Chapter 12 #2
“Don’t fucking touch her,” I growled, making him pause. I liked her attention on me, and as much as I wished she was looking at me with lust or something, I could tell it was just a sense of morbid curiosity.
She liked the violent side of me.
Someone shouted from the door and I flicked my gaze over to find Skeeter shoving past some of the guys, making me wonder how much time had passed since he’d sent Rory here.
We’d talked for a while in the loft and I always lost track of time when beating the life out of someone.
Could have been punching the guy’s corpse for over an hour for all I knew.
Hunter muttered under his breath before walking in Skeeter’s direction to defuse the tension among the guys, and Rory continued to eye me.
“Are you good?” she asked me, dropping her attention to my busted knuckles.
“This is just a typical Saturday night, baby,” I smirked, shifting my attention to Skeeter as he appeared at the gate to the cage. “I really don’t want to fight you tonight, man.”
“I’m not here to fight you, dickhead,” he grunted, taking Rory’s arm and gently tugging her back towards him. “The guys have it handled. I’ll get you to my place.”
“Hold up, she was just about to clean my hands,” I taunted, earning a death glare in return from him.
“What the fuck are they even doing here?” Bobby snapped, motioning to Skeeter and Rory. Skeeter looked ready to snap his neck, but Hunter chuckled.
“We’re building bridges, boys.”
“With human traffickers? No fucking way.”
“Would I fucking allow that?” Hunter bit out, motioning to Skeeter. “He had no idea. Don’t question my decisions when you know where I stand on subjects like that.”
Skeeter looked tense but kept his mouth shut, letting Hunter handle it. Maybe he had grown up a bunch because the old Skeeter would’ve just started throwing fists at people.
The guys grumbled agreement, making Skeeter frown.
“See how easy it is to be the boss when your crew respects you?” I stated, huffing out a breath of laughter as Rory walked back towards me and smacked my sweaty abs with the back of her hand.
“This is why I’ll never be your buddy, you trouble-making fucker,” she hissed.
“Don’t put your hands on me or I’ll put mine on you and get both of us in trouble,” I murmured, grabbing her wrist to pull her against me, but her fist shot out and got me in the kidney before she uppercut my damn jaw with a second hit.
Pretty sure I came a little.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” she scoffed, giving me her back as she walked back to Skeeter, who draped an arm over her shoulders and raised an eyebrow at me.
“Don’t mess with my girl. She has permission to stab you.”
“Hey, I gave her permission too. She can cut me up any day,” I grinned. “Someone clean this mess up. I need to go for a shower.”
Faris jumped at the chance to prove himself, still trying to avoid the beating the others got yesterday, and I eyed Bobby until he sighed and moved into the cage too.
I headed to the gate, pausing in front of Skeeter and Rory.
“So I take it you two don’t feel like coming back to mine?”
“Absolutely not,” Skeeter muttered.
“Shame. You’ve got to admit, it would be hot,” I winked, finding satisfaction in the fact that Rory was still studying my tattoos. “I’m not a piece of meat, Donovan.”
“I’m aware. I wouldn’t even feed you to a dog,” she threw back with ease, her attention lifting to my face. There were questions there that I couldn’t decipher before Skeeter pulled her from the cage alongside Hunter to talk, leaving me to wander out alone, heading towards the door.
I really needed a shower.
Walking towards the tap outside, I started rinsing my hands to avoid getting blood all over my steering wheel, hearing a car pull in.
Sounded too expensive for any of our enemies, so I knew it had to be one of the rich pricks.
“I can handle it, we’re cool,” I heard Tyler insist, a snort leaving me as I turned the water off and shook the water from my hands without turning to them.
“Are we, Johnson?”
“Sort of,” he replied, and I turned to face him, finding all four of the blue-blooded twits standing there.
“What do you want? Are you stupid? You can’t just show up here,” I said dryly, not surprised when Caden stepped forward and glared at me.
“Rory’s here.”
“Ten points to the privileged nepo baby,” I deadpanned, sliding my eyes to Lukas, who was inspecting my blood-covered chest. “Hey, you want to fuck? I’ll fuck the shyness right out of you.”
“He’s mine,” Jensen snapped, making me snicker.
“You can join too. I bet you’re a screamer.”
“Where’s Rory?” Tyler demanded, his fists clenched by his sides. “Let us in.”
“No one’s stopping you, my guy. Let yourself in. Might get shot at though,” I smirked, and Caden let out an irritated huff.
“Stop fucking around. Rory was attacked, we want to see her to make sure she’s okay,” he said with annoyance, and I rolled my eyes and turned to the door to grab the handle.
“She’s fine, she was with me and Hunt. Skeet’s in there with her now. Why couldn’t you just text her or something?”
“If you think I’d be happy just getting a text, you’ve never given a shit about anyone in your life. Until I see her with my own fucking eyes—”
“Whiney fuckers,” I grunted, opening the door and stepping inside first, waving them through. “Go on. They’re by the cage.”
They walked inside, but Tyler paused beside me. “The hell happened to you?”
“Absolutely nothing. Not a mark on me,” I answered, looking towards Rory where the guys fussed over her and Skeeter scolded them for coming here. “You know murder makes your girl wet, right? Pretty sure she just came watching me pulverize a problem we had.”
“Should you be confessing a murder to me?” he scoffed, only making me grin.
“If you tell anyone, I’ll make you disappear. I’m not worried.”
He was quiet for a moment before shaking his head and following the others, not telling me whatever was on his mind.
Rory’s attention kept flicking over to me, and she flipped me off when I smiled at her.
I couldn’t wait to get home and check out the footage of what had happened at Tyler’s today. I bet it was magnificent.
Caden
“The fuck are you doing here?” Skeeter asked flatly as we approached him and Rory. She seemed okay, but Skeeter’s jacket covered most of her, so she could have had damage underneath.
“Checking on our girl. You thought we’d just sit at home like good boys after you told us to cancel our party because the house was a crime scene? Fuck you,” I scoffed, knowing he was going to flip out later, but I didn’t give a shit.
I was sick of him treating us like kids.
“A friend of Rory’s is a friend of mine,” Hunter said brightly, and I glared at him.
“You’re not her friend.”
“Ouch, man. We’re besties. Right, Donovan?”
“Absolutely. We even have a cool secret handshake,” she deadpanned, stepping away from Skeeter and standing beside us instead. “Was nice seeing you, bestie, but we need to go.”
Hunter chuckled, giving her a sly smile. “You know you can come and find me to hang out whenever you want. Now you know where we are, feel free to visit.”
“She’s not just showing up here. It’s dangerous,” I growled, only making him laugh.
“There’s no danger here. My crew actually listen to me when I give them orders.
Rory’s to remain untouched, so no one will touch her.
” He looked her right in the eye, his expression turning serious.
“If you’re ever near here and run into trouble, you pull up and come inside.
I’m usually here, but if I’m not, any of my guys here will keep you safe. ”
“She doesn’t need—” Skeeter started, but Hunter cut him off.
“Even you needed me to take her in for a bit tonight. Admit it’s safer if she has more options.” He took a deep breath before looking over at me. “You and your boys too. Respect the rules and you’re welcome here. Don’t start trouble though.”
“We’ll pass,” I said, taking Rory’s hand. “C’mon, let’s go.”
She hesitated for a moment before nodding, thanking Hunter for letting her hang out, then we walked towards the door, Skeeter murmuring something to Hunter before he followed.
Climbing all over Rory would just make her look weak in front of the Devils, but I was dying to check her over for injuries. As if sensing my need, Rory tightened her hand in mine.
“I’m honestly okay. Ask Skeet, I made a mess of them,” she said with a small smile.
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” I sighed, but Skeeter chuckled.
“I’m kind of proud of her. Fending off a group of Soldiers like that? She took down three and had Razor running from her. My baby’s fucking Impressive.”
She grinned at his praise, pulling the McLaren keys out of her pocket.
“If I had your car, how did you get here?”
“I was dropped off.”
“Since I was a good girl, does that mean I get to drive your car again? Pretty please?”
He rolled his eyes but motioned for her to go ahead, her face lighting up as she dove into the driver’s seat.
“You’re lucky I don’t break your nose,” Skeeter said to me lightly, flicking his gaze around the four of us. “You can’t just show up at a place like this.”
“You do.”
“I know how to shoot, and I’m not afraid to either. You’re learning fast, but you need more lessons first, and a hell of a lot of practice. You should all learn, to be honest. Any of you could have been in that house today when they showed up,” he warned, and Lukas scrunched his nose.
“I don’t want a gun.”
“Everyone except you should have a gun. The only person you’d shoot is yourself. Quitter,” he drawled, opening the passenger door to the McLaren and ignoring the dirty looks Lukas was giving him. “I’ll meet you guys at my place.”
They waited for us as we climbed into the Camaro, and Lukas growled once we were buckled in and following the McLaren.
“He’s such a fucking prick.”
“Is he wrong?” Tyler muttered from the back seat beside me, and Jensen looked back at him in the rearview.
“Shut your mouth or you can walk.”