Jesus. Talk about terrible timing.
“No.”
“You sure? I only need one more dollar to make nine. I like the number nine.”
It didn’t click for a moment, then she straightened. And looked up into the face she knew all too well. Before she could scream or run, he swung out his hand and something pricked her neck. Then everything went black.
***
Gray stared at the door, as though expecting it to open, and for Lacey to reappear.
Go after her.
How could he? After she’d kept something so big from him? This wasn’t just a little omission. This was something huge. But would he have reacted the same if he hadn’t been so stressed about Rory?
He’d basically blamed Lacey for Rory being taken, which wasn’t right. This wasn’t Lacey’s fault. It was the fault of the asshole who’d kidnapped Rory and perhaps stalked Lacey. The thought made him ill. This jerk could be after Lacey. Could be coming for her.
And you just drove her away. Made her think that you don’t want to be with her anymore.
He didn’t want to lose her.
“You stupid asshole!”
Gray didn’t even look up as Travis stormed into the room. “I don’t have the patience to deal with you right now, Andrews.”
“Well, you’re gonna have to deal with me.” Travis grabbed his shirt, pulling him up and shaking him.
Gray snarled and broke his hold. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Believe me, I don’t want to. But when you do something to my cousin that causes her to race out of here with tears streaming down her face, then I need to do something.”
“What goes on between Lacey and me is none of your business.” His gut tightened at the other man’s words. Tears?
“Oh, yes, it is. My brothers and I are the only family she has and we protect our own.”
“Aren’t you forgetting her parents?”
“If you know anything about her life, then you’ll know they’re the most fucking useless parents on the planet. At least to her. Apparently, my aunt is quite a good mother to her stepkids. Bitch.”
It was a thought he’d often had.
“That doesn’t give you the right to stick your nose into our relationship. It’s private, and we’ll work it out on our own.” He attempted to move around the other man. “Now, I have to go find my sister.”
Travis stretched out an arm, stopping him. “Like fuck you will. You and I are going to sort this out right now, because no way am I standing by while you treat my cousin like shit.”
Gray shoved him back, his control barely hanging by a thread. He’d reached the end of his patience. “Fuck off, Andrews.”
“You made her cry.”
And that seemed to be some cardinal sin in the Andrews family. But he didn’t like that he’d upset Lacey either.
“Where’d she go?” He should check on her. He might be mad at her right now, but he didn’t like that she’d run off crying.
“Like I’m going to tell you. I’m not letting you anywhere near her until you get your shit together and realize she’s the best thing that ever happened to you.”
“She kept this from me. You can’t tell me that if your girlfriend, your sub, the woman you loved kept something this big from you that you wouldn’t be mad.”
“She wouldn’t sit comfortably for a week,” Travis told him.