"MK, wait!" Kody shouted, chasing after me and grabbing my arm. "Where are you going?"
"Literally none of your business. Like I told you the day I got back, stay out of my fucking way, or you'll regret it." My death stare encompassed both Kody and Steele, and when I whirled around to leave, I found Archer standing there with his arms folded over his broad chest. "Move it, D'Ath."
"Go to your room, Princess Danvers," he ordered me, his bored glare pure ice.
It just enraged me further. "How does get fucked sound, dickhead?"
"Sounds like a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum because Daddy doesn't love her," he replied, his voice totally flat. "Now you go to your fucking room, do some fucking homework, and stop acting like such a fucking brat."
He turned as if to leave as if that was the end of conversation and I'd scurry back to my princess-pink room with my tail between my legs. Clearly, he'd forgotten who he was dealing with.
"No, I don't think I'm going to dance to your tune today, Archer D'Ath," I mused aloud and somewhat caustically. "Not today or ever. What are you actually going to do? Force me to stay?"
Archer turned back to me ever so slowly, and his eyes held a distinctive, wicked gleam. That vein throbbed over his temple, and I looked at him with pure contempt.
He took two steps toward me, and I tilted my chin, challenging him. Part of me was pretty confident he was all talk and threats, hoping to intimidate me into falling in line. The other part of me? Yeah... I had a feeling he actually would force me to stay.
Crap.
His huge hands clamped down on my upper arms, and he gave me a mean smile. Suddenly all parts of me were sure. He one hundred percent intended to physically force me into my room, then probably lock the door.
Nope. Not happening. No way, no how.
As he applied pressure, pushing me backwards, I did the only thing any self-respecting woman in my position could do.
I slammed my knee into his nuts.
Then ran like hell.
23
I should have just taken one of my father's cars. Maybe then I wouldn't have found myself walking down the street in pouring rain with no shoes and no coat.
Hindsight was a beautiful thing. And really, it'd have taken me so long to mentally talk myself into actually driving that the guys would have caught up and dragged me back—probably—kicking and screaming.
Thankfully, though, I was only out in the rain for five minutes before Dallas drove past, braked, then reversed to stop in front of me.
"Katie? What the hell are you doing?"
He was so concerned that I just ended up a sobbing mess in his passenger seat. I asked him to take me to Bree's place because, as badly as I wanted to spend time with Dallas... I couldn't get my father's voice out of my head.
"Are you ready to tell me what's going on?" Dallas asked as we pulled into Bree's parents’ mansion. She'd moved into the pool house, so we bypassed the main entrance and let ourselves through the gate hidden by hedges. We'd spent enough time there in the past, and nothing had changed.
"Can you tell me about what happened to you?" I asked him, leading the way through the garden path. "When you got arrested? I thought it was a robbery charge, but the more I think about it, the less I can remember." Actually, the more I thought about it, the more sure I was that Dallas hadn't been the one robbing that pharmacy at all.
"Uh, it's in the past, Katie. I did my time, and now I'm all reformed and shit." He scratched uncomfortably at his new neck tattoo, a geometric wolf.
I snorted a soft laugh. "Reformed my ass, you big liar. I know you're still in the Wraiths."
Dallas shot me a wicked grin, then knocked on Bree's patio door before giving me a small frown. "Why do you ask?"
I bit my lip, then shook my head. "No reason," I lied. "Just thinking about how we lost touch. We used to be so close."
He ached a lopsided smile at me right as Bree opened the door. "Hey guys, what's up?" She raised a brow at my soaked-through, barefoot outfit. "Okay... pretty confident this will be a good story. Come on in..."
I ducked past Dallas and into the warmth of Bree's home, but Dallas paused, checking his phone.
"Ah, sorry ladies. Someone called in sick at work. I've got to go back and cover their shift." He looked annoyed but not necessarily surprised. He was a floor supervisor in some kind of warehouse, which I was pretty sure the Wraiths owned and operated some dodgy shit out of. Not my circus, not my monkeys. "Sorry, girls. Another night?"
"You bet, babe," Bree replied with a sassy wink, and I did a quick double take between them. Dallas shot her a small smile back, and I started wondering if there was something going on between the two of them.
"Oh, wait," I gasped as Dallas made to leave. "Did you manage to get the stuff I was after?"
He nodded, his brow furrowed, and pulled a plastic bottle of white powder out of his pocket. "You sure you know what you're doing with this, Kate? Feels like you're getting in deep here."
I scowled and took the bottle from his outstretched hand. "I know exactly what I'm doing. That fucker will regret the day he ever messed with Madison Kate Danvers, that's a certainty."
Dallas just sighed and tucked his hands back into his pockets. "Alright, just... be careful. Okay?"
"I will." I gave him a reassuring nod. "What do I owe you for this?" I inspected the drug in my hand. There was a lot. More than I’d expected... but then how the hell would I know what was normal?
Dallas just waved me off, stepping back out into the rain. "On the house, gorgeous. Just be safe."
When he was gone, Bree closed the door and leaned her back against it, her eyes sparkling mischief. "You're actually going to do it, then?"
I placed the bottle down on her low coffee table, then cringed at the sopping fabric of my sweatpants against my legs. "I'm definitely doing it. Archer D'Ath is going down."
She smirked. "What a shame you don't mean that in the fun way. I bet he'd be a freaking beast in bed."
I rolled my eyes. "I can safely say I will never find out for myself. Now, can I borrow some clothes? I'm freezing here."
My friend laughed like I was being all kinds of dense, but went to fetch me dry clothes anyway.
By the time I’d finished filling her in on everything that had happened, we'd finished a full bottle of her mom's fancy chilled champagne and eaten three blocks of imported Whittaker's chocolate from New Zealand. If it hadn’t been for all the heavy shit I had to tell her, it would’ve been a damn perfect evening.
"Holy shit, MK," Bree finally said when I’d fully caught her up. "That's a lot. A lot, a lot."
I nodded, taking the last sip from my glass. "Yup."
We sat there in silence for a few moments, just listening to the rain falling outside.
"So..." I yawned. "Can I stay here tonight?"
"Of course, girl. Mi casa es... blah blah. You know what I mean." Her words were slightly slurred, and I snickered. She was such a lightweight. "Stay as long as you need. I won't even tell Carol and Greg you're here, okay?"