Beyond Addiction by Kit Rocha Read Free Book Online Page A

Four, let them know she’s here. And we need a safe place to stay until they can come and get her.”
    Shipp’s jaw clenched. “Who’s after you?”
    “Most of Five.”
    “Must have really pissed off your boss this time.”
    Finn snorted. “Something like that.”
    Alya thumped a bowl of stew down in front of Finn so hard that a little slopped over the edges. Then she slid a second one in front of Trix. “How do you expect us to send a message? I just told you, we don’t have access to the network.”
    “You could send someone.”
    Shipp laughed. “You make it sound easy. Maybe you forget that it isn’t, not for everyone.”
    Finn pressed his lips together, one big hand clenching his spoon until Trix thought she saw it bend. “Not easy, but you could do it. All they have to do is get to Four, and O’Kane will come get her. I know he will.”
    Shipp reached for the glass in front of him, but instead of filling it from the nearly empty bottle of O’Kane whiskey at his elbow, he spun it around on the table. “What aren’t you telling me?”
    Tense silence. Finn slanted Trix a look, but jerked his gaze away the moment her eyes clashed with his. “Mac Fleming was trying to start a sector war between Four and Five. Kidnapping her was part of it. I put him down.”
    “Put him...” Shipp blinked. “You fucking killed him?”
    “Shit got complicated.”
    “No kidding.”
    Alya sank into the chair next to Trix. “They’ll do this all night, you know. Dance around what happened one sentence at a time. Finn’s drugs are more affordable than his words.”
    “We don’t have to dance around what happened,” Shipp said lazily, with no trace of humor to match his light tone. “Our buddy Finn killed a sector leader and came here. But what’s done is done.”
    “What’s done is done,” Alya agreed. “I won’t turn you away from the farm, but you’ll have to let Shipp decide when it’s safe to send a messenger.”
    Shipp rubbed his chin and sighed. “Tomorrow’s soon enough. We’ll have to spend tonight on guard, just in case.”
    A muscle in Finn’s cheek clenched as he finally looked at Trix. “Is that okay?”
    As if her input mattered to Shipp and Alya—but at least it did to him. She smiled gently, grateful for the chance to pretend, if only for a moment, that her answer carried weight. “It’s more than generous. And I’m sure Dallas will show his gratitude.”
    “I wouldn’t mind a little.” Alya leaned across the table to snag the whiskey bottle. “You wouldn’t believe what we have to pay for a bottle of this stuff.”
    Dallas’s appreciation went far beyond free liquor. “He’ll take care of you.”
    “And we’ll take care of you.” Alya rose and circled the table, brushing her fingers along the back of Shipp’s neck. A casual touch, soothing, the kind Trix had seen Lex give Dallas a hundred times. “I’m going to start the water heater. Trix, love, when you’re done eating, follow the hallway to the stairs. I’ll have a bath and a med kit waiting.”
    “Thank you.” She avoided Shipp’s gaze as she picked up her spoon.
    He had danced around things, all right—like the fact that harboring them, even overnight, was dangerous. It was impossible to know how far Beckett would go to catch Finn or recover her, but they had to assume the worst—that he’d tear apart the sectors, not to mention anyone who got in his way.

Chapter Four
    Finn didn’t blame Trix for rushing through her meal. Shipp looked perfectly amiable, sprawled in his chair—but she had spent her life around dangerous men. She wouldn’t miss the tension in Shipp’s eyes.
    It didn’t explode until she’d vanished down the hall. They both listened to the old wooden stairs creak gently as she climbed, and Shipp lit another cigarette as the sound receded.
    Then he swore viciously. “You put me in one hell of a goddamn spot here, Finn.”
    “I know.” He reached for the empty glass by Shipp’s elbow and