Page 24 of Smoke

“Because I’m handling it. It’s fine,” she huffs.

“Oh yeah, it looks like you got it totally under control while you’re finger fucking yourself for this pervert.” I push play and crank up the volume. I smirk as the sound of her juices sloshing against her fingers fills the room. “You’re in some real trouble now, Cherry pie.”

She turns beet red. “Don’t fucking call me that… Look, you don’t know Kane like I do. He’s harmless. I’ve got it handled.”

“If that’s true, if you’re not fucking scared of him, then that means what? You’re doing this for fun?” I flip to another pic and hold it up in front of her. In this one she’s pinching her nipples so hard they’re bright red and swollen. I’m trying with all of my fucking willpower to not get any more turned on by this. And I sure as hell don’t want her to see that I am.

She shakes her head, the flush in her face spreading to her chest. She charges at me, furious. “It’s none of your business. Give me my fucking phone.”

I raise it up out of her reach. “Nah. This Kane bitch mentions Hawk in these texts. That means he’s threatening all of us. Not just you. This is above your pay grade now, mama.”

Cherry slumps down on the bed in defeat. “Fine. What do you want, Omen?”

I slide her phone in my jacket pocket before stalking toward her. I gaze down at her, relishing my dominance. “We’ve already got this fucking rat we’re dealing with, and now this…”

Her eyes widen as she looks up at me. “Yeah, I get it. I’m fucked. What’s your price to keep silent?”

My stomach tightens. Does she think I’m about to blackmail her too? This chick has got some deeply distorted ideas about her own self-worth. Fucking hell. I feel the muscle in my jaw tick in annoyance. “Sweetheart, I ain’t about that. You’re going to tell Hawk everything after I show him and Scarrow these text messages.”

She springs up and almost barrels into me. “No. I don’t want Hawk involved. He hates Kane. If you make me tell him, he’s going to torture him or even kill him. I can’t let him go back to prison because of that fucking guy again.”

I grab her wrists without thinking. “You gotta be shitting me. That’s the guy? The guy who drugged you, fucked you, made you drive and crash Hawk’s car, and then let him take the fucking fall? That’s the asshole who’s blackmailing you?”

She glares up at me. “You’re not from here so you wouldn’t understand how things work. How we deal with each other in this town… He’ll get bored and move on eventually. Leave it alone. Please.”

The fuck I will. “Cherry, you’ve got text messages that go back almost a year. When exactly is he going to get bored? Nah, this ends now. I’m done with your lying ass. Everything’s getting laid out on the table. And you’re gonna tell us who the fucker in the security footage is too. I know you fucking know. Is it him?” I jab my finger into her phone screen.

She wrenches away from me. “I told you I don’t know.”

I grab her by the throat. “Liar. I swear to fucking hell—”

“Whoa, what the fuck!” Scarrow yells as he barrels into the bedroom. He slides in behind her and places a gentle hand on my wrist. “Easy, Om. What’s going on?”

“This slut knows who broke into our warehouse but she’s protecting him. Some fucking Crimson Valley locals code or something. Isn’t that right, Cherry?”

Scarrow chuckles despite the fact that I’m seconds away from strangling our homie’s stepsister. “Well, killing her isn’t going to give us any answers. I say we torture her, old school style,” he teases.

“You think this is funny, Scar? That’s not all she’s been hiding.” I pull her phone from my pocket and the crumpled pack of cigarettes comes flying out with it. I unlock the phone and hand it to him. “There’s some good reading material on there. I suggest you check it out.”

“Get your hands off me,” Cherry rasps. She writhes in my grip. But even with both hands wrapped around my forearm, she can’t pry me off.

Scarrow lets out a low whistle. Then his eyes narrow. I watch his face cycle through about five different expressions before he finally meets my gaze. “This is serious, Om. Let her go.”

I sigh and release her. She coughs and backs away from me. “Asshole,” she sputters out.

Scarrow keeps scrolling through the messages. “He’s threatening her.”

“Yeah and us,” I grit out.

Scarrow cocks his head to the side and glares at me. “He’s going to hurt her.”

My stomach drops. “What? Nah. He’s a fucking pervert.”

“My ten years of working cyber security is telling me otherwise, Om. He pushes her more and more with each text. To see what he can get away with. He knows how and where to get to her at all times. Look at this one again.” Scarrow shoves the phone back at me.

You better text me back soon, slut. Maybe I call the Sheriff. Or maybe I come over there and do the same thing to you that you did to those boys. Right after I make you suck my dick, of course. You remember how good my cum tasted, don’t you?

I nearly black out from rage when I read it again. Something about this fucker talking to her the way he does, triggers something primal in me.