“Is that so?” Fynn baited.
“You know, Josie just offered to suck me off in the back seat of my car. Isn’t that right, sis—”
Brock’s fist flew so fast, I didn’t know he hit Carter until I heard the crack of knuckles against bone. Carter’s face whipped to the side, yet he still managed to keep his hold on me. He swore. I told myself to ignore the pain of fire shooting through my scalp, but I felt the hot tears roll down my cheeks.
A low, sickening laugh came from Carter as he swiped a pebble of blood on his lip with the back of his hand. “I bet that felt good, but not quite as good as fucking Josie.”
God, he was just begging to get his ass kicked. At this point, I was primed to do it myself… once I got my strength back, that was. My damn muscles still felt like they were made of Jell-O.
The air thickened with tension. “What the fuck do you want, Carter?” Brock held my stepbrother’s gaze. “You want me to promise to leave you alone, is that it?”
Carter’s nostrils flared. “Give me the flash drive that you have on me and I’ll let her go.”
He failed to mention if he would let me go unharmed, but the wording wasn’t lost on me. But then I registered what else he had said. Flash drive? What flash drive?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Brock replied, his voice cold.
“Don’t bullshit me.” Carter’s hate for the Elite was right on the surface. Anyone could see it.
Brock’s jaw hardened. “So you staged this whole thing to get a thumb drive that doesn’t exist?”
“It does. And I want it. Everything on there is bullshit. None of it is true. I won’t let you take everything away from me.” Carter’s desperation to keep his life was clear in the fury that trembled in his voice.
I looked between the four Elite.
Fynn stepped up beside Brock so they were shoulder to shoulder. “Pretty dumb of you to come alone.” Micah and Grayson moved forward, forming a wall of Elite in front of Carter and me.
I heard rather than saw the smile curl on my stepbrother’s lips as he said, “Who said I did?” He lifted his hand into the air and from somewhere in the dark parking lot, an engine roared.
Up until that moment, I’d forgotten about Porter and Shawn. The car’s engine revved again, taunting us. “It’s Shawn and Porter.” I rushed out the words, knowing that Carter would silence me, and I braced myself for impact, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Shut up,” Carter seethed, jerking me.
Brock’s eyes were as dark as death. “Hurt her again and I’ll kill you.” And that was exactly what Carter had been looking for. That moment where Brock gave in, showing his emotions.
Carter shot him an I-win grin right before he screwed his lips to mine in a bruising kiss. I struggled, crying and twisting my head away from his mouth. When Carter pulled back, I spat in his face. The next thing I knew, blinding pain shot across my cheek, and my head whipped to the side. The bastard had hit me.
I wanted to crumble to the ground from the pain, but I made myself stay upright. The binds rubbed against my wrists as my fingers curled, digging into my palms as I fought against the sting that radiated over my cheek.
A primal roar erupted from Grayson. “That’s my sister!” he yelled, and I lifted my eyes just in time to see him lunge for Carter.
“Oh shit,” Micah muttered.
“Dammit, Grayson,” Fynn grumbled.
In Grayson’s eyes, this entire situation was a flashback to that night with Kenna. Me? Her? It was all jumbled together for him.
But Brock stood there, his eyes glaring past the fight taking place in front of him.
Grayson had Carter pinned up against my stepbrother’s SUV and was repeatedly slamming Carter’s hand against the car to dislodge the knife. My stepbrother was fucking relentless. He held on to the damn thing as if his life depended on it, and in a way, I guess it did, because Grayson looked like he wanted to murder Carter.
I screamed Grayson’s name, but my voice was drowned out but an engine gunning across the parking lot.
Grayson sent an elbow flying into Carter’s face, catching him on the nose. Blood gushed.
“Josie!” More than one voice cried over the roaring engine. I spun around, a horrible feeling weighing down my stomach, but all I saw was the blinding headlights. Someone hit me, arms wrapping around me as we went down to the ground, hard. A body landed on top of me, shielding me.
Then the car barreled past us, rumbling the hard surface under my body. My cheek pressed into the ground, more than one pebble digging into my skin, but considering the alternative of getting mowed over by a car, I’d take the scrapes and bruises.