Page 17 of Brooks (Dirty Misfits MC 1)
He licked his lips. “After you answer my question. Have you ever killed someone, Miss Raven?”
I winced. “No. Not yet, anyway. Though, you’re very close to being the first.”
He chuckled. “It’s cute, you know, how tough you think you are. I know differently, though.”
“You don’t know shit about me.”
“I know you still have feelings for Brooks even though you shacked up with his best friend.”
“I do not.”
He smirked. “You’re cute when you lie, but it kind of makes me want to hit you. So, try not to do it again, otherwise my fist might just find its way to that pretty little jawline of yours.”
I scoffed. “I’d have you dead on my floor before your fist got in front of you to try.”
“Which brings me back to my original question, sweet cheeks. Killing a man always sticks with you. His lifeless eyes always haunt you. The smell of blood never leaves your nostrils, and once you realize the kind of power you have with killing someone, the lust for it never goes away.”
I grimaced. “You’re disgusting. Brooks isn’t here, and he never will be. I left that life behind a long time ago. I don’t even associate with that club anymore. Not since they got Gage killed.”
He blinked. “Is that what you really believe?”
I paused. “Is that not the truth?”
Just as that man narrowed his eyes at me, I heard gunshots outside. Three distinctive pops that sent the men flying back out my front door. I let loose the breath I had been holding and I slid to the floor with tears rushing my eyes.
Is that what you really believe?
My guns fell from my hands and I dry-heaved onto the floor. My entire body quivered as more gunshots rang out, but they didn’t phase me. Nothing phased me anymore, except for that.
Except for the notion that those literal assholes knew something I didn’t.
I heard tires skidding against the pavement. It kicked up the smell of burnt rubber that slowly pulled me from my emotional frenzy. I heard a bullet bury itself into the outside of my townhouse and it pulled me from my dizzied trance, so I got up from the floor. I took both of my pistols with me as I sprinted for the front door and slammed it closed, locking it for good measure.
Then, with both of my pistols at my sides, I peeked out the window to see what the hell was going on.
All the while, wondering what the Dirty Misfits had kept silent from me regarding Gage’s death.
Because despite the disgusting nature of the jerks that had just been in my house, my questions caught him off-guard. My statements caught him off-guard.
And in a shocking moment of revelation, that man had given me the first key to unlocking what really happened to Gage that night.
Nine
Brooks
I inched my way through the shadows, wanting to get closer as I swung my throwing knives around the tips of my fingers. I wished for a fucking gun, but that was what I got for not going home first thing. Granted, all of my guns were probably locked up in the clubhouse vault so no one could use them, but still.
You’ve got your knives. You’ll be fine.
So long as the three of them didn’t start shooting me at once.
I watched the interaction as I crouched behind a car at the corner. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I saw Raven’s face plain and day. And it was very clear to me that she wasn’t in cahoots with these assholes. She put on a brave face, sure, but I’d known her for years.
And her eyes told me she was scared out of her mind.
I slid four of the throwing knives into my left hand and poised my first one with my right. One false move, and that man would have a knife slicing through his fucking spine. Or maybe I’d take him out at the hip so he couldn't run. Or maybe I’d get a clean shot of his knee.
The knee is always a good place to start.
I watched the man attempting to insert himself into her home and it made me rage. But she did a good job of stopping him. She kept herself planted in the doorway of her townhouse, preventing him from shoving past her. She had to be strong to take on a force like that because these men weren’t small human beings.
Then again, Gage always used to talk about how he taught Raven how to defend herself. And shoot guns. And fight people twice her size.
I just hoped she remembered all that he taught her.
I slid my fingers into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. I figured it was probably dead since it had been in evidence for the past five fucking years, but maybe I’d get lucky. I tore the cell phone out of the bag and pressed the power button, praying with all my might that it would turn on.
