Run Bad Boy Run

Chapter 44

Hayden Cross contemplated the time it would take for him to lunge at Jason the Madman and rip out his throat before the rest of his father's ridiculous team could take him down. He was close enough to where he could throw his shoulders forward and his weight would propel him right into Jason's gut. He was quick with a knife, but quicker with his fists. Not a lot of people knew that about him, and he loved the dazed expressions on their faces when he broke their noses.

Jason sent another smirk in his direction and Hayden felt his blood begin to boil. He would enjoy breaking this man's nose. Or his cheek. Maybe he could fracture his orbital bone. Whatever it was, the bastard wouldn't know what happened until it was too late.

Abigail must have sensed it because she cleared her throat and shifted closer to him. When he didn't spare her the glance he knew she wanted, she blatantly elbowed him in the ribs. In front of Jason. In front of Hayden's father. As if he were a small child being scolded. He swung around to stare daggers at the red head but she didn't care.

Don't you dare, her hardened expression said. She glanced over at the massive, muscular men and women standing exceptionally close to them. Hayden wanted to tell her fuck it and release the weeks of rage that made his skin crawl but something stopped him.

The look on Ember's face on the rooftop—the horror, the pain, the shock—stopped him. He wasn't going to let the opportunity to skin those monsters alive get away from him that easily.

"How can we trust him?" Hayden finally said, his question directed to Matthew.

"We have our ways," he replied and Jason burst into laughter.

"And very deep pockets," the traitor chuckled. "Tell me, Cross, did you ever figure out who was undermining Mr. Rodriguez?"

Flashes of angry meetings with Derek and his commanders made his stomach knot. "For a second, they thought it was me."

The air in the room thickened. Jason seemed the least bit bothered. In fact, his eyes glimmered in the dim light, revealing his true insanity. "How's that little pest you love playing with so much? Your girlfriend? The blonde? Ember, was it?"

Like he didn't know her name. That asshole.

Hayden wasn't sure why he asked that question. But the second Jason opened his mouth, he regretted it with every fiber of his being. "What about her?"

"She seemed very smitten with the enemy." He paused. "And Nate seemed very smitten with her too."

The name hit him like a ton of bricks.

Nate Lincoln, the one who introduced Hayden to the seedy underworld of The Punishers, was the traitor. He set up Hayden to take the fall. And he was the reason why Ember's mother was shot.

* * *

I don't know how long it's been since Derek's—or Nate's—or both?—minions have brought me to this warehouse. Time crawls slowly across my skin. The only indication of the time of day comes from a slight crack in one of the high, paint-covered windows and a single ray beam perfectly in my face for most of the day. Because of course it does. The Universe really wants to wring this thing for all that it has.

And I hate every single minute of it.

I don't know what Derek is planning with me. Or Nate. The minute I try to ask anyone for a chance to talk to Derek, I'm met with insults or dead silence. When I scream that Nate Lincoln is the traitor, some stare at me with a devilish glint in their eyes while others snarl at me like I'm crazy.

No one believes me. The ones who know the truth have spun a web so intricate, they can pull on any tether to set themselves free.

I have to talk to Derek. I have to convince him out of all people of what's going on. That might be the only thing that'll save me. It's like someone has poured sand down my throat and listening to the distant trickle of water from a leaky pipe is agonizing.