I don’t drive out to the warehouse, just in case those men are following me. Instead, I drive home as calmly as I can, get out, and enter my house. I check every room and lock every door before pulling out my phone and calling Heath. He answers on the second ring, and I start rambling before he has the chance to speak.
“Heath. Three men stopped me today. From that cult. I . . . they were asking about you. I don’t know what to do. I don’t—”
“Hey, slow down,” he says, his voice tight. “Start from the beginning.”
“They were waiting at my car after I went to the library. The old man from the mall and two others. One had blond hair and was all creepy and asked me about you. Then he threatened me and—”
“I’m sending Tank past to get you right now.”
I open my mouth, then close it again. “What?”
“He’s the closest. He’ll be there soon.”
“But—”
“Lucy, you need to come here.”
Fear tightens my chest and I whisper, “Heath . . .”
“Baby, it’s okay. Just trust me. Tank will be there soon.”
He hangs up before I get the chance to argue that Tank scares the hell out of me and I’d rather not spend twenty minutes in a car with him. It doesn’t look like I’m getting much choice though, so I grab a small bag of essentials and a coat and wait by the door. Ten minutes later the rumbling sound of a truck can be heard outside the door. Here goes nothing.
I walk out, locking the door behind me, and make my way towards the truck. Tank doesn’t get out and when I open the door, he’s staring straight ahead. This isn’t weird.
“Hey,” I murmur, climbing in.
He throws the truck into drive and speeds off without answering me.
For ten minutes we drive in silence. Finally, it gets the better of me, and I turn to him. “What did I do to make you hate me so much?”
He doesn’t answer.
“Seriously? You could at least have the decency to tell me.”
His fists clench in irritation. “You know nothing about me or my brothers.”
“I never claimed that I did,” I snap.
“You shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be risking everything for you,” he spits.
“I hardly asked for it.”
“He told you to leave him alone. It doesn’t get much clearer than that.”
I clamp my mouth closed, furious and not wanting to explode at him. He’s not even giving me a chance; he’s not even trying. When we arrive at the warehouse, I jump out of the truck before it’s even come to a complete stop.
Heath is waiting at the front door, and the second he sees me, he comes rushing over. I throw myself into his arms, pressing my face to his chest. “Did he hurt you?”
“No,” I whisper.
“Come inside. We have to talk.”
We move inside the warehouse and all the guys sit around a table. Heath turns to me and looks down, studying my face, then his jaw clenches. He reaches up and strokes a finger over my cheek. “You have a bruise.”
“I do?” I say, touching my cheek.
“Did he do that?”
“I . . . yeah.”
“Sit. We need you to tell us everything he said and leave nothing out. Can you do that?”
I nod and move to the table, avoiding all eyes as I take a seat. Heath sits beside me and Tank stands near Johnny, still glaring in my direction. I look down at my hands. “I was just coming out of the library when I saw them at my car. Three of them—the older man I saw that day in the mall and two others. I didn’t pay much attention to the second one, but the third one was blond, I’d guess fake blond, and he had this long hair braided over his shoulder. He was awful.”
“Fuck,” Johnny hisses.
“What did he say?” Sheldon asks.
“He asked me if I knew of a Heath Walker. I told him I had no idea who he was talking about. He asked me why I went off in the mall, and I may or may not have goaded him and got cross. I told him it was because he was a creep. He asked about you again, and I told him I had no idea who the hell you were but if you were anything like him to stay away. He seemed to believe that. Then he grabbed me and told me to stay out of it, or I’d suffer. He also tried to get me to accept his help. He was awful, but I could swear he seemed familiar.”
All the men look at each other.
“What’s going on?” I ask, concern swelling in my chest.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” Heath says, his voice clipped. “I just need all the information I can get.”
“When are you going to tell her, man?” Blake mutters.
Heath glares at him.
“Tell me what?” I prompt.
“Nothing, baby,” Heath murmurs, leaning over and wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
“Heath . . .”
“Lucy, trust me, okay?”
“That man threatened me,” I snap. “I’m tired of being kept in the dark. I’m not going to say a damned word, but I’m not going to walk around wondering when he’s going to come back, either.”
“Don’t,” Tank warns, his eyes slicing to Heath.
“Tell her, bro,” Johnny says. “Even I think she needs to know.”
“You fuckin’ tell her, I’m out,” Tank growls.
“Fuck,” Heath barks. “All of you stop.”
I look over to him, narrowing my eyes. “Heath?”
He looks to his brothers, then to his friends, then to me. “No.”
That hurts.