Page 5 of Beautifully Reckless
It takes me a moment to process what I’m seeing, the dark shadows of the alleyway playing tricks on my mind.
“Fuck. Come on now, Hush. Let him go.” The man still gripping my arm yanks me closer, and I go without a fight, not because I’m scared of what I’m seeing, but because I’m so confused.
“Dee?” I whisper, certain I’m hallucinating, because there’s no way the small mute girl who moved to Fox Pines last year is standing before us with a knife the size of my forearm pressed to the other tall man’s throat.
Her big dark eyes flick to mine briefly, giving me a nod, before they lock back onto the man holding me, her expression morphing into a deadly sneer that nearly makes me pee my pants.
What is happening right now?
“You know, Hush, I consider this foreplay.” The tall man pinned under her knife’s blade dares to chuckle, not looking scared at all. “You sure you can handle the Devil?”
Dee just rolls her eyes, like holding a massive knife to some guy’s throat is the most normal thing in the world.
I don’t know why they are calling her Hush, or what she is doing here, but I have to admit, it’s a relief to see a familiar face. The only problem is that because of me, she might get hurt.
“Dee. What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to take a step forward, but the man at my side tightens his grip, refusing to let me move.
“That’s a good question,Dee.” The man next to me hisses her name, his tone like acid. “Why are you here, holding your fucking ninja blade to Devon’s throat? Have you forgotten that you work forme?”
“She hasn’t forgotten.”
That voice.
I know that voice.
Tears sting my eyes, and my lip immediately starts wobbling as a tall figure steps from the shadows, the glint of a gun aimed right at the man holding me.
“For fuck’s sake.” The other man who referred to himself as the Devil, groans rolling his eyes. “Why the fuck are two of your team here going against you, Griff?”
“Shut the fuck up, Devon. I’m sure it’s nothing but a fucking misunderstanding,” the man holding me snaps, but I can hardly focus on anything but the newcomer.
Jared.
I grew up with Jared, crushing on him for years, and now he’s here, a gun firmly in his grip, looking nothing like the sweetblond-haired, blue-eyed boy who used to shove marbles up his nose just to see how far he could snort them out.
Now, this version of Jared is nothing but pure man, his gaze hard and just as lethal as the two men trying to kidnap me.
“You wanna tell me why the fuck you have a gun pointed at me, Crow?” The one holding me, Griff I think the other man called him, snarls in Jared’s direction.
Crow? Why did he call him Crow?
“I should have it pointed at your cousin, since he tried to flirt with what’s mine,” Jared snaps back, giving Dee a quick wink when their eyes meet. “But since we all know Hush can handle herself, and you have your hands on my friend… well. You’re a smart man. You understand.”
“Lower your gun now, Crow, and I’ll forget this ever happened,” Griffin snarls.
Devon, or the Devil, or whatever his name is scoffs. “I won’t fucking forget. They aren’t part of my crew.”
Devon stiffens and sucks in a sharp breath when Dee digs her blade a little deeper, a thin line of blood trickling down his neck.
“Hush,” Griff warns, squeezing my arm tighter as he does.
She simply arches a single brow at him.
“Fucking hell, kid. We’re doing this for your aunties.”
Dee rolls her eyes again, completely unfazed.
“And we’re doing this for our friend. Let Abbey go now, Griffin,” Jared demands, his voice so cold it almost makes me shiver.
