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The truth of the matter was I did know that the only way to stop Conner was to put hi in the street And I also knew that wasn’t how Titus operated; in fact I was counting on his strongthose kinds of lines No, what he needed to do was keep et close enough to Conner and take care of him myself As far as I could tell, that was the only way to restore the kar for Novak all those years ago When I had wanted revenge, wanted my sister’s boyfriend to pay for all the ways he had destroyed her life, I should have been brave enough, strong enough, to take care of hi someone else do my dirty as the ultimate cop-out I wouldn’t ever be that weak or owe anyone that kind of favor again

Nohen judgment day rolled around, it would be Conner and me face-to-face, and he would know exactly why I was the one pulling the trigger It was my turn to stop the madness so that men like Titus had a shot, so that Race could take the vices and addictions that were rae around the to cannibalize itself, so that guys like Bax actually got a break for once I understood redeave et his hands dirty at all I already had blood on mine, so as a little bit more?

Conner had tricked uys That he was one of the fighters for justice and fairness Sure, I wanted to believe it so badly that I had ignored everything that was screa to tell me he wasn’t what he seemed He had pulled the wool over my eyes The only ti woly past and a questionable set of ethics, ith Connor and he had faked it all None of that had been real

I jumped when the cell phone Titus had dropped off beeped with a text e I snatched it up and called ht of his nae

I’ll be up to get you in 10

Typical Titus No uy

I sighed and cast a rueful look down at the borrowed clothing I earing I had no idea who Titus’s neighbor was, but she was ht colors and patterns, where I typically favored a ht about how ridiculous the hot-pink short-shorts and stretchy lireen tank top had to look I also hadn’t seen an ounce of ot back to the Point, and so far theI had come up with for my hair was a ponytail

I was used to looking good I was used to being able to use the way I looked to disarm others and to deflect questions I didn’t want to answer I hadn’t had that advantage with Titus since he showed up at theme at my worst and I didn’t like that because he already had such a poor opinion of , so I resigned ment while he moved me frooing to be spending ti to Titus’s plan

I pulled on a black hoodie that had to belong to hiertips and reached down toIt wasn’t arish outfit I had on underneath it, but it would do for this journey

I pulled open the door after his first knock and took a quick step back to avoid getting tagged in the forehead by his falling fist, which was poised to knock again I sucked in a quick breath that I hoped he couldn’t hear as I stood frozen on the spot while his eyes roved overthe door to the sky His mouth pulled down on the sides and his eyebrows shot up as his gaze skis under the hoodie

“Do you have pants on?”

His voice was gravelly and rough, much more so than usual, and I had to s before I could answer I was doing a little ogling ofto me Instead of his usual rumpled, button-up shirt and pressed slacks, he had on a black T-shirt that was stretched tight across s were encased in faded jeans that had a hole in the knee and one in the thigh The skin peeking out of the frayed material was a tawny color and looked just as hard as the rest of hi even when he was off duty He had on the same boots he hile he worked but his hair was in disarray like he hadn’t bothered to comb it down, and I had never seen the rese as it was right then He looked just as harsh, just as unpredictable, as Bax ever did and it had places inside nore so that I could answer him and not sound like a breathless moron

“Of course I have pants on It’s not et”

I stepped away fro the room feel a hundred times smaller

“Did I say hs well over three hundred pounds, but her teenaged daughter is about your size, just shorter I would’ve asked Dovie or Brysen, but I wanted to o before the charade starts Dovie would have told Bax, and I’ve had enough of hi all over my ass where you’re concerned as it is Brysen would have been game but I already pulled in all the favors I had where Race is concerned and I didn’t want to owe him any more”

“Well, I’ to wear hot-pink short-shorts as actual clothing” I lifted the hem of the hoodie to show him I did indeed have pants on, and noticed the way silver sparked in the center of his irises “But I aet my hands on some real clothes in the near future If the plan is to flaunt this affair in Conner’s face and to get hi, then I need to look like I look normally do”

“How is that?”

He jerked his gaze away fros and lifted them up to look me in the eye “Hohat?”

“How do you normally look?” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and I had to bite the tip of ue as the action pulled the top of his jeans down just enough that a sliver of skin was exposed between theated abs and that vee that was bound to make woman drool danced in front ofout and trying to touch the exposed skin that was dusted with just a hint of dark hair Of course Titus wouldn’t be all baby smooth and perfectly manicured like so many men were today He was too much of a man for that It was just one more way in which Conner had been a sorry substitution for what I really wanted He had been polished and primped even more than I was