Sitting across the office from Dex, Luther, and that cute biker that worked at Mayhem, I sucked in a breath and folded my hands across my lap to hide the fact that I was on the verge of panicking. I mean, it wasn't like I didn't know the question was coming. It had to be.
After our brief make-out session outside of Pins, the subsequent phone call that Dex had with Luther in his office, and then seeing at least two motorcycles drive down the street in the opposite direction of Mayhem—I found myself there. In the office. Under the second Inquisition.
Now, I could lie. Or I could tell him exactly what happened outside with Liam. That's what made me panic.
I'd been a moron and I was scared to admit it.
But I hadn't been a liar before this, except for kind-of, sort-of not telling Sonny about my arm for months. Since then, I'd tried not to lie because keeping things quiet by omission wasn't lying. Right? I think it depended on the circumstances, or at least that's what I liked to think to keep my conscience clear.
"Ritz," Dex spoke up, screwing the Rangers cap on his head from side to side in a gesture I wasn't familiar with.
Well, shit.
I was tougher than that. What did I have to be scared of?
Looking at Dex's pissed off face, I knew exactly what but that didn't mean I was going to cower from his judgment, damn it.
"He saw me outside and he said he had a proposition for me," I started. "He said that he had a solution to save my dad and Sonny from the debt that needed to get paid at the end of the week."
Luther looked over in Dex's direction with a wary glance I didn't miss.
"He said he'd take six months with me in exchange for... I don't know, not going after one of them if it wasn't paid. I just told him no." And then told him I was with Dex.
"He didn't say anything else?" The hot older guy asked.
I shook my head. "Nothing important." He just called Dex trash, but I'd be an idiot to bring that up.
Luther blew out a deep breath that made his lips flutter in exasperation. "That son of a bitch."
Hot biker guy shook his head incredulously. "I heard he just split up with his old lady not too long ago."
"I heard the same," the president of the MC agreed. "But why the hell would he try and take Ris as an exchange? That doesn't sound like their style even if he's trying to piss us off doing it."
Now that question, I had no answer for. And all of a sudden, I felt guilty that I hadn't agreed. That I wouldn't do my part to assure Sonny's safety but...
"I’d do almost anything for Son, but I don't want to go with Liam," I tried to explain to them in a small voice.
"You're not goin' with anybody," Dex interjected quickly. "Not for Son, your dad, for nobody, Ritz. Ever."
I happened to be looking at Luther while Dex spoke and I could see his mouth twitch.
"This is Taylor’s shit. You shouldn't have gotten dragged into it," he said.
There went my guilt.
If I kept the truth to myself it would bother me forever.
"I did something stupid," I blabbed, looking up at the ceiling because any balls I had beforehand disappeared.
Just rip it off like a Band-Aid. Quick, quick, quick.
"I went to Busty's last week to talk to the Reapers to see if I could talk them out of going after Sonny. That jerk said it wasn't any of my business." I let out a weird breath continuing to damn myself. "He kissed me and I ran out of there."
Silence.
Complete, mind-numbing silence.
"I know it was stupid but I'm fine." Like that was going to help the situation but something was better than nothing. I hoped. Holding up my hands, I flipped them over. “See? Nothing happened.”
The first thing that came out of anyone's mouth was a long, drawn out, "Fuck." It might have been the hot guy or Luther.
The second thing that came out of someone's mouth was, "Get out."
Dex.
"Excuse me?" I asked, still looking up at the patterned ceiling.
"Get out, Ritz," he repeated.
What the hell? I lowered my gaze down, suddenly more confused than scared at his response. Dex had pulled the lid of his cap down tighter on his forehead, his fingertips white and pinched. "Why?"
"Get the fuck out," he snarled.
Ouch!
"Dex—"
"I said get the fuck out!" he yelled.
My heart started pounding so fast, I thought it was going to explode. My face went hot. My chest started to hurt. It was like my skin was being flayed.
I felt awful. So friggin' awful. Why the hell was he yelling at me like that?
So I snapped back for the first time in my life, because here was this stupid dick-brain of a man that I’d slowly started to like, started to feel something for, and he was going to act like a complete friggin’ dick? "Go fuck yourself, you...you...mean asshole!" And then I let out a breath that could probably rival a dragon minus the fire and bad breath. "Don't you talk to me like that."