Page 82 of Unbreakable Thread

“I’m good. Those days are over for me.”

“No shit, that’s because you two are not done. The thing is, you two will never be. I went to her house when I heard how hysterical she was on the phone. She cried in my arms until she fell asleep. She wouldn’t tell me what happened. All she said was she didn’t do anything wrong and that they needed you.”

They? Of course, Daisy.

I sigh. “Right now, I’m pissed at her. If I’m around her, I’ll say cruel shit like I did hours ago.”

“What did you say?” Xander asks.

Running both hands through my hair, I answer. “Told her I should find Annette and have her on all fours and fuck her.”

Drake curses under his breath, and Xander is looking at me with raised brows.

“Like I said, I was pissed at her and still am. She unraveled her feelings with him as if I were nothing. When I’ve been here waiting for her.”

“Have you though?” Drake barks. “Because Carlos, Henry, and Bob have had you by the balls. I can hardly get a hold of you. I didn’t even know you were going to fight in the Underground again until Xander filled me in.” He walks to the fridge and pulls out a water bottle. Twisting the cap, he turns back to me. “Watch your back, Kiddo. It’s been a while since anyone as skilled as you has come along in the boxing industry. Everyone is looking at you like a meal ticket and/or gunning for you. Especially Carlos.”

I cock my head at him, my brows pinched together. “Carlos has always been my rock. He’s the father I never had.”

Drake rubs his beard. “Remember, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Then you’ll see.”

I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about. When I introduced Carlos to Drake, they really didn’t click. It could be because Drake is rebellious, but then again, so am I.

Drake asked if I wanted to go for a night ride, but I had way too much to drink.

Xander steps out, and Drake lingers at the door.

“She feels guilty.”

Lifting slightly to my side from my back on the sofa, I rest my weight on my elbow, feeling the cushion beneath me sink, as I shift into this half-risen state, to hear what he’s talking about.

“The marks on your back. Sunny thinks it’s her fault and is terrified you’ll resent her one day. Those memories live in her head. She didn’t tell me, but I think she has this idea that if she did what Jason wanted, then you wouldn’t have been punished for it.” He shuts the door behind him, leaving those words hanging.

Before Daniel abducted her, she had mentioned my scars were there because of her. I told her, “Baby, I’d do it in a heartbeat all over again for you.” Those scars hold no regret but are a token of my love and loyalty to her. I might have been too young to be in love, but I loved her as a friend and a kid crush. Now I’ve filled my body with ink, a symbol of the woman who captured my heart and taught me what love truly means. I have a couple of new tattoos. I know she hasn’t noticed them. The day I had my fingers buried deep in her pussy, she had been so aroused she didn’t see the name Sol on my knuckles and Love on the other.

As of right now, I’m not sure if my anger will wear off, but what I do know is that I can’t forget how she’s shattered my heart.

On the screen, Sol walks out to her car. I wish the indoor cameras were working. I knew that if I sent one of my techs to work on them, she might be upset, since she knew I’d keep an eye on her, and I wanted to respect her space. As long as I could watch her arrive home safely, that’s all that mattered to me. That was then, and now I realize I need to delete the app from my phone and stop checking on her at work. I couldn’t get myself to do it. The memories of her always calling me to watch her strip in her office became something I enjoyed, what man wouldn’t? The ache in my chest deepens from watching her—tears flood her vision as she walks to her car and backs into her mailbox and drives off, leaving the flag on the box hanging down. A knock comes at my door, and I shut my phone off.

Utah? “Why has she been going there?” She had asked me to go with her to show me something.

Johnny bites his bottom lip. “She’s been visiting a friend at a…umm health center.”

“A health center?” I turn the phrase over. “Come in,” I shout, my voice gruff.

Johnny makes his way in with a scowl on his face. I called him at six a.m. sharp to come to my office. “What is it that you couldn’t wait for? It’s seven a.m., and Gary is on duty. I needed to sleep after having a toddler up all night.”

I adjust the watch on my wrist. “Where has Sol been going and with whom?”

He lifts a shoulder, yawning. “Work, school, doctors’ appointments, therapy, shopping, and Utah.”

Who did she know in Utah who was at a health center? “Is she okay? Is it for her?”

“It’s not for her,” Johnny says carefully.

I prop my elbow on the desk, rub my freshly shaven face, wondering who she’s been visiting. “Who’s the friend?”

“I’m not sure.”