Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
RORY
Walking into school on Monday morning had me feeling on edge. Something was off, and I couldn’t figure out what it was.
People whispered as we walked along the hallways, and I felt Lukas’ hand tighten in mine as he felt it too.
Tyler and Caden were walking ahead of us, Tyler’s arm slung around Caden’s neck as they laughed at something they’d seen on social media that morning, and Jensen walked on my other side, alert as he also sensed something in the air had shifted.
“You feel that, right?” I asked in a low voice, wondering if it was all in my head.
“Yep,” Jensen confirmed, his shoulder brushing mine.
“Do you think my mom did something again?” Lukas asked tightly, but it didn’t feel like Karen drama. It felt different.
We reached our lockers and someone shoved me, almost smashing my nose into them if I hadn’t put a hand out so fast.
I turned to find Claire on the floor glaring up at me, tears streaming down her face as Jensen stepped between us, and I realized he must have shoved her back to knock her on her ass.
“This is all your fault!” she screamed, choking on her words. “You made them do it, didn’t you?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I scoffed, noticing others starting to hang around to watch the show.
“Gunther! You made them kill him!”
“Gunther’s dead?” I asked slowly, flicking my gaze to Caden as he stepped beside me.
“He was murdered! Don’t act surprised, we all know it was you!” Claire accused, pointing a finger at me. “This is what happens when they let trash into the school!”
My heartbeat picked up the more she screamed at me, and I shook my head.
“That has nothing to do with me.”
“How much cum did you have to swallow, huh? Are you whoring yourself out to all of them now?” she spat, and I snapped.
My foot struck out and connected with her chest, sending her backwards with a yelp. I stood over her, bending down with a snarl. “I didn’t fucking kill him, and I sure as fuck didn’t send someone after him. That prick deserved it though.”
“You think a little burn means someone deserves to die? You’re a whack job. He was beaten, one of his hands cut off, and his fingers all broken. He was found this morning. You took him from me!” she said with a sob, murmurs going around the hallway as students started gossiping.
It took me by surprise when she got to her feet and threw herself at me, but Jensen’s reflexes were quicker as he grabbed her hair and hauled her back before she could claw my face off.
She cursed him out, screaming like a banshee as she fought him.
The noise finally drew the attention of teachers, and Claire was dragged to the office along with Jensen, the headmaster appearing to direct students to homeroom.
“What the fuck?” Caden muttered under his breath, and I gave him a look of agreement.
“I didn’t send anyone after him. I didn’t even tell Skeet or Slash who burned me.”
“That doesn’t mean they didn’t go looking. Skeet already knew Gunther had it out for you from the way he was glaring at you at the mall that day,” Tyler said quietly, pulling his phone out to check local news reports.
Sure enough, Gunther had been murdered in his home while his parents had been away. They suspected it had been a few days since the attack, and he wasn’t found until the early hours of this morning when his parents returned.
I couldn’t exactly call Skeeter to ask him, and I’d gotten a ride with Caden this morning to avoid the Corvette being seen, so I couldn’t go to him either.
As if sensing my thoughts, Tyler offered me his keys. “Go.”
“She can’t just go off alone right now,” Lukas hissed, but I took the keys with appreciation.
“I’m carrying, I’ll be fine.”
“You brought a fucking gun to school?” Lukas asked in disbelief, and I shrugged.
“I’ve got two. Mine and Slash’s. I’ll be okay. I’ll try calling Skeet to let him know I’m on the way.”
“You can’t, Aurora,” Caden bit out.
“I need to find out what the fuck is going on.”
“It’s better that you don’t know. Leave it,” he whisper-yelled, not wanting anyone to hear our conversation.
He cursed as I turned and started heading through the school to the parking lot, unlocking Tyler’s car and climbing in. I started the engine and tried to get hold of Skeeter, but his phone was off.
I tried Diesel next, and he thankfully answered. “Hey. What’s—”
“Where the fuck is he?” I asked with frustration, backing out of my spot and dropping my phone onto my lap.
“Donovan—”
“Where. Is. He?” I snapped, making him sigh.
“He’s in a meeting at Wet Dreams. You can’t just show up there causing problems. I’ll tell him to call you when he’s done.”
I hung up, heading in the direction of the docks as my frustration turned to pure anger.
I told them not to do anything, I had it handled.
Diesel hadn’t exactly sounded surprised by my call, so had they all known about it? Had Skeeter dragged him in to help?
The engine roared as I put my foot down harder, making my way to the docks without a problem, and I’d just yanked the strip club door open and stepped inside when someone grabbed my throat and slammed me into the wall beside the door.
“We’re closed,” the guy bit out, assessing me for a second before deciding I wasn’t a threat, just a nuisance. He was wearing a Reapers of Chaos jacket, his sharp eyes burning into me.
“Don’t fucking touch me. Where’s Skeet?” I demanded, his eyebrow quirking.
“You don’t step into our territory making demands, you prissy bitch. You got that?”
I scrambled to get my gun out from the back of my skirt, not getting far before someone joined us.
“What the fuck is going on?”
I recognized him from the news. Archer Hendricks, the leader of the Reapers crew.
“Delivery for Skeet. It’s lively,” the guy holding me muttered, his fingers around my throat tightening.
“Throw her out. He can deal with her later,” Archer ordered, his man opening the door to drag me out.
“Skeet!” I shouted, cursing as I struggled against the guy’s grip. “Where the fuck are you?”
“Listen, bitch. This isn’t the place for you,” the guy growled, his hand around my throat vanishing as a gun appeared against my forehead.
I managed to get mine out and aimed it at his chest, a dark laugh coming from Archer.
“What do you think you’re going to do with that? If you kill him, I’ll only kill you.” He turned, my eyes landing on Skeeter as he approached, and he looked pissed. “You lose something, Maddox?”
“Sorry. I’ll handle her,” he said bluntly, glaring at the guy with the gun. “Get that thing out of her face.”
“Put her in line or I will,” Archer scoffed, and Skeeter gave him a flat look as he passed him, heading in my direction.
“Eat shit. You can’t keep your own bitch in line.”
“At least mine’s not jumping on a football team’s worth of cock while I watch and jack off in the corner, you fucking cuck.”
“No, your stripper whore wife is basically a virgin, right?” he said dryly, snatching my gun from my hands so the other guy could step back. “Other than when she’s bouncing on Rivera’s cock, that is.”
Archer’s jaw was tight as he glared at Skeeter, taking a step forward. “She hasn’t gone near that fucker in a while now.”
“No? Then why was she at his place last week? One last fuck before she was arrested?”
I knew they had to be talking about Lexi, but I couldn’t exactly say I knew. Those kinds of things I really shouldn’t have known.
“Don’t act all high and mighty with me. From what I heard, Rivera’s got a brick in his pants for your girl too. With her track record, she’ll just add him to the roster.”
Skeeter grabbed the back of my neck and started dragging me deeper into the club, heading towards a door.
“Tell Slash I’ll be back in a minute,” Skeeter gritted out, not waiting for Archer to reply before shoving me inside and slamming the door behind him. “What the fuck are you doing here? Who even told you where I was?”
“Was it you?” I bit out, his eyes flaring with anger as I smacked his chest.
“What are you talking about?”
“Gunther! Someone fucking killed him,” I said flatly.
“The quarterback?”
“So you do know him?” I asked, knowing I never told him who’d hurt me, but he’d obviously looked into him.
“Of course I know who you’re talking about. It’s all over the news this morning,” he said like I was an idiot.
“Did you kill him?” I asked more quietly, his green eyes burning into me.
“No. I didn’t beat him until he pissed his pants and begged for mercy.
I didn’t snap all ten of his fingers, and I definitely didn’t cut his fucking hand off for touching something that wasn’t his.
” My breath caught as he stepped closer, caging me against the wall as he leaned down to speak in my ear.
“What kind of monster would murder someone like that?”
My heart hammered in my chest as his hand lifted to cup my chin firmly, his lips brushing mine.
“Did he really piss his pants and cry?” I asked quietly, a strange sensation rolling through me.
Was I getting turned on by this?
“Oh, definitely. The guy he crossed was pretty pissed off. Bet he won’t make the same mistake twice,” he murmured, kissing me hard and forcing a groan out of me.
My skin felt like it was on fire as he pressed me into the wall more, my hands sliding up the inside of his shirt and around his waist to pull him closer.
He blindly reached out to lock the door beside us as he nipped my lower lip, spinning me around and lifting the back of my skirt.
He made quick work of his jeans, pushing them down enough to pull his cock out, then he was pushing my panties aside and forcing himself inside me with a feral growl.
I screamed in surprise, his fingers threading through my hair and keeping my face against the wall as he rutted into me like a man possessed.
It was brutal, his fingers pulling on my hair and his free hand digging into my waist so hard it would bruise, and then we were both coming, our heavy breathing the only sound in the room.
My legs shook from the intensity of it, and he pulled back to fix his pants.