I shook my head, trying to wrap my brain around what Rix had just said. Had he really just offered to hurt someone for me? The twisted side of my brain took strange comfort in that. He’d defended me.
Stilling my shaking hands, I babbled. “I’m fine. I guess I thought I was over it. Maybe I’ll never be over it.”
Rix’s gaze sharpened on me. “Over what?”
Once again, my only reply was to shake my head.
“Over what, duchess?” The nickname caught my attention and drew me off the path that led down memory lane.
“Why would you call me that?”
“Answer my question first.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“A thing that happened years ago. It’s fine. No big deal.” Again, I sounded like I was babbling.
“You’re talking about that politician’s kid. The one you sent to prison. He fucked you up.”
My eyes cut to his. “You know who I am.” Shock colored my words and icy coldness spread through my limbs. He shouldn’t know that.
“Didn’t take me long to find out. And I’ll call you whatever I want. You’re back in my world. Thought we covered this already. You don’t belong here.”
I’d address his declaration another time, like when I wasn’t cowering on a bathroom floor and needing to find my girl.
And enough cowering. Not in front of this man. No, since he was here, he was going to help me whether he wanted to or not.
“I’m looking for Trinity. She called me from here. Scared, said something was going on and people were fighting. She wanted to leave, but someone wouldn’t let her.”
A cold ruthlessness settled over Rix as soon as my words were out. “She called you and told you this?”
“Yes. Otherwise, trust me, there’s no way I’d be here.”
He held out a hand. “Come on.” When I didn’t reach for it, he snapped his fingers at me, his impatience clear. “Don’t have time to wait around. Let’s go.”
“I am not a dog. Don’t snap at me.” As soon as the words were out, I remembered who I was talking to. The scary head of a gang. I needed to take more care before I spoke.
A deep rumble filled the tiled bathroom, and it took me a second to realize it was laughter. Rix’s whole body shook with it.
“Not many men would dare talk back to me like that, and sure as shit no woman would. You’re something else. Now, come on. Let’s go see if we can’t find your girl.”
I hesitated for another beat before I took his hand and he pulled me up. But he didn’t let go when I was standing. Rix’s fingers stayed wrapped around mine as he opened the bathroom door and led me out into the hallway.
I was stuck on how much bigger his hand was than mine. And how strong and capable his grip was. Heat shot through me as an image of his hands gripping my hips filtered through my brain. At the thought, I missed a step, stumbling into Rix’s side.
He paused and looked to me. “Whoa. You sure you’re okay?”
Forcing the image away, I nodded in response.
“All right then, let’s do this.”
Rix shoved open doors as we passed them—something that had seemed foolish and stupid to do by myself—and yet the house seemed so much less forbidding with him beside me.
That’s when it hit me. I was with the most dangerous man in this house, maybe in this neighborhood, or even this city, my hand in his, and I felt . . . safe. My mind was trying to wrap itself around this foundation-rocking realization while I glanced in each room that we passed.
Each one was . . . occupied.
None of the girls were Trinity.
And he never let go of my hand.
He led us back down the hall and into the living room. He spotted someone and jerked his head. A younger guy came toward us.
“Where’s D-Rock’s woman?” Rix asked him.
He shrugged. “Don’t know. Saw them both leave after we ran off those FiveNDown punks who showed their faces.”
Rix stiffened, but his grip never changed. “You’re telling me we had FNDs on this block and no one told me?”
The guy shuffled his feet and looked at the floor.
“What the fuck ain’t you saying, Evo? Don’t you dare think about covering for D-Rock if he had a damn thing to do with it.”
The kid, Evo, dragged his gaze from the floor to Rix’s face. “They were here selling some white. D-Rock wanted some, and they got pissed when he did three lines tryin’ the product and then told them it was shit and to get out.”
Rix’s voice dropped even lower. “Those fucks were here sellin’ blow on my block? They’re done. D-Rock answers to me. Where’d he go?”
“Went to take his girl home.”
I bit my lip. Even though I wasn’t fluent in drug speak, I’d seen the movie Blow because . . . well, Johnny Depp. So I was 99.9% sure Evo was saying that Derrick did cocaine and then drove Trinity home, and that had to be totally unsafe.
My mama-bear-style rage burned off the remainder of the fear I was harboring. I really, really didn’t like this D-Rock kid, and Trinity and I were going to have a come-to-Jesus talk tomorrow when she got to work. This was not the life that a girl who had a full ride to art school needed to be involved in.
“I need to make sure she got home okay,” I said to Rix. “I have to go. Now.”
Glancing at me, he nodded. “We’ll make sure.”
Looking back at Evo, he said, “You ever see the FNDs anywhere in this neighborhood, and I don’t care who invited them or for what fucking reason, you call me ASAP. You don’t wait two minutes, you don’t pass go. You don’t do a goddamned thing but call me so I can handle it. You get that?”