“You mean, other than the fact that you fucked up?”
“Of course you would side with her.”
“I side with Reid. That kid was trusting in you to take care of him.”
“And I still am,” I said angrily. “How the fuck am I supposed to give him the life he deserves if he’s on the run?”
“Look, you made your decision and you have to live with that, but I don’t stand behind you on this one. You chose safety over your kid and Florrie.”
“He’s not my kid,” I said angrily. “I fucking wish he was, but he’s not. I can’t just do whatever the fuck I want. I have to play this right or I’ll never see him again.”
“Yeah, always playing safe and by the rules,” he scoffed.
“What? You think I should be more like you? By your standards, I should just kidnap him. Maybe I should trick the courts into giving me what I want. Better yet, I won’t involve them at all. I’ll just take what I fucking want and screw anyone else involved, right?”
“At least I fight for what I want,” he shot back.
“You mean you take what you want.”
“Hey!” Derek shouted.
We both turned and faced him, neither of us backing down though.
“What the fuck? Cap just had a meeting about this and you guys are back at fighting over this. Take a fucking break from the arguing and let’s figure this out.”
“What’s to figure out?” Craig scoffed. “We already know that we have a traitor amongst us.”
“Really? A fucking traitor?”
“Well, you sure as fuck aren’t on our side.”
“Think what you want. I was trying to do what was best for Reid.”
“You keep telling yourself that,” Craig spat.
I walked away. There was nothing more to say at this point. My friendships were falling apart. Florrie wasn’t speaking to me and Craig obviously didn’t trust me right now. It was ironic how our positions had flipped so quickly. One minute Craig was pissed at everyone for not trusting him, and the next, I was the one that wasn’t trusted.
“Hey,” Derek said, running to catch up with me. “You okay?”
“I’m not sure that’s possible.”
“What can I do?”
I stopped walking and turned to him. “Get a job for us. I need to get the fuck out of here.”
“Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
“What do you want me to do? Should I stay around here, around a woman that despises me, and wait for her to come around? Or maybe I should hang out in the locker room, along with all the guys that fucking hate me right now.”
“I hate to tell you this, but Hunter wasn’t exactly on your side, if you remember.”
“Well, that’s one person. I can handle one person’s shit.”
“Alright,” he said. “If that’s what you need, I’ll talk to Cap. I know that Ice’s team was supposed to go out tomorrow. I can see if he’ll switch the teams, but I make no guarantees.”
“Thanks.”
I headed home, hoping like hell that Florrie would be there and she would talk to me this time. I’d take anything right about now. Hell, a fuck you at this point would be preferable to the radio silence.
CHAPTER THIRTYFlorrie
I stuffed my clothes into my bag and ignored the ache in my chest. I couldn’t just sit around here anymore, and training wasn’t enough to clear my mind. There were too many reminders. If it wasn’t the training center that got to me, then it was the looks on everyone’s faces as I passed them. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I was doing what I did best.
“Where are you going?” Alec asked as he walked into our bedroom.
“Out on a job.”
I heard his soft exhale and chanced a quick glance. He looked defeated and the dark circles under his eyes said that he wasn’t sleeping. I almost felt bad. Almost.
“How long are you going to be gone?”
“Two weeks. Craig got Cap to give us Ice’s job.”
“Derek tried to get me that job,” he said, walking further into the room.
“Yeah, well, I guess I beat you to it.”
He shook his head. “I’m not cleared to work yet. You know…concussion.”
I knew he was trying to get to me, trying to make me feel bad about that, but the truth was, I didn’t. It gave me a release that I needed, but I didn’t kill him, so I took what I could get.
“I suppose you think I should feel bad about that.”
“Fuck, Florrie, I’d take twenty fucking concussions from you if you would only talk to me.”
“We’re talking now,” I said, zipping up my duffel.
He snatched me around the waist and turned me to face him. “This isn’t fucking talking. This is…this is you being civil.”
I smirked. “I think it’s funny that you think I’m being civil right now. I would call it restraint.”
“Whatever the fuck it is, it sure as hell isn’t talking to me. Talk to me. Let me in.”
“I have nothing to say.”
I tried to jerk away, but he pulled me close and slammed his mouth down on mine. I felt the tang of blood where his teeth bit into my lip. He tried to push his way deeper inside, but I shoved him back, swiping at my mouth to remove his taste as much as I could.
“When are you going to get it?” I shouted. “I don’t want to talk. I don’t want to see you. Hell, I don’t even know why you bother coming back here to me. Do you really think that I’m going to suddenly forgive you and we’ll work through our issues? Alec, we have so many problems that it’s not worth working through them.”
“Yes, it is,” he said, grabbing onto me again. He gripped my neck and pulled me in closer again. I fought against him, trying to get away, but I couldn’t break his hold. “Fuck, Florrie, we have everything to fight for. We’re good together. We’re supposed to get married.”
“You’re delusional if you think I would ever consider marrying you after what you did. You
