the open door. The rush of water on the tiles smoothed away the edges of her anxiety.

“You an environmentalist, sweet girl?” Saint’s laugh was warm and dark. “Yes, come on in.”

In the mirror, a smile pulled up her lips, but her eyes were still wide and her face pale. She dropped the smile before it cracked the scab on her lip.

She’d never bit her lip that bad before.