I snorted, wondering if he’d had too many hits to the head over the years.
“Like fuck. I don’t trust you, so why would I do that? Besides, I’m not turning my back on my crew.”
He sighed, but I could tell he was enjoying himself.
“Thought you might say that. Figured I’d have to give you a little encouragement.”
He grabbed a remote and aimed it at a large TV to turn it on, my heart hammering as Caden and Tyler laughed on the screen.
I watched as they dunked each other in the pool, Jensen throwing something at them to stop them splashing about.
He couldn’t bring them into it.
They weren’t part of this world.
I met his gaze, my voice soft.
“They have nothing to do with the crews. You can’t.”
“No? They’re one of your only weaknesses, Donovan. The deal is, you come to us and play on our side, and your boys carry on untouched,” he replied with glee in his fucking voice that grated on my nerves that were already shot to shit.
I tried to keep my face blank, but my voice cracked the tiniest amount.
“If I say no?”
A cruel grin hit his face, causing acid to burn inside my stomach as he answered me.
“Then your boys get dumped in the ocean with cement fucking boots on. To be honest, I think I could find a pair that fit Skeeter and Hunter while I’m at it. Do you know how long it takes a person to drown? Sixty seconds for an adult in some cases, but it feels like an eternity for the person drowning. The moment they inhale water, their airways close to stop more water coming in as their fight or flight instincts kick in. The lungs become heavy, and oxygen stops being delivered to the heart. The body shuts down, and they literally suffocate.”
My heart ached at the thought of them getting hurt, and I closed my eyes, rubbing my temples as if it would help.
I didn’t want him to see how desperate I’d become, but hearing the details on how my guys would die, had me starting to panic.
“What do I have to do if I’m with your crew? I won’t do anything to hurt the Psychos or the Devils, so I don’t understand why you need me.”
He laughed loudly, startling me at the volume of it.
“Need you? We don’t fucking need you, you stupid bitch. I just get a kick out of breaking people, and for some reason, you have two crews falling over themselves for you. You come to us, and no one gets hurt.”
Bullshit.
“They’ll come looking for me,” I tried to explain, but he didn’t care.
“And you’ll tell them to take a fucking hike like a good girl. You play your cards right and make them believe it’s what you want, and I’ll call my boys off of you and your guys. So, do we have a deal? You turn on your crew, and I don’t drown anyone you love,” he asked, butting his cigarette out on the table.
My heart was like a fucking jackhammer in my chest, but my voice stayed calm as I held his gaze.
“If anything happens to any of them, I’ll fucking kill you myself.”
He nodded, looking amused at my threat.
“I don’t doubt that. You have my word, they won’t get touched.”
“Your word doesn’t mean shit to me. You’re the most untrustworthy piece of shit around,” I spat, but he just shrugged casually, continuing to grin at me.
“So, you’ll cut them loose?”
“On one condition,” I scowled, making him snort.
“You aren’t really in a position to ask for conditions, but I’ll humour you. What’s the condition?”
“No one touches me.”
Or else.
He rolled his eyes as if I was being a fucking drama queen.
“Fine. You’re going to get lonely eventually. You’ll beg for my dick to slam into your cunt before long, I bet you.”
He fucking wished.
“Whatever you say, dick head. We have a deal then. Can I go now?” I asked, already trying to figure out how to get Diesel out of the house without him finding out the truth.
I was going to hurt all of them so much with my betrayal, but I had to do it for them.
He smirked, leaning forward on his elbows to hold my gaze.
“Now, why the fuck would I let you do that?”
“Me moving out of my home wasn’t part of the deal. I’ll get rid of them, but I do it my way. You know I won’t do anything stupid to risk them, so let me fucking leave,” I demanded, waiting for him to nod and dismiss me.
“Alright. I’ll be seeing you around, Donovan. Don’t fuck this up. I don’t give second chances.”
I walked out to my car without a backwards glance, my hands shaking as I gripped the steering wheel and drove home.
I was fucked.
Absolutely fucked.
I was going to have to rip everyone apart to keep them safe, and I wasn’t ready to fucking face that.
Diesel was frantically pacing in the kitchen on the phone when I wandered inside, my head filled with self-hate.
I didn’t want him to leave me there alone.
I wanted to tell him the truth and run away, but I couldn’t.
I couldn’t fucking risk Caden or the others.
He glared at me as he spoke into the phone, his voice full of annoyance.
“Never mind, she just got home.”
I took a deep breath, pushing back tears as I pulled my gun out, aiming it at him and trying to make sure my hands didn’t shake.
His eyes went wide and he took a step back in surprise.
“What the fuck are you doing, babe?”
I knew my voice fucking shook, but I tried hard to sound confident.
“Get out.”
“Donovan, what the fuck? Put it away,” he demanded with slight irritation, but I stepped closer, lifting it to his head.
“Everyone needs to get the fuck away from me. I don’t want any of you here anymore,” I bit out, keeping my eyes hard like stone.
His hazel eyes narrowed as he looked into my fucking soul, trying to break through the wall I’d put in place to hide my emotions.
He couldn’t know.
I couldn’t fucking let him, but fuck I wanted to.
“Babe, put down the gun and talk to me,” he asked softly, his eyes becoming gentle.
He knew something was up, so I had to throw him off.
Someone shouted through the phone that he still had in his hand, but I kept staring blankly at him, shaking my head.
“Either you get out and you all stay the fuck away from me, or I shoot you.”
Please fucking leave.
He looked confident as his body relaxed and he shook his head.
“You won’t shoot me, babe.”
“Diesel, fuck off!” I shouted, flinching as he reached a hand out towards me.
I startled him as I shot at his feet, narrowly missing his foot.
Thank fuck for Skeeter giving me a fucking silencer.
“Donovan!”
“I said fuck off! If that’s Skeeter, you tell him to stay away from me too! All of you!” I screamed, relief rolling through me as he backed up a little bit.
He was silent for a moment before speaking into the phone.
“I’ll stop in on my way home,” then he hung up.
He watched me warily, but he suddenly went to tackle me, so I aimed the gun at his arm and pulled the trigger.
He jerked back as the bullet hit him, surprise on his face as he covered the bleeding wound with his hand as if to check that it was really there.