Chase spits blood on the gravel, then snorts at us. “You are in no position to ask things of me. All you need to know is that I have Cignette, and if you don’t want my guards to get their eager hands on her, then you’ll come with me.”
I groan and make to go to him, but Jayce stops me. When I glower at him, he grits his teeth and lifts a brow at me.
“You know how impulsive he is,” he says to me. “Don’t give him the ammunition he needs to hurt Cigs. Because hewillhave her raped, just to get an upper hand on you. Fucking stay calm and do as he says. It’s the only option we’ve got.”
“The 4 of us can take them all,” I argue. “You know that, Jay.”
“I know, you asshole.” He sighs and runs a hand over his head. “But it’s not about any of us here, man. It’s aboutCignette. Killing Chase or his goons won’t change her fate right now, but doing as he says – that just might.”
Varsha and Alex walk outside, and a group of guards immediately surrounds them.
I look at the former, who gives me a barely-detectable nod, letting me know she’s informed Solo about what’s happened here.
I swallow and try to level my anger, then face Chase again. “Well, let’s fucking go, then.”
He purses his lips as he looks me up and down. “In just a second.” He walks up to me, then bends his knees a little and jabs me in the gut.
I double over, and my breath catches in my throat as a dull ache spreads across my stomach, making it hard for me to draw air in or out of my lungs.
Fucking piece of shit.
If it wasn’t for Cignette, he’d be very dead right now.
“Perfect. We can leave now,” he all but announces, and his guards start dragging me and the crew towards the waiting cars.
66.
“I’m scared,” I whisper, then look at Mave. “I’m fuckingterrified, and I don’t like feeling this way – not after everything I’ve endured to ensure otherwise.” My head is fuzzy from thinking of ways I can get myself and the others out of this, and the buzz in my ears, along with the sweat running down my temples and neck, are making me fidgety.
Mave places a hand over mine and gives it a squeeze. “Just breathe, Nettie, and know that I’m here. Whatever Chase is up to, we’ll face it together. We’ve got this.”
We’re sitting on one of the couches in the foyer, and with each tick of the clock, my anxiety heightens. The guards that are surrounding us are making things worse for me, and I’mthisclose to bolting, and damning the consequences that’ll come with it.
The estate’s doors open, and I get to my feet almost immediately. Uncle Chase enters the foyer, and the power he exudes with each step he takes, would have made me look at him in admiration once upon a time, but now, all it invokes in me, is hate. Hate that he gets to have this moment, despite being a spineless turd that he is.
I look beyond him, and let go of a relieved breath when I see Dorran. His eyes meet mine, and the way his chest heaves when he exhales, tells me that he, too, is anxious about this.
He shoves the guard next to him and runs to me, and I all but fall into him when he wraps an arm around me and cups the back of my head as he hugs me to him.
“Did they do anything to you?” he asks against my ear. “Tell me you’re okay, Cigs.”
I hold onto him and sigh against his neck. “I’m fine, I promise.”
He pulls back and scans my face. “He knows,” he says to me. “I don’t know how, but he knows.”
“I don’t know, either.” I swallow. “I’m so scared, Dorran.”
“We’ll figure it out, sweetheart. We’ve got no other choice but to.”
I’m about to answer, but yelp instead when I’m pulled away from him. He’s being dragged away from me as well, towards his crew.
“Don’t fucking touch her!” Dorran yells, then shrugs off the guard who’s holding him.
The one who still has a tight grip on my arms, lets me go, and Mave pushes him in the shoulder before coming to stand next to me.
“Careful with your hands, Ashton,” he tells the guard, who says, “Sorry, boss,” and steps away from me.
“Such dramatics, Dorran,” Uncle Chase taunts, and takes a seat on the chaise lounge in front of us. “I didn’t take you for the romantic type, I really didn’t.”
