Page 30 of Tangled Fates

“We are not like other men, I fell into this business with Ryder, and funny thing, he was robbing me the same time I met him,” he chuckled. “I know we might not seem like honorable men, and honestly, we do steal and make money off people, but we would never hurt you. It’s like a rule; you don’t hurt women or children unless they start it first.”

“Not everyone abides by that rule,” I said, looking away.

Gray was more naive than I was.

“Who hurt you?” he snapped.

Looking up, his face was contorted in anger, sending shivers down my spine.

“Does it matter? It's been years, but history always has a way of repeating itself, Gray,” I said, getting up, feeling a need for a shower, but the anxiety of his brother coming back was distracting me.

“Who were they?” he asked again.

His tone was guttural, with a hint of possessiveness that I shouldn’t have liked.

“It doesn’t matter, Gray,” I said, walking towards him to put the artifact back on his body.

“Don’t… please,” he said, his green eyes looking into my hazel eyes. “If my brother comes, I can talk to him, or you can still let me go before he comes back, and I can make up some excuse.”

“I don’t trust you,” I said, picking up the artifact. “I can’t trust anyone except myself.”

“What about those people we saw leaving?”

“What people?” I stood back.

“There was a woman and a few men that left this place the day before you caught me,” he said, raising his brow. “Do you trust them?”

“Does it matter?”

How long had they been scouting this place?

“Do you trust them?” He cocked his head to the side. “Are they in your corner, do they protect you? Is one of them your lover?”

“I think?—”

“Answer the questions, Sunshine,” he clipped.

“You—”

My magical trap snapped, making me still. Fuck, I thought I had more time.

“What’s wrong?” He studied me like he already knew.

I leaned over to put a sleep-inducing artifact on him, but the pleading in his eyes made me hesitate.

“I want to help you,” he whispered. “I can help you.”

“No one can,” I said, before letting the artifact drop to the floor.

I turned around to leave the room when I felt the trigger of the trap in the room’s window, but I realized I had been too slow as I felt arms come around me. Panic overran my system, I thrashed, throwing my head back connecting with his face. He let me go, as pain exploded in my skull, giving me enough time to run into the living room as Gray shouted something from the room—at least I assumed it was him—but not before he reached for me again.

My instincts took over as I stepped out of his grasp running for my skillet by the stairs. Before I reached it, he grabbed me by the waist, lifting me up and throwing me against the wall.

“Seriously, a fucking skillet, woman,” he snapped, lifting me up, but I tried throwing my head back again.

“Let me go.” I thrashed, hoping to dislodge his grip, but he held on this time and didn’t let me move an inch.

“Stop,” he yelled, which only made me thrash more in his grip.

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