“You killed him, you fucking idiot!”One of the men in the ski masks yells at the other—his voice strikes me. There’s something familiar about it. “We weren’t supposed to kill him! We were ordered to break him until he agreed to the terms, not kill him in the process!”
“What do we do now?” another masked man shouts, panicked.
“We have to make it look like an accident! No one can know!”
“What about the kid?” the third masked man shouts.
“He has to go, too! No one can know what happened here!”
Grandpa’s limp, dead body is hauled from the ground by the first two masked men. They shove him into the back of his car. The third man picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. I fight, kick, scream, but he punches me in the ribs to shut me up and keep me still. My breath is knocked out of my chest.
I’m thrown into the back of the car on top of Grandpa’s body. I roll off him, screaming, panicking.What’s happening? Where are we going? Why hasn’t someone come for us?Grandpa pressed his alert button when the masked men pulled us from the car. That was a long time ago.Where is security? Why didn’t they come?
“You okay?”Declan asks, pulling me from my thoughts. He nudges me with his elbow. “You look nervous.”
I shake my head and blink away the memory. “I’m fine.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll take these fuckers down.”
“I know we will. I just worry what will happen until we do.”
History cannot repeat itself. The thought of anything happening to Ella, to my family . . .
“We’ve got you, Ash. You don’t have to do this alone. We won’t let anything happen to your girl. She’s one of us now.”
I lift a sardonic brow.
“Don’t deny it,” he says with a hard roll of his eyes.
“I’m not.”
“Good, because if you need me to beat some sense into you again, I’m more than willing.”
I run my hand over my aching jaw. I’m definitely going to have some bruises tomorrow.
“I think I’m good for now. I just need to work some sense intomy girl, without the boxing ring involved.”
Declan shrugs. “Don’t knock it before you try it. Could be kinky.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“And you’re an idiot who’s so far gone for Ella, you’re practically a different person since you met her. But don’t worry, it’s a good different.”
I snort. “I’m glad you approve.”
“I more than approve. You’re a hell of a lot nicer when your balls are getting drained regularly.”
I punch his arm. “The fuck?”
He barks out a laugh. “What? It’s true. But besides the fact that you’re nicer since Ella’s been around, you’re happy, and that makes me happy for you. And Ella is the best. I couldn’t ask for a better sister.”
“It would be sister-in-law, and I’d have to be married for that to be true.”
He shoots me an unimpressed look. “As if that’s not where this is headed. Don’t play dumb.”
“I’m not playing dumb. I’m being careful. You know what’s at stake, what we’re up against.”
He nods. “And like I said, we’ll handle it, and you’ll get all the things you want and deserve.”
