“You need to come visit more often,” JP said with a smirk as we headed back toward the cars.
My heart hammered as we headed back, wondering what state my car might be in when I got back to it. The moment I set eyes on it, I let out a sigh, seeing all the tires still in place and the paint still shining. Then, my eyes locked on the figure leaning against the hood, arms crossed in front of his chest.
Oh, for fuck’s sake!
Chapter 9
“You in the wrong hood, my dude,” JP said, stepping in front of me. He glared as the two others walked around the side of the car, all three of them standing together, between us and the car. JP shifted, lifting up his shirt, no doubt showing the gun he always had at his waist. “What, you think you and your buddies can just waltz up in here like you own the fucking place? Man, I oughta bust a cap in all your asses and strip those shiny cars for parts.”
Three cars were parked behind ours, effectively blocking them in. If my car had drawn eyes coming into town, I had no doubt they did, too. Whereas mine would only really stand out to people who know cars, even a child would be able to know those ones just oozed money. And the three of them together would’ve attracted a lot more eyes than just mine on its own anyway.
Rolling my eyes, I let out a sigh before stepping out from behind JP. As annoyed as I was, them getting into a fight would just make things worse. “Don’t shoot them,” I said, exasperated. Then, I locked my eyes on Wes and glared at him. “I’m not sure it’d do anything, anyway. Clearly, none of them have any brains in their heads as it is. What in the hell are the three of you doing here?”
Jaxson grinned at me and shrugged. Then, he nodded toward Wes. Either he was the only one with enough brains to speak up or the only one with enough balls. “This one called us up. Said you were being stupid and asked us to meet up with him.”
“I’m being stupid?” I faced Wes and glared at him. “Maybe I should let JP shoot you. I grew up here, you brainless oaf! I know where I’m safe and where to avoid. You three... You, stupid idiots, show up in a convoy of cars worth enough money to start a god damned gang war!”
One car opens eyes. Three and four of them? Shit, we were lucky one of the other gangs hadn’t already tried to press their luck and push into JP’s territory. Most of the other leaders weren’t stupid, but there were still a couple that wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice a few grunts to get their hands on those cars. Stripping them for parts, they could buy quite a bit of drug or guns, probably enough to make a move to expand their territory.
And as tough as Wes and the guys were, they weren’t freaking bulletproof!
“I thought you might need a little backup. And since you didn’t bother telling me where you were going, I followed behind.” Wes shrugged. He wasn’t the least bit bothered by my chastising him. Then again, he was probably used to getting chewed out by Lucas pretty frequently. I wondered briefly if his Mom had bitched at him as often. “Maybe next time you’ll tell me where you’re going first.”
I stalked forward until I stood right in front of Wes. He towered over me and was easily twice as wide as I was, thick muscle barely contained beneath his shirt. When I glared up into his eyes, he just looked back down at me, completely unbothered by just how angry I was with him. Then, I slapped him, the sound echoing around us. Wes took a step back while Hunter and Jaxson winced. JP, on the other hand, started howling with laughter.
“That’s for thinking I need to tell you anything, Wesley Cabot! I am a grown-ass woman. I don’t need your permission to do a damned thing. Nor do I need you to come and play bodyguard. And the next time you even hint at either of those, I will hit you much, much lower and much, much harder.”
JP, still laughing his ass off, stepped up behind me and patted me on the back. He grinned at Wes, not the least bit concerned at how all three of the guy towered over him, too. “That’ll teach you to underestimate her. She’s got more balls than half the guys I got runnin’ for me. And you ain’t gotta worry about her here. Ain’t no one gonna lay a finger on her while I’m around. Wars have been started for less.”
Which was exactly what I’d been trying to avoid, I thought to myself. JP might be willing to kill for me, but I didn’t want to bring that kind of heat down on him. I still felt guilty about the attention I’d brought when I’d been staying with him and Lucas had been hunting for me.
He sidestepped around Wes and circled my car, whistling and nodding in approval. He ran a hand over it, gentler than I’d ever seen him touch a woman. When he looked over at me again, he smirked. “She’s a beauty, but next time you wanna come home for a visit, I’d suggest bringing something a bit less flashy.” Then, he glanced over at the other three cars parked behind us. “And I suggest you three get the hell outta dodge before someone decides they like your wheels a bit too much.”
Wes, Jax, and Hunter all exchanged looks. It was pretty obvious none of them were eager to head back and leave me here alone. Part of me thought it was sweet that they all cared so much about me. The other part of me was annoyed that they thought I couldn’t take care of myself. The latter part of me was starting to become more dominant, the longer they stuck around.
“Just go home,” I told them, fighting the urge to yell at them some more. Their skulls were too damned dense for it to get through to them anyway. Slapping him seemed to have helped rattle his brain back into place a bit, even if had resulting my hand throbbing like hell. Besides, I knew Wes would’ve gotten his ass reamed out by Lucas if he hadn’t followed me out here. “I’ll be leaving here soon enough, all right? JP won’t let anything happen to me.”
“Scout honor,” JP piped up, earning him a glare from me as well. He just smirked and winked at me, though, and I considered slapping some sense into him, too.
“Go home,” I told them again, locking eyes with each of them in turn.
Wes sighed, then ran a hand through his hair. Lips pursed, he looked at me, then over at JP, before letting out a breath. “Yeah, fine. But you better keep an eye on her. Anything happens to her, and it’ll be your head. And it won’t be me coming for you.”
“Anything happens to her, and it’ll be because I’m already dead,” JP smirked at Wes, then nodded. “Don’t worry, ‘bout her. Me and my boys will keep her safe. Wouldn’t want to get on her old man’s bad side, now would I?”
The two of them locked eyes like they were having some silent conversation. If my father really was as dangerous as JP made him out to be, then there was no way he was going to risk earning the cartel’s ire by letting something happen to me. Then, they both nodded, and Wes motioned for the guys to follow him out of there.
JP sauntered over to Wes’s baby and nodded appreciatively. “You ever want to supe these babies up, you give me a call. I got some boys who’d wet themselves for a chance to get under the hood of any of these beauties. And I can guarantee they’ll put out far more power when we’re done than any of the line models.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Wes said with a smirk. At least he’d dropped his macho man act. Though I figured it wasn’t easy to act big and tough when a five-foot-three girl slaps you.