Page 59 of Pawn

“Damien?” He pulls me out of the car, a grip like a vice. “Wait!” He doesn’t. He sandwiches me between his palms, looking over my body for what I assume is any sign of harm. “I’m okay!” I reassure him before I ask. “What’re you—”

“King?” The sound of Isaac’s door closing comes from behind me and Damien looks over at his friend before he lets me go. Isaac stumbles around to where we’re standing and fuck, he’s so much drunker than I thought.

“Are you fucking serious, Johnson?” Damien growls, meeting his friend halfway.

“Hello to you too.”

CRACK!

“Damien!” I call.

Isaac’s robe twists in his hold as Damien gives him another punch to the gut. Isaac’s way too fucked up to stand on his own. So fucked up that he says, “Tryna kill me like you did Marion?”

Damien laughs that devilish laugh. “So you try to kill my girl?” Isaac groans when Damien gives him another blow, dropping him to the floor. It stirs my stomach when I hear him call me his, but it’s not as effective when he’s wailing on his best friend. He kicks him and I call out again.

“Damien! What the fuck!?” I yell. “Stop!”

He does but not without another growl. “Get the fuck up, Johnson, I’m taking your sorry ass home.” Walking towards me, he grabs me by the arm, pulling me towards his car. “You too.”

Wriggling from his hold, he loosens his grip in time for me to pull hard, my ass hitting the ground.

“Shit, Jo,” he reaches for me but I pull back, getting up on my own. I don’t even bother to dust myself off as Damien defends his actions. “I didn’t mean that but this fucker almost killed you. And himself. Like a fucking idiot!” He bangs his fist on the roof of his Lambo, pulled to the side of the road.

Looking over at Isaac, he’s still on the ground, rolling on the floor, groaning in his robe.

“How’d you even get here so quick?” I ask, walking over to Isaac to help him up but I stumble, holding on to Damien’s car. “Stalking me?”

“You almost died and you’re worried about how I got here?” He walks over to his friend, picking him up instead. Isaac latches on as Damien helps him to his feet. “Get in the car, Rowland.”

My eyes narrow, whiskey still coming from my breath. “Answer my question.”

“Get. In. The car!” His voice bellows and I swear I hear a wolf howl in response. “Get in the car, Jo,” he repeats with a lowered voice, his eyes closed, one hand dropping to his side.

I’m way too drunk to put up any more of a fight and at this point, I just want to get to bed and sleep all this off.

“Fine,” I mutter, moving to the passenger’s door. “Prick.”

Isaac scoots in beside me, squishing me into the console before Damien takes off. After what seems like forever in silence, no radio on, he’s the first to speak.

“Jo, I’m tracking your phone.”

“What?” I feel like I already knew that but still, it surprises me.

“That’s how I found you so quickly. I was following you.”

Isaac snorts, “That’s healthy.”

“And Johnson, we did what we did because Marion’s batshit crazy and tried to kill me. We didn’t seek out to kill her like she did me and it’s not a murder, it’s a homicide.”

I scoff, the whiskey speaking for me. “As if that makes it better.”

“Jo,” he warns and I shut up since he’s actually trying to explain to Isaac what happened. And since we all hardly talk about it, I wanna see where he’s headed with this. “We were on that roof and it all happened so fast.” Damien’s foot is heavy on the pedal, his grip tight on the wheel. “One minute, she’s pushing Jo off, the next there’s a gun in my face and then—”

“I get it,” Isaac finally says, his head against the window, blood dripping from his nose to his robe. “I get it, man.”

Damien takes a second, glancing at his friend before he relaxes in his seat, the white in his knuckles disappearing. “Good.” They don’t say anything else all the way to Isaac’s house but when Isaac gets out of the car, Damien looks up at him, leaning across my lap. “We cool?”

Isaac nods, swinging his hand to close the door. He misses before he tries again, but I help him out, giving him a small wave as he stumbles across the small bridge to his house.

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