Page 31 of That Emerald Vow

He smirks at me. “Were you about to say with someone specific? Hassomeone caught Damon Hayes’ eye?”

“No . . . I said what I said . . . I mean . . . what I meant . . .” I fumble out as I unbutton my shirt, not daring to look him in the eye. “Fuck off.”

I hear him laughing at me, and my muscles tense, bracing for his teasing words. Adrian knows me better than anyone else. Maybe I should consider just talking with him about this, but saying it out loud will make it more real.

Before Adrian can say anything, we hear Ethan outside scream, “Stop!”

Fuck.One of the people may be trying to run. We can’t risk them escaping before they understand we’re here to help them.

We quickly but quietly go to the side of the shop. We see two women facing Ethan with their guns aimed—a blonde and brunette. There’s something familiar about them.Without thinking twice, we approach from behind, weapons aimed even though there’s something in the back of my mind saying something’s not right. We know Ethan spots us but doesn’t say anything—eyes locked on the intruders.

“It’s two against one, bozo. You really think you can take us?” the blonde says in an enchanting voice.Charlie?

Before I can even register my shock, Adrian puts the barrel of the gun against the brunette’s head as he says, “Actually, it’s three against two . . .” She lifts her hands and slowly shifts to the side. “Lily? Charlie?” he says, mouth agape in a pained expression. I am sure mine mirrors his as Charlie looks at me in disdain.

“Hi, Ade. Funny running into you here,” Lily snarls, clearly pissed.

“W-what are you both doing here?” I barely mutter, confusion seeping into my voice.

My little gem is glaring at me, and it’s breaking my heart into a million pieces. “What the fuck areyouboth doing here?”

Lily’s voice cracks as she says, “I can’t believe you w-would do this. I had more faith in you than this.”

“Lils, you don’t understand,” Adrian pleads, taking a step closer and holstering his gun. I look at my own gun aimed at the girl I’ve begun to trust. This is my worst fear turned into reality.

Lily uses the opportunity to step forward and pistol-whip him. Once. Twice. Then aims the gun at his head as the rest of our squad raise theirs at her. “Yeah? Then explain it to me!” she yells.

The muscle in his jaw ticks. “How about you explain what you’re doing here?” He nudges his head, pushing the gun towards her. “How do you know how to use that? Or how you incapacitated so many of my people?”All questions I want answers to as well.

“I don’t owe you anything,” she spits out, words laced with venom.

Adrian doesn’t budge. “You owe me just as much as I owe you. We’re both in situations neither one of us anticipated. And we both want answers.”

“Like we can believe anything you assholes say,” Charlie seethes, still pointing her gun at me. Seems like we all had our fair share of secrets, and here they now lie, more similar than any of us could have imagined. Fate has a funny sense of humor.

“How about we all drop our weapons first?” I ask as I slowly lower mine and put it in the back of my jeans, hoping that helps.

Charlie looks conflicted—her pain and confusion clear on her face. Others may just see the anger and hatred, but I can see through all the bullshit. She keeps her feet rooted to the spot. “How about your goonies too?” she asks.

“Fuck, Lils . . .” Adrian says. “How did we end up here?”

My focus is going in and out of the conversation as I stare into the fierce and angry eyes of Charlie. My heart is running rampant in my chest, and I can’t think straight.

“Can we all just drop our damn guns and talk? I think we can figurethis out,” I plead, wanting to diffuse the situation to at least be less lethal.

“Fat chance, D,” Charlie says, shooting me daggers with her beautiful emerald eyes. Just the other day, she looked at me with so much trust, which I knew was difficult for her. And now, here we are.

“Ugh, fuck,” Adrian growls as he looks from her to Lily to me. “Okay. To prove to you that this isn’t what it seems.” He raises his hands and nods at Ethan to lower his weapon.

“You sure, boss?” he asks, and Adrian just nods. Now, Charlie and Lily are the only ones armed. Even though I don’t know their secrets, I have a strong feeling they could burn this place to the ground with us in it with the wrath radiating off them. Hell hath no fury and all that.

“You were supposed to be different,” Lily says with a pained expression. “You were fucking supposed to be better . . . You’re taking advantage of these women likehetook advantage of . . .”

Fuck.That means Adrian didn’t stop his father from assaulting Lily like he thought.

Turning to him, he looks like she may as well have slapped him as he sinks into himself.

I can feel my heartbeat in my ears, pulsing as they continue to yell at each other. My emotions are struggling to stay intact. Everything is happening too fast. We just need a chance to explain. We all just need to calm down and talk.

---