He’s in a leather cut, but he’s not a Rider.
“No?” Gabriel glares at him. “I’m telling you right now, Tony, if you want any chance at an agreement with us, you will let her go.” He trembles, sweat beading on his forehead.
“Now!” Gabriel shouts.
I jump. Everything feels too loud, too bright.
“I don’t know.” Tony paces in front of him, his boots clomping on the ground like the steady rhythm of a leaky faucet. “Your piece-of-shit dad can’t even control his own guys. Why would I want to do business with Rider scum? I think I’d rather rid myself of the problem altogether.”
His eyes flick to me. When they return to the boys, he smirks.
He chuckles, taking a couple of steps in my direction, his eyes only landing on me when he stops.
“Or…” He pauses, pretending to think about something, tapping a finger against his salt-and-pepper beard. His mouth spreads into a wide grin, sending a chill up my spine. “I could take the pretty one with me. She seems like an efficient leash for a couple of you.” He spins to face the boys again. “Who would you choose, Gabe? President daddy or the pretty one?”
I squeeze my eyes closed, warm tears rolling down my cheeks.
Gabriel stares at me, the muscles in his jaw flexing. When I open my mouth to say something, the brute shoves the gun against my temple harder, making my lips clamp shut.
My breath hitches, and I can’t get my hands to stop shaking. The compulsion to look back at Akers, brushes against my subconscious, but I keep my eyes trained on the boys, moving from Gabriel to JT.
Tears glisten in his eyes as he mouths,“You’re okay,” with a nod, trying to blink them away.
“If you take her, it’ll be a war,” Shane spits.
I want to tell him,it’s okaylike he used to when I watched him get brutalized by our father.
Don’t worry. Don’t cry. Everything’s okay. I’m gonna be okay.
We’re gonna be okay.
Run. Don’t worry about me.
Just run.
Tony’s lip curls. “It would seem it already is, gentlemen.” He takes a final step toward me, until his clove cologne overwhelms my senses. “You are quite pretty, sweetheart. No wonder these boys are in such a tizzy over you.”
Bile rises in my stomach. Pretty coming off his tongue feels like battery acid.
He runs the backs of his stubby fingers down my face, and I jerk away, my lip curling.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” Gabriel yells while JT shouts, “Get your hands off her.”
He scoffs, glancing back at them. “Put her in the truck.”
The man lifts me off the ground. I scream and thrash, but he’s got an arm wrapped around my middle. No matter how I flail, I can’t break loose.The feral sounds coming from my throat don’t even sound like mine. If he gets me in that truck, that’s it.
“Fucking bitch,” he grumbles, when my elbow catches his cheek. It does nothing to help my escape.
“Get the fuck off my sister!” Shane jumps up and surges toward us.
He collides with the man holding me.
Pop!
The air whooshes from my lungs as we hit the ground.
Pain erupts through my leg. My gut churns.
