“What did the car look like?”
At Kevin’s question, I turn toward the living room, and note that he’s pulled out his laptop and is seated on the brown leather sectional with his fingers flying across the keys.
I give him a quick summary of the events that went down. A voice inside my head wonders if they’ll stake the place out, knowing I’ll have to return to get my bike eventually.
Carson reads my mind. “You need to go out, you use my truck. It’s parked on the street in front of the bar.”
I nod. “This has to end, C. I’m not hiding out the rest of my life. At some point, Marcus’ body has to turn up, right? Or someone he knows is gonna come looking for him?”
Carson grunts again. “Exactly. And when they do, we’ll be ready.”
That’s when I remember what I was doing right before I had to run for my life.
Naima.
“Look, Carson… I’ll be fine here at Kevin’s. We’ll try to figure some things out. I’ll let you get back to work, and I’ll come see you at the bar before I go anywhere else.”
There’s frustration in Carson’s voice. “Where else would you need to go?”
I turn back toward the window, suddenly feeling very interested in the city below. “Naima’s out there all alone. I can’t stand not knowing whether she’s okay.”
“You care about her.” There’s realization in Carson’s tone.
I shrug. “Yeah. I mean, it was my fault she was there in the first place. It was me, thinking with my dick. Stupid.”
Carson’s tone softens. “No. It’s more than that. I know you, Ace.”
Caught, I stay silent.
“If you care about her, then you should stay away from her. It’s the best way to protect her right now.”
I sigh. “I get you.”
His tone is skeptical. “But you also have to take care of you, Ace. No stupid moves, man.”
Kevin looks up. “Without a plate on the SUV, I’ve got nothing. But I’m pulling up background info on Marcus Wahl right now.”
I nod as I pull out my phone.
It’s hard to keep my fingers steady as I type out a text to Naima.
You OK? Haven’t seen anything strange, have you?
I pace the Kevin’s open-concept living space as I wait for her to respond. My heart races again like it did in the parking garage, but the fear is different. It’s not for myself. It’s for this innocent young woman who got dragged into my mess.
When the phone buzzes, I glance down at the screen.
Nothing weird. What’s up, Ace? Are YOU okay?
I let out the breath I was holding, then return her message.
Don’t worry about me. But I’m your first call if you need anything.
Knowing that she’ll call me if anything goes down on her end is the only thing that can keep me away from her when all I want to do is run to her side.
First things first: I need to find out where Marcus Wahl was making his bets.
Sixteen
NAIMA
On the day that I woke up with Ace in my bed, Bryn picks me up after my afternoon class and takes me to her apartment. It’s where we’ll get ready for an evening hanging out at Jaxon’s fraternity house. This is a normal occurrence for me, considering the fact that Bryn is my best friend and dates Jaxon, and his fraternity mixes with my sorority often. This is one of the few places where my life in Kappa Theta Theta crosses with my life as her best friend.
Bryn’s eyes narrow on me, assessing my traditional clothing. I’m wearing what I typically wear when I’m with my sorority sisters: designer jeans and heels with my letters. It’s not anything I’d choose if I were going out on my own, but it’s acceptable in the world I live in.
“Hey,” she remarks. “If your parents take you to Morocco again for the holidays this year, I want some Moroccan clothing.”
There’s a hint of disappointment in her tone. Bryn’s never hidden her disdain for my “camouflage.” But she can’t understand how hard it is for me to bridge three worlds—the world of my culture, the elite, privileged world I grew up in because of my parents’ money, and the world I long to live in: one of my own making.
A couple of hours later, we’re hanging in the large living room with several of the fraternity brothers and my fellow sorority sisters, plus Bryn.
Leaning back into the leather cushions of a chaise lounge, I fiddle with the playlist blaring from the speakers on the iPod. Most of her cookie-cutter pop doesn’t do it for me, so I add a few songs I can tolerate and set the next song to one with a throbbing punk beat. One that I don’t think will offend the rest of the room too badly, of course. Closing my eyes, I lean back on the lounger and picture Ace’s face in my head.
His earlier text made me feel like there’s something going on with him. Something having to do with what we witnessed the other night. I need to know what it is.
Need to know? Or want to know?
His safety has nothing to do with me. But the tone of his message worried me, and I want to know why. Did he find something out about the people who are after him? Does he know how to stop them? Is he alone and in trouble?
The last thought causes pain to bloom in my chest. I open my eyes and pull out my phone just as the chaise sinks beneath Noah’s added weight.
“Hey, you.” His eyes crinkle at the corner as she smiles. A flash of perfect white teeth disarms my initial surprise at seeing him so close.
He’s definitely a charmer.
“Hi, Noah. Did you have a good day today?” I shift so that he has more room on the chair and his grin grows.
“Pretty good. My political science professor, the one who went to graduate school with my father, is lining up an internship
