His head moved a smidgeon, eyes barely resting on me before he jerked his entire arm, sending me flying toward the coffee table. I hit the corner of it at speed, pain radiating through my skull as the impact jarred my vision and something wet trickled down my head.
“Don’t tell me what to do, bitch,” he spat at me, his hands not loosening. “No woman tells me what to do. No woman breaks it off with me.” His head whipped back to Bex, whose eyes were bulged in panic, her feet kicking out as they dangled off the floor.
I blinked furiously, and tried to push myself up, but my body wouldn’t cooperate, blinding pain in my forehead crippled my movement.
“It’s over when I say it’s over,” he spat.
One of Bex’s flailing feet made impact with his crotch, not hard, but enough to make him release her and send her crumpling to the ground.
“It’s so over,” she rasped, glaring at him in hatred, rubbing her neck.
His entire face went red, like an angry bull. “Insolent bitch,” he yelled, kicking her brutally in the stomach.
My body started to obey the moment my eyes bulged out in horror. White hot fury pulsed through my veins at the image of my strong best friend being brutalized before my eyes. Just like my mother had been years ago when I was powerless and small. I would kill him. My eyes rested on Bex’s bag, overturned amongst the chaos. I scrambled over to it with blurry vision.
“You’re just a filthy whore,” he continued while I rifled through it desperately, wiping the blood obscuring my vision. “You’re going to make me some money off that pussy,” he yelled.
My hands found the cool steel just in time, and I unclicked the safety, getting to my unsteady feet.
“Get away from her and out of our house,” I croaked, bringing the gun up to shoulder height.
He didn’t even glance at me.
The shot I set off into the floor got his attention.
“Get away from her,” I bit out as he turned to face the gun I had pointed at his head.
He grinned. It was a sick, chilling grin. He stepped forward and I scrambled back.
“You won’t shoot me, you’re afraid of your own fuckin’ shadow,” he sneered, taking another step forward.
The chilling truth to his words sank deep as he advanced on me. My finger twitched on the trigger unable to do anything more.
“She might not, but I sure as fuck will,” a cold voice declared from behind me.
“You sure you know what you’re doing, turning up here unannounced?” Asher asked his brother as they both swung off their bikes in Lily’s lot.
He hated the decrepit apartment building in front of them, the shady neighborhood surrounding it. It was ugly. His girl did not deserve ugly. She deserved beautiful. He was determined to give it to her. But getting her out of this place would take time. She was stubborn and fiercely independent. He admired that. Loved that. It also pissed him off in moments such as this.
“I’m not unannounced,” Lucky replied. “I’ve been invited to dinner with my brother and his girl. The hot roommate just happens to be a delightful coincidence,” he continued, grinning.
Asher shook his head. “You’re a crazy fuck,” he declared.
Lucky didn’t look offended. “Thank you.”
Lucky had been determined to get Bex into bed. He’d even lost interest in his other bitches in his pursuit. He was having trouble getting through to her. She wasn’t interested, as both Lily and Asher had predicted. He wasn’t giving up. It was amusing. Though it didn’t take much to amuse Asher these days. He had a reason to smile. He finally had his girl. Three years of waiting turned out to be well worth it. He’d wait for thirty if he knew that this was at the end of it. The shy, beautiful girl that crawled under his skin and took up residence there. The haunted sadness behind her ice blue eyes still irked him, but it was slowly depleting and her smiles seemed to reach those eyes every now and then. He wasn’t stupid. He knew most of those beautiful smiles were conjured up to fool those around her. He wasn’t fooled.
A gunshot jerked him out of his mind. A gunshot coming from Lily’s apartment. His blood turned to ice. Neither he nor Lucky hesitated. They yanked their guns out of their cuts and sprinted toward the door that he only now noticed was ajar.
Both of us turned our gazes to Asher and Lucky, who were standing in the doorway with blank expressions, bodies taut. Their muscled arms were both extended, each aiming a gun at Dylan’s head.
Asher’s gaze flickered over me, stopping at my eyes and then his fury turned palpable.
“Come here, flower,” he ordered tightly. “Behind me.”
I considered it. The safety he represented. My eyes flickered to my best friend curled in the corner. For a moment my mind showed me the image of my mom in a similar position all those years ago. I made a split second decision. Not lowering my gun, I skirted around Dylan to rush to Bex’s side, crouching down so I could gather her in my arms.