Cole finished redressing, scratched his ear, and pulled me closer. I wasn’t sure if it was to shield the fact that he was packing or out of some misguided male ego trip. I was going to hide his darn guns the best I could, though. I didn’t care about his reasoning.
“Well, are you two ready now?” the same gunman that had spoken up outside asked sardonically, placing his gun against my temple and holding it there.
Cole’s grip on my hips tightened, and I murmured, “Yes.”
“So glad to hear it,” he mocked and leaned in close and asked softly, “Your tits are superb. Would you like for me to make you scream like he did?”
Oh, good Lord in Heaven. I trembled where I stood.
Cole’s tone chilled when he asked, “You like sloppy seconds?”
The gun disappeared from my temple and the masked man moved, slamming his fist into Cole’s gut.
Gasping and bent over, Cole adjusted his arms slightly, shielding his guns better. Darn it, we needed more than his two. A twitch of Cole’s lips when the bad guy turned away and I knewhe had interrupted on purpose. Well, that was welcomed. A little crazy, and crude, but still appreciated. Or was it calculation?
A thought occurred.
His friends. Where were they? I shifted in front of Cole a smidge as he straightened, sheltering him again and surveyed the crowd. Everyone was still staring at us. What had felt like forever already had realistically been less than a minute.
I saw Ally and Sam on the left. Sam’s eyes were huge in her face, but Ally was staring at the masked man near me with unadulterated hate. No hope there. I didn’t think she brought any firepower in her little clutch.
His friends weren’t in the center. Not in the front. Darn it! Where were they? My gaze flicked to the right, and I found them.
But, they weren’t watching the bad people.
They were ogling Cole’s disheveled appearance. Dark and Dangerous’ shadowy, lurking mien had disappeared and was currently replaced with wide-eyed surprise as he took in his friend’s apparel. Velvet was darn near grinning, and alternated between gawking at his friend and me. His eyes met mine and they glittered with amusement. Good grief! Weren’t they taking this seriously?
The spokesman for the bad people spoke up again, “I’m not interested in you, Cole. Wait, it is Cole, isn’t it? At least, that’s what I think she screamed there at the end.” He chuckled. “Go sit down.” He kicked Cole in the back with his foot, making Cole stumbled into me. I didn’t mind at all and started moving with him. “No, no. Not you, baby. Just him.” A hand grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me back against a fleshy body. I instinctively froze. “You, I think I’m going to try.”
Cole stopped in his tracks and turned back to us. He gave the impression he was going to charge the guy holding me and I shook my head at him right before another masked man pointed a gun at his head and told him to move.
“Go back to your friends, Cole,” I whispered.
The jerk tightened his grip on my hair and murmured in a high, derisive tone, “Yes, go back to your friends, Cole. And no, I don’t mind your sloppy seconds. This slice of this cherry pie will soon have her legs spread for me, too. I may even let you watch.” He squealed with delight and his disgusting tongue slid out between his lips and black mask, licking up the side of my face in an unhurried stroke.
I shuddered in revulsion, gritted my teeth, and stared hard at Cole. “Go to your friends.”
“Do as she says or you die,” the man’s voice was sadistically anticipative, like he hoped Cole wouldn’t do as he bid. I pleaded with my eyes and Cole finally walked backward, his focus wholly on me, uncannily crossing straight to where his friends knelt.
“What the hell is this about?” Brent’s voice rang out throughout the silent room.
My gaze found him instantly. I don’t know how I had missed him before. He was sitting directly next to Dark and Dangerous. Supermodel was on his other side and Asian dude knelt directly next to her.
And boy howdy, was Brent livid. His fiery gaze traveled from the gunman gripping my hair - Spokesman, to me, to Cole, and back again, all in rapid succession. D&D and Velvet’s scrutiny snapped to him in surprise.How exactly did they know him?
Brent spoke up again when Spokesman ignored him while whispering something to his cohorts, “Whatever it is, I’m sure that woman has nothing to do with it. Let her go and I’ll give you whatever it is you want. This is my show. You can have all these fucking pictures if you release her.”
His gaze was trained on mine and even though flashes of anger and longing and betrayal stirred in his eyes, his absolute love for me was there, too. Cripes, what have I done? I glanced at Supermodel. I felt my eyes harden. Nothing he already hadn’t.He flinched from the expression I swung his way and D&D, Velvet, and Cole all stared back and forth between us.
“Do you know her? You look at her like you do,” Spokesman asked softly, and he put the bad end of his gun under the collar of my sweater and started dragging it down my shoulder. I couldn’t help it. I lurched and he fisted my hair painfully while slowly removing my sweater over my shoulder and down my arm.
I freaked. “Please, don’t!”
“Do you know her?” his repeated his demanding question to Brent, only to lose interest in him when he jammed the gun under my sweaters collar again and drug down the remaining shoulders material. My eyes shut. I knew what he saw. The crowd could only see the newly revealed bruise of my left shoulder, but the masked men behind me, who gasped, saw my real personal shame. “Oh, my. This is some sweet work. Who did this to you, baby?”
I clenched my jaw and stared at the ceiling. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. Not here. Not in front of Brent and Ally.
“Answer me!” he demanded with a sharp tug on my hair as he handed his gun over to his neighbor in crime.
