Page 34 of Tyler's Rule
“Please,” I breathed. “Don’t tell him.”
If he saw me, this was over. Cassie would know. Everyone. They’d demand answers.
“What is it?” Riordan called back.
Shade gave me another once-over, utter bemusement across his dark features. At whatever he chose to see in my expression, he opened his mouth. “Uh, is it okay if I hang here for a second to take a call?”
“Sure? See you downstairs.” Riordan sounded confused, but the door slammed with his exit.
I slumped.
Shade snapped his gaze back to me. “If this is some kind of perversion over my sister, I’m killing ye first and asking questions later.”
Over…? He and Cassie had discovered they shared a father a few months back. I knew for Shade, that meant a lot. “Don’t talk shite.”
“Then what?”
I had nothing. No good lie saved up. As good as I could be with strategising, I could also generally think on my feet. But today, I was a wreck.
“I need to take something Cassie stashed in here. It isn’t hers to keep.”
Shade angled his head, still in disbelief. “I’m going to go out on a limb and guess it isn’t yours either?”
“No. I’ll take the flak when she finds out, but I need ye to trust me. I’m doing this for good reasons.”
He stared at me for several seconds, calculation in his gaze. Then his eyes widened. Fuck. At Buck’s place, he’d caught on to something, too.
“Stop. Don’t work it out,” I ordered.
Shade’s jaw dropped. “Holy fucking shite. Ye don’t half pick your catastrophes.”
Frustration chased away my anxiety at being caught.
I shoved him. “I said not to. Don’t say it.”
He walked down the hall, his tattooed hands on his head. Then he whirled around, his shock morphing into incredulity. “That is fucked up.”
I couldn’t deny it. I shrugged.
“Your own men are…” He cursed the ceiling, the tattoo across his throat bobbing. “Don’t make it my problem.”
“Then don’t stand in my way.”
He dropped his head back and took a deep breath. “Is she okay?”
“Do ye even have to ask that?”
“Two days. That’s what I’ll give ye. And I won’t lie to my wife.”
It was my turn for disbelief. “Did I miss a wedding, or are ye just stacking surprises on mine?”
Shade shook his head. “Answer my calls and this wouldn’t be news. Everly and I are getting hitched in a month. Nice church,just our closest friends. Which was to include ye. I was talking to Riot about it because we’ve opted for this low-key…” He swore. “Why the fuck am I telling ye this? I’m leaving.”
He stormed away.
“You’re a good friend,” I said after him.
I earned the middle finger he returned, his Saltire ink on the back of his hand underlining how much I’d pissed him off.
