I also didn’t mention that Billie needed no fucking minutes away from us. She needed to learn how to trust in us when her life went to shit. A trust that would come in time. Fiercely independent people learned to never rely on anyone other than themselves through many moments of being let down when they needed help. It was a defense mechanism that Billie had in spades. But one day very soon, she would look for me in a crisis, and she would find me standing exactly where I’d promised: in the way of every fucking bullet heading in her direction.
“She tried to run away,” I told Jace and Rhett as we started to head back to the rooms where Billie and the others were. “She lied about being sick, and when I stopped the car, she took the fuck off.”
I mean, she wasn’t going to get far, but I’d seen the blind panic on her face. She was sacrificing herself for us, and I’d never been as pissed as I was the moment I caught her.
“Told you she would bail when shit got hard,” Jace said, an angry sound emerging from the back of his throat. “It’s her fucking MO. That bitch can never stick around for the hard stuff.”
I moved fast, hand reaching out to wrap around the back of his neck as I spun the stupid bastard and slammed him against the wall. Familiar move, but not as interesting as the last time in the alley. “Talk about her like that again, and you will be singing through busted vocal cords for the next six months.”
Jace fought back, using his strength to try and move me out of his personal space. Good fucking luck with that.
“She wanted to protect us,” I told him slowly, since he was clearly a moron today. “She wanted to stop anyone else from being killed because of Ricci’s obsession with her. Two of our security died today, and she saw it all at close range.”
Jace wanted to snap back, I saw the fire in his eyes, but he appeared beyond argument as he settled for glaring at me.
“She was going back to Angelo?” Rhett asked, voice shocked. “Seriously?”
I released Jace because I’d made my point. “I think so. If I hadn’t been there, she would be either dead or in their custody right now.”
Jace huffed as he straightened and ran a hand across his throat. In normal circumstances, he was tough enough to take on nearly anyone. But I wasn’t a normal circumstance.
For the first time in my life, I was glad for my training though. It had kept Billie alive today, and hopefully, it would the next time too.
Because I knew there’d be a next time. I could feel the tension brewing in the air.
Whatever the Ricci family was starting here, it was only the beginning.
thirty-four
BILLIE
Florence was still shaking and crying, but in the half an hour since the attack, I’d managed to pull myself together. Well, sort of, since I was feeling rather numb again as I sat on a couch, more security than I’d ever seen filling the room around me. Plus Tom and Florence, who perched on the other end of the suede couch.
My only focus at this point was on the other members of the band. Where were they? Unease filled my chest and would remain until I saw them again, safe and sound and not in the hands of the murderous Ricci clan. I’d been living in fantasy land thinking that these guys were too famous for anyone to fuck with them. Clearly, that wasn’t the case. Grayson could have been shot today. He’d been right in the midst of the attack. Rhett too.
That was why I’d tried to run. If one of them got hurt… or worse because of me, I would never forgive myself. I couldn’t live with the guilt. It used to just be Jace and Angelo who made me feel that way, but even in the short time I’d known them, Rhett and Grayson were now on the list too.
The list of people who impacted my life. Who made mefeel alive.Who I probably couldn’t live without and be happy. But I’d do my damn best to get away from them if it meant keeping them alive. Florence had thankfully been inside at the time, but she too was on the list of those I had to protect.
Putting my hope in Angelo wasn’t the smartest decision I could make, but getting away from Bellerose was now my number one priority. I’d slip away after their concert, and once I was a decent distance from them, I’d call Angelo and let him know I was on my own.
The Riccis would forget about Bellerose then, and I could stop having mini panic attacks about who I was going to get killed next.
This was probably where my eerie calm and numbness came from. This new plan, which should ensure everyone’s safety except my own, was exactly how it should be. This was my problem, and I’d dropped them all in my shi—
“Billie!”
I jerked my head up to find Flo was much closer, her wide eyes locked on me. “Are you okay? I called your name like ten times.”
Forcing a smile on my face, I nodded probably way too vigorously, but my body wasn’t exactly obeying my commands at the minute. “Fine. Fine. Just… where are the guys? Shouldn’t they be back by now?”
Her smile was slower, wobbling a bit at the sides. “They’re the reason I was calling your name. They’re waiting at the door for us to head toward the bus. United front and all that.”
My head whipped around, and I locked eyes with Rhett, who was standing silently while Jace discussed something with a few of the security guards filling the doorway. I couldn’t see Grayson at first, but then he stepped into view, taking in the room in one sweep of his steely gaze. When our eyes met, he jerked his head as if to sayget your ass over here,and no lie, my body tightened at the command in that one movement.
He’d been like that in the alley. In the car. Basically every interaction, he’d taken control and demanded what he wanted from me. I never expected I’d be into that, but despite the numbness I’d been feeling, heat was already sliding through my body to settle in my center.
And I was on my damn feet giving that big bastard exactly what he wanted.
