“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, pulling the book off the shelf. “Royal’s not the bad guy here, Magnolia. I know you think so, and you have a good reason for that, but this started way before us. Your grandfather and Royal’s father are the ones who set all this in motion.”
“Yeah?” she says. “Did they kill my uncle? Did they kill my cousin?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I don’t have all the answers. I wasn’t there. But I can say with confidence they were more at fault than anyone in this room.”
“You know whowasthere?” she asks. “The Dolces.”
“So were your cousins,” I point out. “Why don’t you ask them?”
“Haven’t you heard?” she says. “Dead men tell no tales.”
“Preston’s still here,” I say, setting the book on the table. “And Colt’s upstairs… I think.” I glance at Royal, since I’m not actually sure where Colt went. Last time I saw Dixie, she was dancing with Gideon. Maybe Colt went out for a smoke, but Royal’s not above taking out his rage on the guy when there’s no one else to take it, and I’m not sure how badly I pissed him off on the dance floor.
“I haven’t seen him,” Royal says.
Magnolia starts toward the table, her gaze dropping to the book. I back toward Royal.
From the corner of my eye, I catch a blur of movement as he leaps past me.
“Royal, no!” I yell as he lunges for Magnolia.
She jerks her attention back to us, her gun rising, her finger squeezing the trigger. The sound is deafening in the small, windowless room. The next second, Royal tackles her. They slam to the dirt floor, and all I can see in the dim light is the gash in the shoulder of his tuxedo, the furrow in his skin, and blood. I jump at him, but he’s already on top of her, holding her between his knees the way he held Colt when he beat the life out of him.
He rips the gun out of her hand and grabs her jaw. She cries out, her eyes wide with shock as he squeezes, forcing her mouth open. Then he shoves the muzzle of the gun into her mouth.
“Royal, stop,” I yell, my voice sharp even though my whole body has turned to pure, liquid fear. It’s one thing to know he’s killed someone and another to see him do it.
“If you ever point a gun at Harper again, I will fucking end your life,” Royal growls, his fingers biting into Magnolia’s soft cheeks. “Capisce?”
She nods frantically, tears pouring from the corners of her round eyes.
“Don’t,” I say, my voice quiet but firm. “Let her go, Royal.”
“I’m going to let you walk away this time,” Royal says, his voice so cold I barely recognize it. “Because for some unexplainable reason, Harper takes pity on pathetic little bitches like you. But if you ever so much as breathe a threat in her direction… Next time, your brains will be on the floor.”
Magnolia makes a high, hiccupping sound of terror as Royal tenses, gripping her face harder and shoving the gun deeper into her mouth, until she retches. Then he pulls it out and stands.
“I’ll take this,” he says, tucking the gun into the waistband of his tuxedo pants, under the jacket. His arm is freely bleeding, soaking the sleeve. “Come on, Harper. Let’s go.”
“We can’t just leave her here,” I say, though I know Royal needs to take care of his wounded shoulder. But I can’t abandon Magnolia, not when he just terrorized her for my sake.
“Don’t take the gun,” Magnolia cries, sitting up and reaching for him. “What if someone else comes down here and finds me?”
He steps aside, out of reach of her clutching hands. “Then you better run, little rabbit.”
He grabs my hand and drags me toward the stairs, and I know he’s not going to let me stay even if I want to. I barely bend to grab my purse from the floor on the way past. When we get outside, I wrench my hand free at last.
“What the fuck was that, Royal?” I ask.
“That was me defending you,” he snaps, striding ahead to the Escalade. “Now get in the car.”
“I didn’t ask you to traumatize children for me,” I say. “I didn’t ask you for anything.”
“She’s not a child,” he says. “She’s fourteen.”
“That’s a child,” I snap back, trying to keep myself under control. My whole body is shaking, careening back toward a place I never want to go again. “You can’t just show up and take over whenever you feel like it. You’re not my boyfriend. I didn’t ask you to defend me from Magnolia. I didn’t ask you to take over this night when I could have just come with my friends.”
Royal turns back to me, something predatory and hungry in his eyes when they take me in. “So you could have come with fucking Gideon? That kid’s a joke and you know it, Harper. You know he can’t give you what I can.”