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Silence. Until. “What did you just say to me?”
“You need it fucking repeated? You act like a little whore on the run and I’m gonna start treating you like one.” She takes a step back into me as he approaches some more, and whatever spite she just had in her visibly deflates. That makes this whole scenario change. “You think I’ve got time to hunt your ass down? Why didn’t you answer my calls?”
I step around in front of her. “Maybe because she didn’t damn well feel like it.”
“Kai, stop,” she says, quietly.
“No.” I stare at the dude and wait for whatever’s coming, not because I’m hell-bent on proving some point, but because she turned fragile around him. “You want to beat on someone, you bring it right here. Leave her the fuck alone.” He looks at me for the first time – really looks – and I don’t back down one inch from it. My temper’s simmering because of his attitude, and it’ll only take one hit and rage will come front and centre to help me out.
“Go home, Bella,” he mutters.
She tries reaching for my shoulder to pull me back, but this situation is way past that now. He just turned angry as hell, and I’m revving myself up to match it if needed. My fists squeeze, as I shrug her off me, and I start letting it consume me – ready. He notices that and drops his frown further, as if I just gave him permission to try killing me. Yeah, well, maybe I’ll lose, but if nothing else I’ll have given her room to leave without threats following her.
“Dante, stop this, please,” she says, quietly. “Kai’s done nothing wrong. This was my call. Please.” He barely takes his eyes off me, but it’s enough for him to glance at her. “Don’t do this.” She tries getting in front of me, so I shove her back where she came from and tuck her in behind me again. Still doesn’t shut her up. “I’m asking you to yield, for me. Please.”
Something about her pleas soften him. The scowl’s still there, and he’s sure as shit ready to try killing me any second, but he eventually releases our staring match and looks over at her.
“Go get in your car, Mariana. Home.”
“Not unless you promise me you won’t hurt him.”
About done with a woman defending my ass, I glare at him and step forward. “Or, you know, just get the fuck on with it because I’m done playing with posturing bullshit.”
Time passes, and I don’t care a shit which way it goes. I’m riled all the way up, ready to prove a damn point now, and not caring that much what it’s about anymore. My muscles quiver, and my fists keep pumping to heighten that. He wants at me, he can bring it all the way.
“You promise me, Dante,” she says, moving sideways towards her car. “If I find out you’ve-”
“Get in the goddamn car!” he shouts.
Damn sound rattles the towers above us.
She eventually does, and without either of us looking, we hear her peel her way out of the street and onto the main drag. Don’t know how long we keep staring for, but after a while he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. One gets lit, and he drags in a long, slow draw. Smokes the whole damn cigarette while I wait to see how this is gonna go – still watching me, still sneering his intent – and then, without even looking back at me or speaking, he just walks off into the gloom he came from.
It’s just me in a side street after that, trying to calm myself down from wherever my head went to. Takes me a fair amount of time, and after getting the Scout back into my place and locked up, I’m still edgy as fuck about it all.
I try sitting in my apartment to cool off, but all I can see are his eyes boring into mine, and all I can hear is his threat to her. Branded up? What the hell does that even mean? I end up punching the wall to try bringing me down. All that does is bruise my knuckles some more and rile me further, so I head downstairs to try doing sketches – take my mind off it all. No one’s around when I get to my room, but I can hear buzzing coming from both Viper’s and Richie’s rooms. The sound lulls me slowly, bringing me back to somewhere near quiet and calm again.
And then, ten damn minutes into my calm, Viper comes in looking mad as hell.
“Have you been with her again?” I look up at him and then back at my sketches. “I won’t lie to Cortez, Kai. They come in here looking for her again and I’ll tell them anything they want to know.” I nod, acknowledging that. “Straight up, she is the dumbest move you could make. They tracked her car and then she’s nowhere near it and your bike is gone? Tell me you didn’t.” I keep sketching and ignore him. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Don’t,” mutters out of me. “Whatever you think, leave it for another day.”
“That’s fucking hard when you’re clearly playing with your own death sentence and-” Patience snapped, and I throw the pen and stand, shoving myself straight in his face. He backs up immediately, confusion all over his features because of my hostility.
“What do they do?” grates out of me.
“What?”
“What kinda shit do they do? Cortez?” He stays quiet and keeps looking at me, not about to back down but not giving me any fucking answers, either. “That cunt threatened her, Viper, and Abel slapped her. You want to tell me what they’re all about or shall I go find out for myself?”
“Who threatened her?”
“Dante. Brother.”
He sighs and keeps staring, until, eventually, he closes the door and sits himself in the corner of my room. “That’s Dragon. Sit down, Kai. Tell me what you already know.”
I stay upright. “I only know what Abel did inside, and it was enough for me to stay well away.”
