“You fucking shot me!” He croaked out in disbelief, keeping pressure on the wound.
My heart was tearing itself apart as I watched the blood trickle through his fingers, guilt eating away at me like acid.
“I told you to fuck off!”
“What the fuck is going on?” He demanded, and I had to hold myself back from reaching for him to help.
I hated seeing any of the guys hurt, but nothing compared to the pain I felt from being the one to inflict it.
I gritted my teeth and aimed the gun again, praying he’d take me seriously this time.
“Get. Out.”
His eyes were full of hurt and betrayal as he finally nodded, leaving the house without another word.
I sank to the floor and gasped for breath, tears streaming down my cheeks as I choked on the sobs I’d managed to hold off.
I knew I had to, but it hurt to hurt them.
At least they’d still be alive tomorrow.
Diesel
“Fuck!” I shouted, slamming my hands against the steering wheel as I parked at the shed, ignoring the burn in my arm from where Rory had shot me.
She fucking shot me!
She tried to hide it, but she was fucking scared, and I honestly had no idea what had happened while she’d been out.
I should have made her sit in the fucking security room with me, then this wouldn’t have happened.
I climbed out of the car, slamming the door and gripping my wounded arm as I stalked inside, Skeeter instantly jogging over to me from the back room.
His eyes went wide as they landed on my arm, the blood soaking through my shirt. “What the actual fuck happened? Rory shot you?” He asked, looking just as surprised as I’d been.
I gritted my teeth, glaring at nothing in particular.
“She came back and something had happened. You heard most of it, but she looked fucking scared, brother. Something had her running, and she panicked when I tried to tackle her. She didn’t accidentally shoot me though, she fucking meant to. I don’t believe her bullshit about wanting us gone, but I…”
“Hey, sit down. She’s home safe, so we’ll deal with her later. Jesus, man. Let Hunter look at that,” he cut in, leading me over to the bar and pulling a chair out for me.
Skeeter was a fucking asshole, but he always had my back.
That’s what crew life was like, and it was why I’d needed it so bad.
Without him, I’d be dead from my ice addiction by now.
I owed him my life.
I grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled it over my head, ignoring the hot burn that shot through my arm.
“Do we track her calls and shit still?”
He frowned. “No, but Hunter already hacked into her phone the old-fashioned way.
She didn’t take her phone when she left the house, so we can’t track where she went, let alone who she went to see.”
I cringed, knowing I should have told him earlier.
“The Soldiers left a note on her door today. They’re back to finish what they started, Skeet.”
His face turned to pure rage as he stood there, a million thoughts seeming to pass through his mind as Hunter joined us and started poking at my arm.
I was used to this shit, but it still hurt like hell every time.
It was a bullet, for fuck’s sake.
Skeeter stayed quiet as Hunter made sure all of the bullet fragments were out, stitching me up before sighing.
“So, what now?”
Skeeter scowled, pulling his phone from his pocket and stabbing his fingers against the keypad angrily.
“Now, we call Holloway and fill him in. If she’s all of a sudden cutting us out, maybe they can get close enough to figure out what’s wrong.”
I wasn’t sure it would work, but I’d try anything.
I had to help get her out of trouble as quickly as I could.
I couldn’t stand the look of fear in her eye that she’d shown me without even realizing it.
Chapter 9
Rory
I ended up staying at my old place for a couple of nights, hiding the Corvette around the back as best as I could.
I laid in bed mostly, trying to rest my battered body.
Not that I got any fucking sleep.
I dragged my ass to school when the school administration called me to ask why I hadn’t returned.
Apparently, the week suspension had only been a threat and had never been filed.
I wasn’t surprised to find Caden and the guys waiting for me by the gate when I got there, either.
Skeeter and his big stupid mouth.
My heart hammered as I climbed from the car, intending on walking past them, but Caden’s hand shot out and pulled me back roughly, annoyance and worry in his pretty green eyes.
“What the fuck happened the other night?”
I yanked free from him, despite the spike in my pulse from his touch, giving him a scowl.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? You fucking shot Diesel and flipped the fuck out,” he hissed quietly, concern taking over all the anger he’d shown a second earlier.
I could sense Jensen’s worried gaze on me, so I didn’t look his way as I kept talking to Caden.
“Stay away from me. All of you.”
He frowned, complete confusion crossing his features.
I guessed no one realized I’d meant all of them were to avoid me, not just the crew.
“Why? What’s going on?”
I shoved him, startling him as he stumbled back to catch himself.
“Because I said so, dick head.”
“Babe, what the fuck?” Tyler asked, and I turned to focus my glare on him.
I hated every second of it.
It was ripping me apart.
“I don’t want to see any of you anymore. Leave me alone.”
“Like fuck. What the hell is going on?” He demanded, trying to read my emotions, but I kept them blank despite my heart shattering as I spoke.
“I don’t want to do this anymore. With any of you. Stay away from me, I fucking mean it. I don’t love you anymore,” I forced out, the words tasting bitter in my mouth.
They all looked at me as if I’d slapped them in the face, and I stalked off before they could see the tears I was fighting.
None of them followed me, and they didn’t get close throughout the day either, even though they watched me from a distance.
I almost let out a sigh of relief at the end of the day, but I tensed as Jade walked up to me and raised an eyebrow.
I had to push her away too.
I couldn’t risk her becoming leverage for the Soldiers.
“Hey, a little birdy told me you’re going crazy. What’s up with you today?”
Fuck.
I slammed her into the lockers before I could think about it too much, surprising her as I pressed my arm against her throat and got in her face, speaking softly.
“Listen to me, okay? You need to get as far away from me as fucking possible. Before you get hurt.”
I let her go as she gave me a wary look, seeming to contemplate her choice before almost running away from me as if I was going to put her six foot under.
It hurt to hurt someone I was hoping to become good friends with, but it had to be done.
It had been a long time since I’d been completely on my own, and day one was already torture.