Page 39 of Nightmare’s Playground

Then I pictured that fucker with his hands on my girl and the cigarette between my fingers snapped clear in two.

“Fuck no.”

Flicking the butt over the railing, I got to my feet.

As much as I respected Denali and the club, fuck that.

Joy Cullen had bewitched me, and I didn’t give the first fuck what anyone had to say about it.

She was mine.

“Fuck it,” I said out loud.

Closing the slider behind me, I marched to the hook by the door and snagged the keys to my sled.

Then I stopped with my hand on the door.

“Mother fucker.” I didn’t have the first clue where she’d gone.

Pulling out my phone, I scrolled past the long line of contacts.

Ruthless: He was probably my only man who’d have my back when it came to his sister, but no.

Denali: Fuck no. He’d cut my balls off.

Then I got to the one I was looking for and fired off a text.

Me: Where is she?

It took less than two seconds to get a reply.

Ian: El Toribio. YOU’RE WELCOME.

Chapter Nine

Joy

Standing in the middle of the lot, I watched as Ben climbed out of his truck, took one look at me and with eyes as big as saucers, stopped dead in his tracks.

“Wow.” He puffed out his cheeks, then blew out a long breath. “You look…”

I glanced down at myself. Was it too much? I was pretty sure it was too much. After hearing my brother and Nightmare in the alley, I’d been beyond pissed. Livid, in fact.

And hurt.

I wasn’t some wilting flower. I’d grown up around the same questionable things my brothers had. Why didn’t they think I was capable of making my own choices in my own damn life?

It was infuriating.

“Just wow, Joy.” Ben was shaking his head like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing with his own eyes. “You look beautiful.”

Heat crawled up my neck and flooded my cheeks.

I couldn’t lie. After running into Nightmare on the landing, it felt good to know that at least someone was attracted to me.

“Thank you,” I said, and meant it.

Then, remembering my manners, I took him in from head to toe. “Look at you, Zorro.”