What the hell?
I look around and find Lincoln, Maverick, and Finley facing off with a guy who makes Maverick look like an upstanding citizen. His black hair musses in the wind, and his ebony eyes are fixated on the boys until he looks up and sees me. His angry look shifts to a maniacal grin.
East moves to stand in front of me, blocking me from the view of whoever is standing with the others. “What do you want, Ryker?”
It takes a second, but it hits me who he is. Ryker Donovan. The Kingpin of ECH. Holy shit, he looks different from how I remember him. He grew up alot.He’s easily as tall as Lincoln, with the same fighters build as Maverick, but every inch of skin I can see below his chin is covered in tattoos.
“I came to pay a visit to your brother and to remind him of a few things. Though, I see why he’s been so distracted now.” His gravelly voice turns my blood cold.
Is he talking about me?
I refuse to cower behind East, so I step beside him and cross my arms.
Belatedly, I notice the gun in Ryker’s hand.
How the fuck is this happening?
Ryker raises the pistol, and Maverick saunters toward him like he gives absolutely zero fucks that the guy has a gun pointed at him. My heart leaps to my throat, and the world slows to almost a stop as Maverick leans forward and puts his forehead against the end of the gun, grinning like the crazy son of a bitch that he is. “Don’t raise a gun at me unless you’re willing to pull the trigger, Donovan.”
I swear I can’t fucking breathe. What the fuck is he doing?
Ryker lowers the gun and tucks it in the back of his jeans, and I feel like I can finally breathe again before Ryker looks over at Finley and Lincoln. East is a fucking statue at my side, and I have no idea what we’ve stumbled into. Whatever it is, I want no fucking part of it.
Ryker crosses his arms over his chest, and Maverick laughs. Ryker gives him the bird and looks over at East and I before looking back to Lincoln and Finley. “Tell the Knights to back off. I’m not bowing down.”
Without waiting for anyone to say anything, he climbs into the idling car behind him and peels out of the lot.
The Knights? Finley’s family?
I'm so confused.
Lincoln looks over at me before glancing at East. He looks more afraid than I’ve ever seen him.
What the fuck are they mixed up in?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Maverick
Well, that couldn’t have gone worse. I mean, people could’ve been shot, so I guess it actually could’ve; but of course Octavia showed up. And of course Ryker had to see her. I swear, every time we think we have shit figured out, she does something that blows it all to pieces.
It doesn’t matter how hard I try to keep a distance from her, it’s like I end up gravitating toward her. Like she’s the sun at the center of my universe, and it pisses me off like nothing I’ve ever experienced.
“What the fuck was that?” I look up at the sky, sucking in a breath, ready to do anything I can to distract her from what Donovan just said. Her knowing what he meant could ruin everything. We’ve worked too hard to have this blow up in our faces now.
I turn to face her while Linc and Finn do what they do best and plot. East looks at a loss for words, leaving this fully in my lap. I smile the most sadistic smile I can muster and stalk toward her as East moves to talk to the others. We might have called a truce, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still convinced that leaving’s the best thing for her.
Once I’m in her personal space, crowding her so she can’t see the others, I lean down until my nose almost touches her. “What’s wrong, princess? A little bit of real life too much for you?”
She rears back, and I can see how much my words hurt as the fire in her eyes dims a little. As much as I hate hurting her, if it’ll keep her safe, then I’ll do it until I’m so broken there’s no coming back. I’m no stranger to pain.
Her eyes go wide, and my dick twitches at how innocent she looks right now. Her soulful brown eyes are like windows to who she really is. Even when she tries to hide, I can see her.
I’ve always seen her.
“You’re such an asshole, Maverick,” she hisses, and she clenches her fists.
Fuck, I’d love to see her unleash the fiery rage I know lives deep inside her. The thought of her repressed rage makes me hotter than how innocent she looks. This girl has always been my weak spot—the one person with the power to truly ruin me. Not that I’ll ever let her know that.