“No,” Billie said in a croaky voice. “You two don’t get to sacrifice yourselves so the rest of us can live. We stick together or—”
“Take her,” Angelo interrupted, roughly shoving Billie at me. “Don’t let her double back to try and save us. She has a savior complex, and it’s going to get her killed.”
Billie’s fatigue vanished as fury lit up her features. She opened her mouth to shout, so I covered it with my palm, wincing as she sank her teeth into the fleshy part. Little bitch. Fuck, my dick was hard again, and this was not the time.
“Go,” Grayson pushed us toward the back door, and we crept along, me half carrying Billie, who, thankfully, wasn’t fighting or biting me any longer. Maybe she’d realized that this wasn’t a battle she could win.
When we reached the exit out toward the barn, Angelo and Grayson split up, hiding in the shadows either side as they watched silently. “They’re out here too,” Grayson muttered. “We need to draw them into the house first. You four hide, and when I send out the signal, get the fuck out of here.”
“Stay fucking safe,” I warned him before nudging Flo and Rhett toward the large closet off the hallway. It’d be a tight fit, but we’d have to manage for a minute.
Damp heat brushed across my hand, and I realized Billie was silently sobbing into my palm. And just like that, it was my heart and not my dick aching. In her state, this was too fucking much, and I had to ensure she survived. Her and the baby.
“I’ve got you,” I crooned softly, using my best weapon to calm her. My voice. “It’s going to be okay.”
There was no way for me to know that, but I had to reassure her. To be her fucking knight and protector one last time.
When the four of us were squished in tight, Grayson closed the door behind us, and I tried not to react to the feel of all Billie’s curves pressed against me. Despite the small belly, the rest of her was thinner than I’d like, as if she’d been starved lately. I couldn’t imagine Angelo hurting her like that—we’d both loved her curves in a way that probably should be illegal—so it must be Billie’s choice. Maybe grief? Maybe she hadn’t wanted to leave as much as I'd initially expected.
The maudlin thoughts vanished when a crash echoed through the house and into our space. Whoever had surrounded the house had finally made it inside, and it appeared Angelo and Grayson, our two criminal masterminds, were making their presence very known. Shots rang out, followed by shouts and cries. I hated hiding in here while my brothers were out there, but I had no weapons or skills to survive in a gunfight, so it was better I spent my time ensuring everyone else survived.
More shots rang out, and I heard Angelo shouting, which faded as he appeared to run from the house. Maybe to clear the outside. A second later there was a knock on the door. Gray’s voice floated through. “Backyard is clear. Get outside now.”
The door was yanked open, and I exited first, bringing Billie with me. I hadn’t been able to see her in the dark, but when her face was visible in the low light filtering through the windows of the house, it was apparent that she’d stopped crying, a newfound determination in her expression.
“Ready to run?” I whispered.
She nodded resolutely, and Rhett and Flo did the same. We were only a few steps from the door, so I picked up the pace, keeping a hand on Billie to make sure she didn’t fall behind. She kept pace easily though, and when we got the door open, I breathed deeply as icy air hit us. None of us were dressed to be out in the winter like this, but there was, thankfully, no snow, so my feet wouldn’t freeze off. Not immediately anyway.
The light was minimal, but I knew the path to the barn, having taken it twenty times recently. Grayson had said to get out into the field, but there were coats in the barn, and I couldn’t let Billie run off into the night without a jacket. She was dressed in pajamas that, while long, were not made of heavy material.
“I’ll get the jackets,” Rhett said, clearly picking up on my intentions. “You take the girls out into the field and as far from the house as possible.”
“Rhett, no,” Billie and Florence both said at the same time.
“No point in all of us getting killed for jackets,” he continued.
His gaze met mine, and his eyes were imploring me to understand. “Okay,” I told him. “Don’t fuck around. Get the jackets and get out.”
“Understood.”
He continued to the barn, and I changed directions, heading for the paddock. More shouts and gunfire rang out behind us, but I didn’t look back. With Billie under one arm and Florence at my side, I had responsibilities right here.
Save the girls and then go back for my band.
twenty
JACE
The field was dark enough that I had to slow our pace. There was no way to know what fucking obstacles might be out here, including potholes and some very large horses that were no doubt spooked by the distant gunfire. At this rate, I wouldn’t need to find the neighbors. Sound traveled miles in the country, and they’d probably heard the shots already and called someone in. Right? Or was that not something country folk worried about?
“Are they going to be okay?” Florence sobbed when we were a few hundred yards from the shed. “Should we go back for them?”
“We should,” Billie bit out.
Flo growled. “Why don’t you shut the fuck up. This is all your damn fault. You brought this shit into our lives, you selfish little cun—”
“Florence!” I barked. “Stop lashing out just because you’re scared. You and I both know you don’t believe that shit, it’s just Tom in your head.”
She blanched, looking like she’d swallowed her own tongue. Then her gaze dropped guiltily to the ground. “Shit,” she whispered. “You’re right, Jace. I… fucking hell, I’m sorry Billie. I really didn’t mean that, I just got so used to Tom constantly talking shit about you, it’s like he brainwashed me. I know this isn’t your fault, and honestly I am choking on my own guilt for selling you out.”
Tom Tucker was such a fucking snake.
“It’s fine,” Billie replied quietly, giving a tight smile. “We’re both scared. I can forgive some name calling.” Why did her forgiveness strike a cord in my heart?
“You’re unquestionably a bigger woman than me, Billie Bellerose,” Flo muttered, “I’d have probably punched me right in the tw—"
She never got to finish that sentence as a bright light lit up around us and two black-clad men appeared as if by fucking magic. Before I could shout or initiate an attack, one dove forward and wrapped his arms around Florence. My yell echoed into the night as he pulled out a blade, and in the split second it took me to react, he slid it across her throat. Silencing her screams.
Blood cascaded down her front, spilling out of her far faster than anyone could survive.
Our eyes met, hers that had been filled with life now dull, and I shouted her name into the night right as she whispered “Jace,” then dropped lifeless to the ground.
Screams rang in my ear along with a clanging sound as I tried to process what the fuck just happened. The shadowy figures lunged for us, and I shoved Billie behind me on instinct, realizing she was screaming so loudly my head rang.