Page 102 of Swerve (Boosted Hearts 1)

I shook my head. “I’m not talking about this with you, not now. I need my head in the game.” I crossed my arms. “The meeting’s set up for tonight. Mom said she’d text with an address and time twenty minutes before we meet.” I held up Edwards’s phone.

Van nodded. “Good.”

“Any news on Zeke?” I’d been in to see him earlier, but he’d been fresh out of surgery and they wouldn’t let me see him.

I hadn’t even told her about Edwards, or Zeke for that matter. I hadn’t had a chance.

“He’ll be out of commission for a while, but he’s going to be okay, thank fuck.”

We’d gotten in, and thankfully out, of Edwards’s penthouse clean. The cops had been kept out of it. There was no need to call them in, that fucker was no longer a threat to Ruby. We were never there. Edwards had enemies, a lot of them. We were the last place the police would look.

Zeke and I also had rock solid alibis. We always did.

Van left a short time later, and I cleaned up the mess I’d made.

If only it was that easy to clean up the one I’d made with Ruby.

* * *

The meeting place was deserted—or looked that way.

Mom had text me twenty minutes ago with instructions. I was at another shitty building in another shitty part of the city, this time an old apartment building scheduled for demolition.

Hunter was on point, somewhere outside to the front of the building. Or would be there soon. Same with Van and Jude, flanking either side.

My boots crunched on broken glass as I moved farther into the old foyer and shone my torch into the shadows.

Something didn’t feel right.

I flicked the torch across the old staircase, the landing there. Nothing. Literally. Half the stairs were gone, which meant no one was up there.

Reaching back, I slid my gun from the waistband of my jeans and aimed it, along with the flashlight, around the room. Silence. Too damn quiet. Every one of my senses was on high alert as I moved forward. There was an old elevator to one side and a door marked “Maintenance” opposite. I moved toward the door as silently as I could. These fuckers could just be being overcautious, or they could have gotten suspicious and this could be a setup.

I was sure none of this woman’s crew had seen my face. I’d been quietly confident going into this, that there was no way they could think it was anyone but Edwards while I’d been communicating with them.

Now my gut was telling me something different.

I shoved the door open, gun out in front of me, shining my flashlight into the corners. There was a scrape to my right and a light flared to life, filling the small space. I blinked, eyes adjusting, finally taking in the scene in front of me . . . and hoped like fuck I was seeing things.

“Hello, Neco.” The familiar voice slid through me, shock and surprise throwing me off balance for a split second.

That was all it took.

Something hit me from behind, and I dropped like a stone.

Everything went dark.

* * *

Ruby

I stood in the middle of Harry’s living room and stared out at the city through the large bi-folding doors. They led out to a balcony, to an amazing view. It was a beautiful place, with plenty of room. He’d kindly agreed to let me to stay here until I found somewhere else. I felt crappy asking him to put me up, but I needed some distance from Neco, and that wouldn’t happen if I stayed with one of the other King Agency guys.

I didn’t know what was going to happen. I knew I still loved him, would always love him, but I needed him to meet me halfway. I didn’t know if he’d be willing to do that, if he could. Neco was hardwired a certain way, had been molded by his upbringing, the things he saw, the helplessness he’d felt.

Sighing, I headed down the hall to my room. Harry was staying over at his girlfriend’s while he recovered, which meant it was me myself and I. I considered calling Lulu. A movie marathon sounded good about now—so did a glass or five of red wine. But I knew she’d want me to fill her in on what happened, why I’d moved out, and I wasn’t ready to talk about it.

God, it hurt.