Jude tugged his collar up, covering it, and they stepped out. He smiled as he wandered towards his car. Small, tired, but a smile, nonetheless. It softened Warren enough for him to smile back, unlocking his driver’s side, already half back in UC mode, planning how to call Naomi when he had a sliver of space.
Then Jude’s smile faltered. Fell sharply.
And Warren knew. He didn’t see it first, he smelt it. That sour tang of sweat and sharpened steel. Instinct screamed, but too late.
Cold metal kissed his throat. A blade. Warren froze, every nerve on high alert. His breath locked. One wrong move and he was gone.
“This where you been, lamb?” Reid’s voice cracked through over the cars, ugly and triumphant. “Getting yourself some prime-grade beef, huh?”
Jude stiffened. “Cal—”
Warren snapped his gaze to him, sharp, urgent, the barest shake of his head.Stay back.The knife dug harder, biting skin. Warren held still, muscles wound tight, baring his throat to ease away from the point, every instinct fighting to twist free, to counter, to disarm. But training screamed restraint. One wrong twitch, Jude would pay.
“I can see he’s your type.” Reid’s breath was hot and vile at his ear, the blade grinding closer. “Bet he does it rough.” Poisonfollowed, spat straight into Warren’s head. “He’s good, ain’t he? Takes it hard. You should see him with two. Spread wide, begging for it to stop when you know he wants it harder.”
Fury and disgust burned through the chokehold of fear. Warren forced a swallow, felt his throat lick steel, and the threat of his own blood boiling to the edge. Still he kept his eyes on Jude. Pinning him still, holding him there with nothing but the command in his stare.Don’t move. Don’t you dare come closer.
“But here’s the thing…” Reid twisted the blade, sharp pain sparking. “He belongs to me. And if you want him…” His grin was venom. “…you ask me first.”
Rage flared white-hot through Warren’s chest, a blaze straining through every tether of control.
“So here’s the deal…we go back inside, and you can watch me fuck him raw. You like it? You can pay me to have it. You resist, and I’ll gut you like the slippery fucking fish you are.”
“Cal, please!” Jude lurched forward. “Please don’t hurt him. I’ll do anything.Please.”
That was it. The line crossed.
Warren’s pulse slammed once, hard, then everything narrowed. Training overruled fear. No time to think. Jude was in the crosshairs, and Warren wasn’t letting him take another step towards Reid.
So he forced a laugh. Low, buying half a second of Reid’s confusion. “You think you can—”
Then he moved.
He snapped his head back, hard and fast, cracking Reid’s nose. The blade jerked wide, enough for Warren to twist, catching Reid’s wrist and driving his thumb into the tendon until the knife clattered onto the tarmac. In the same breath he wrenched Reid’s arm up and back, spun him, and slammed him chest-first onto his car bonnet.
Calm gone. Training took over. UC façade ripped away in a heartbeat.
“Police!” The word tore out of Warren’s chest, louder than the thunder in his ears, shredding the cover he’d built piece by piece. “Stay down!”
Jude’s sharp gasp behind him cut through, louder than Reid’s curse.
Reid bucked, blood slick down his face, snarling. Warren drove a knee into the back of his thigh, forcing him down half a step, weight crushing him to the metal. “Move again and I’ll break your arm.”
Warren’s grip was unrelenting, every ounce of his strength forcing Reid’s arm higher until tendon strained and bone ground. He needed cuffs. Now.
“Jude!” His voice cracked like a whip. “Glovebox. My car. Cuffs. Go!”
For one frozen heartbeat Jude just stared. Disbelief carved into every line of him.
“Jude, please.” Warren’s voice dropped, sharp urgency threaded with desperate coaxing. “Need you for this.”
Then Warren saw Jude’s gape from over the car. His swallow. His,“You lied to me…”
Warren hated it. All of it. And he tried to pour his regret into his eyes. “I’ll explain. I will. But please, help me detain him.”
“Don’t you fucking dare, lamb!” Reid forced up against Warren but he held him back down, overpowering him.
Jude swallowed, then bolted, shoes slapping pavement, while Warren gritted his teeth against Reid’s thrashing. He twisted Reid’s arm higher, ripping a scream out of him.
