Page 61 of You Belong With Me

He grabs me abruptly and pulls me into him. I gasp, but I don’t try to pull away. I know better than to try that. He dips his head, so we’re nose to nose. “I’d rather die than hurt you. I’d give my fucking life to protect you, Wyn.” When he shakes me, I gasp again. “Please tell me you know that.”

The urgency in his voice, the anguish on his face…I’ve never seen Lucas like this before. This strong, powerful guy, who is always so sure of everything—he looks terrified right now. Terrified that I won’t believe him.

I don’t answer him, though, because I don’t know what to say. All I know is that I shouldn’t be with someone like Lucas. I shouldn’t love him. But I do.

“Lucas, I?—”

A car screeches up the street, stopping abruptly in front of the house, cutting off my words. There’s a low wall that separates the house from the street, so I don’t see who it is until a figure walks through the wrought iron gate. It’s Gabriel.

He saunters up the walkway, swaying a little, unsteady on his feet, and when he gets within a few feet of Christian, Ash, Jackson, and the others, he spreads his arms. “I’ve arrived. Shall we go inside?”

“Oh, fuck this,” Roman says, grabbing Lux by the arm and dragging her toward the house. “I can’t have Lux mixed up in whatever this is. We’re out.”

Lucas’ grip on me loosens, and he steps forward, placing himself between me and Gabriel, who’s twenty or so feet away from us. He holds his arm out to prevent me from rushing ahead of him—not that I would.

“Go inside with Roman and Lux,” he says to me, and before I can even respond, he’s walking toward the front lawn. “You have some real balls coming here, calling a fucking meeting,” he calls out to Gabriel.

I’m rooted to the spot as Gabriel turns toward Lucas, hands raised in surrender. “I came to respond to this—” He pulls a black envelope from his jacket pocket and holds it up. It must be the invitation to his tribunal.

“You can say your piece at the trial,” Lucas responds coldly.

Gabriel lowers his hand, and his features darken. He shoves a finger in Lucas’ direction. “And where’syourfucking tribunal, hm? What’s the punishment for shoving a Burning Crown member into an oncoming train?”

“Lucky for me Justin Welch wasn’t a Burning Crown member.” Lucas says, his voice low and menacing. “Funnily enough, he was actually a Shadow and Ash guy, just like the witness. Strange, right?”

Gabriel seems to realize where this conversation is headed, because he backs up a little, his gaze darting to the other faces in the group. “You’re the one who wanted to meet up with me that night, dude. Do the rest of the Sacred Sons know that?” Gabriel spits back. “When you texted me that night, Iknewsomething was up. You’d been acting weird, and we hadn’t met down at the tracks since we were kids. So, I sent someone else in my place. And thank God I did, because otherwise, I’d be a pile of pulverized flesh right now.”

Lucas pushes up on Gabriel, venom dripping from his tone. “Oh, look who's suddenly remembering shit now.”

When Gabriel came back, he never did explain how he got amnesia. I’m guessing it was a tactic so he wouldn’t have to explain where he’d been. But Iknewhe was lying. I knew it.

Gabriel smirks. “Yeah, you know what I remember? I remember how fucking jealous you were that I had Wyn. Admit it. I had theonething you couldn’t have, and it drove you crazy. That’s why you wanted me dead. You couldn’t accept the fact that I was the one fucking her.”

Lucas lunges at Gabriel, but with Christian and Jackson in the middle of them, he doesn’t make contact. Christian shoves Gabriel’s chest. I’ve never really seen Christian pissed, and seeing it now is unsettling. “Is it true, Gabriel? Did you set Lucas up?”

Gabriel doesn’t answer Christian’s question. Instead, a dark smile stretches across his face. “You know, Shadow and Ash, wanted me. They fuckingwantedme. Unlike my own fucking family.”

“What are you talking about?” Christian asks.

“When the senior counsel rejected me as a Sacred Son,” Gabriel says, backing up, pointing at Christian, Lucas, and Jackson. Even in the near darkness, his eyes look bloodshot, likehe’s on something. “Notoneof you stepped up to vouch for me. Notone.”

His angry gaze shifts to Lucas. “And honestly, if you hadn’t fucked up my chances at a surfing championship, I wouldn’t have even needed your fucking endorsement. I would have been celebrated and welcomed into the Sacred Sons with open arms.”

Lucas says nothing.

“So, yeah,” Gabriel continues. “I saw the way Lucas looked at Wyn the night of her initiation, so I claimed her.” He shrugs with a self-satisfied laugh. “I knew it would fuck with him. And I was right, wasn’t I? It turned him feral. So fucking feral that he’d try to kill his own cousin.”

I’m rooted to the spot, but my heart is beating so fast I start to feel a little dizzy. Gabriel used me as a weapon against Lucas? And why, because of a fucking accident that happened when they were sixteen?

“But, you know what?” Gabriel says, hand on his chest. He sways again. “I’m willing to look past the attempted murder thing if we can forget this whole fucking tribunal.”

Lucas glares at Gabriel, his features hard, like there’s a war raging inside him. I’d kill to know what he’s thinking right now. “I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you,” he says, deathly calm.

Gabriel shifts on his feet, his eyes darting between each Sacred Son. “Okay, okay, what if I could give you information about Shadow and Ash?” His voice is hurried and slightly panicked. If it comes to a tribunal, he knows he’s fucked, because once he’s kicked out of the Burning Crown, he’ll no longer be protected. “I was on the inside. I know how they operate. Let me stay in the Burning Crown, and I’ll give you everything I know.”

God, what a fucking cunt. It doesn’t surprise me that Gabriel betrayed the Burning Crown in the worst possible way, and yet, still has the balls to come crawling back. He’s only ever looked out for his own best interests.

Before Lucas can respond, the loud rumble of the mufflers fills the otherwise quiet street. Seconds later, several motorcycles pull up in front of the house, and several large guys walk through the gate.

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