Thorn. Huh. So even the security didn’t know who I was.
Still, he had a good point, so I meekly nodded and started across the road. Just as the guard ahead reached the car, several loud pops cut through the air, deafening me for a moment as I flinched. When I opened my eyes again, the guard who’d been about to open the car door was slumped on the ground, a bright spray of blood decorating the passenger window where his head had just been.
I screamed, looking around in panic as someone grabbed my arm and started hauling me backwards. On instinct, I fought back, thrashing and fighting to free myself, and then all of a sudden I was released.
Oh shit, that had been one ofourguards trying to get me to safety, and now he was dead too. He’d released me because he’d been shot by one of the three guys in dark suits striding towards us.
My next scream turned into a strangled gulp as a car came hurtling around the corner, and the door flew open before it had even stopped. As embarrassing as it was to admit, even to myself, I froze. I fuckingfroze.My eyes screwed shut, my breath held, I just…froze.
Shots fired, lots of them, and I braced myself for death. My ears were ringing, but no blinding pain ripped through my body. How?
Someone jerked me clean off my feet, and I gasped as I was swiftly manhandled into a car, but it wasn’t until the vehicle started speeding again that I realized what had happened.
“Grayson?” I squeaked, finally prying my eyes open.
His glare was pure fire.
“Flo!” I shouted in a panic. “We need to go back for Flo! She was in the bathroom!”
Grayson’s jaw twitched, but he didn’t turn around. He didn’t even slow down. “She’s fine. They weren’t after her, Prickles. They came foryou.”
Oh shit.Fuck. “Riccis?”
Grayson jerked a nod, and a wave of nausea rolled through me. Angelo had warned me. He'd said that blood would be shed, and I’d fucking ignored him. What thehelldid his father think I knew?
Whatever it was, it was worth killing for. But it was also possibly the only thing keeping me alive. I was in way over my head, and now I was dragging Bellerose down with me. Regardless of my promise to Rhett, I couldn’t stay. Not now. There was only one thing I could do, and it sure as shit wasn’t staying on the Bellerose tour.
“Grayson, pull over,” I demanded, my skin going clammy and cold.
He ignored me. Of course he did.
“Grayson,pull over!” I shouted, then followed up with, “I’m going to be sick.”
His jaw ticked, but he obliged by turning down a narrow alleyway and stopping the car. I fumbled my door handle a couple of times, my fingers stiff and uncoordinated, but eventually got it open. Then I just… ran.
thirty-two
BILLIE
At no point would I claim I had any real plan. Hell, I hadn’t even really thought things through when I took off. I just knew that the only way I could keep Bellerose safe was to call Angelo. Call him and beg for his protection… because, surely, he would keep me safe. Surely, he wouldn’t actually kill me when his father discovered Iknew nothing.
At minimum I could let him know I was no longer with Bellerose, which would effectively keep them safe. Which was my ultimate goal, after all.
Of course it was stupid. Of course Grayson caught up with me before I even reached the end of the alleyway. And to be fair, I was glad he did.
“What thefuckare you doing?” he roared when he grabbed me by the back of my neck and spun me to slam my back against the brick wall. It was rough, but I didn’t care. Tears were already streaming down my face, and when Grayson saw them, he softened instantly.
“Prickles,” he breathed, “why did you just—”
My brain wasn’t fucking working right, because the next thing I knew, I was kissing him like he was my salvation. Grayson had no qualms kissing me back, though. His huge frame crushed me into the wall, and his mouth devoured mine in a way that sent shockwaves right through me. He kissed me like he was starving, like he’d been holding himself back and I’d just given permission to let go.
I wanted more. My hands found his waist, tracing the line of his belt until I got to the buckle, then tugging the leather free.
“Billie,” he growled against my lips, and it was one of the hottest fucking things on earth. Until he gently shoved my hand away before I could unzip his jeans.
“Gray,” I complained, nipping his lower lip with my teeth. He was already hard, his dick throbbing hot through the denim, and I was desperate to feel him in my hand. And in other parts of me, too.
A deep groan rolled through his chest, then all of a sudden he had me flipped around, my face to the wall and his hardness pressed against my backside.
