A window rolls down, and I spot Declan lifting his gun.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Martin says. “But this blockade worries me, Dina. Who are you seeing? What’s his name?”
“Bye, Martin!” I push my friend away and slide into the car as quickly as possible. I go to close the door, but Declan lifts a finger. “Hold on.”
I leave the door open. Declan is leaning back, his face largely in shadows.
“Close the door,” Connor says.
I reach for it, but Declan tsks. “Martin wants to know who you’re seeing?”
“I didn’t know what else to say,” I tell him.
“Close the door,” Connor repeats.
Declan leans forward. The sunlight illuminates his angelic face, his mismatched eyes. “Come here, Martin. Take a look.”
Unafraid, Martin steps closer and peeks in the SUV. He looks from Declan to Connor, and then his face pales. He recognizes them. I don’t know how or from what, but he knows them, and judging by how scared he looks, these two men are fearsome. I’m pretty sure my assumption is correct.
“If you put your hands on her again,” Declan says, “the next thing you’ll be doing with them is using them to hold the shovelwhile you dig your own grave. Do we understand each other like men do?”
“Yes, Mr. Crossbow.”
OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD.
I think I’ll have a heart attack. My heart’s beating a mile a minute, and I can’t breathe. I’m gasping for breath when Connor shouts, “Close the door!”
Martin slams the door, and the SUV starts up the street.
Declan searches for something in the side compartment. He takes out a paper bag and gives it to me. I breathe into it while he looks out the window. Next to me, Connor throws his guns on the seat across from him. He cups his head in his hands. “Remind me why I can’t shoot everyone?”
Declan sighs. “Right now, I’m struggling with the same thing, so I can’t. Maybe in a few minutes.”
“Fair enough, brother.” Connor leans back and turns his head toward me. “You poor thing. I don’t normally feel sorry for anyone, but I might feel something to that extent for you.”
With my breathing evening out, I fold the paper bag and put it in my pocket for later. I just might need it. “You’re the Crossbow twins,” I say more to myself than them. Of course, they know who they are.
“Don’t fear me, please,” Declan says.
Connor scruffs up my hair as if I’m a kid or a puppy. “You’ll be okay. I promise. Declan is only deadly to his enemies. To his friends, he’s really nice. He smiles often. And I bet his dick is big like mine, so you’ll be more than okay.”
“Stop,” Declan says.
Connor snickers. “It’s true.”
“You can’t go around threatening men for touching me.”
“Okay, I won’t threaten them anymore.”
Connor snickers. “Let the bodies hit the floor.”
“Nobody is talking to you, man,” Declan says. “And why are you sitting back here with us?”
“Because you guys are fun. This is fun. It reminds me of the time when Uncle Endo kidnapped the doc and brought her into the Keep.”
Endo. I’ve heard that name somewhere before. I snap my head his way. Is he joking? “Your uncle kidnapped someone?”
Connor nods. “Mmhm. She’s not with him anymore. Ran off with another man, but yeah.”
