Page 62 of You Belong With Me

There are at least two-dozen of them, and they look menacing, like a horde of modern-day Vikings. Each guy is tall, dark, and heavily tattooed, wearing jeans, boots and leather jackets.

Panic rises in my throat. Who are these guys? And why are they here? Whatever the reason, it can’t be good. They’re not here to sell us Girl Scout cookies, that’s for sure.

Lucas takes one look at these guys, walks back over to me, and grabs my arm. “Get inside. Walk around the side of the house, and go in through the back door,” he says. “Do it now.” Then he turns back to the strangers, walking across the lawn to confront them. “Can I fuckin’ help you?”

Oh, hell, no. I’m not going inside. Not when Lucas is stepping up to these guys. I’m careful to keep out of his line of vision as I follow him to the front lawn, then stand with the rest of the group, but a little off to the side, so I can see what’s happening.

One of the guys steps forward. He’s tall with dark hair and dark eyes, and his face looks like it was chiseled by a master sculptor. But the beauty of his features is marred by the tattoos snaking up his neck and the side of his face, along his hairline. It makes him look slightly demonic, and that sends a fresh dose of fear rushing through my bloodstream.

The guy’s unsettling gaze falls on Gabriel. “We heard you’d be here,” he says with a smirk. “You want to explain what the fuck you’re doing at Rush House?”

Gabriel takes a step back, holding one hand up protectively. “Nah, Sin, listen, it’s not what it looks like. I swear...”

Sin tilts his head to the side. “Really? ‘Cause I think this isexactlywhat it looks like. Let me guess, you’re trying to weasel your way back into the Burning Crown.”

Gabriel doesn’t even try to deny it. How could he? Why else would he be here?

Sin’s gaze shifts to Lucas, and he flicks his chin toward Gabriel. “Before you take this sick fuck back, you should know he’s been planning to take you down for a while now. He wanted to provoke you, frame you for his murder, then disappear to Brazil with his mom. Once you were convicted, she’d bring a civil suit against you for wrongful death and drain your bank accounts dry. It was a pretty ambitious plan. We were impressed when he brought it to us.”

My God. What the fuck? I knew Gabriel could be bitter, and cold, but to planall that? Goddamn. That’s next-level crazy.

“And you were more than happy to orchestrate all that for him, weren’t you?” Lucas’ jaw tightens. “You provided the witness, the Gabriel look alike, the surveillance footage…”

“All’s fair in love and war, right?” Sin shrugs. “But when you weren’t arrested, well…” His hard glare shifts back to Gabriel. “This cunt got impatient and went off script, rising from the motherfucking dead. Next thing you know, people start asking questions, and suddenly, our secret society isn’t so secret anymore...” He shakes his head slowly. “That shit doesn’t fly with us.”

The two dozen guys behind Sin shift, moving closer to their leader in an obvious show of force. I swallow, fear knotting more tightly in my stomach. My God, what are they going to do?

Lucas lifts his hands, likewho the fuck cares?“I don’t give a shit about what flies with you,” he says, his tone hard. “This shit is between you and Gabriel. Now, you can leave and get off our private-fucking-property.”

Sin hooks his thumbs in the pockets of his dark jeans, and glances down, laughing to himself. After a second, he glances back up at Lucas. “See, I’d love to do that, but Gabriel isn’t the only reason we’re here tonight. I haven’t forgotten that you killed my cousin…”

“Tyler was a member of the Burning Crown, and he fucked with Roman’s chick. He knew the risk he was taking, and he did it anyway,” Lucas bites back.

Tyler? As in, Tyler Savano? The creepy motherfucker who threatened Lux a few months ago? I remember hearing about his body being found. Like so many others over the years, he was found at the bottom of a steep cliff, and his death was quickly ruled a suicide. But everyone inside the Burning Crown knew the truth. He’d fucked around with the Sacred Sons and met with the consequences.

Sin’s eyes narrow menacingly. “See this is the thing—You have your rules, and we have ours. You killed my family, and now you and your rich-boy society have to answer for that. We tried to get to you throughthisdumb cunt—” He points to Gabriel, “—but he fucked that up, so I guess we’ll have to settle our score the old-fashioned way.”

Lucas takes another step forward, his hands balled into fists at his side. “Great, name a time and a place, and we’ll be there.”

Oh, no, no! What in the fuck is happening right now? Lucas is seriously going to square up with this dude? I can’t just stand by and let him do that, so I step forward and open my mouth to say something—but that movement catches Sin’s eye, and suddenly, that dark gaze is turned onme.

Oh, shit.

His gaze rakes over me, a sardonic smile touching the corners of his lips. “Aren’t you the girlfriend?”

Umm…?I feel like I shouldn’t answer that. Instead, I glance sharply at Lucas, who is already moving toward me. Before he can reach me, one of the Vikings grabs me from behind.

I yelp, my back colliding with the rock-hard chest behind me. There’s something cold pressed against my throat, and my eyes lock on Lucas. He stops dead in his tracks, hands up to show he’s unarmed.

“She has nothing to do with any of this…” Lucas says carefully. “Let her go, or I swear to God…”

The dark threat in Lucas’ tone sends a shiver down my spine because I know what he’s capable of. These guys may think he’s just some spoiled rich boy, but I know the ruthlessness behind that façade. I know how much he enjoys the violence.

Sin looks between Lucas and me, and laughs. “Oooh, what’s this?”

He walks over to me, which causes Lucas to practically come out of his skin. Sin places the tip of his finger under my chin, tilting my face up, so I’m forced to look at him. His eyes are dark, empty. There’s absolutely no humanity in those soulless orbs. “I thought you belonged to Gabriel, but it looks like you might be whoring yourself out to his cousin, too. How lucky for me.”

Adrenaline pumps through me, and my heart thuds painfully against my ribcage. I can’t see it, but I suspect it’s a knife at my throat, because every time I move, even just slightly, there’s a sharp pinch where the metal meets my skin.

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