Page 3 of Ruthless Angel

“It’s kind of adorable how your boy here is willing to die for that woman. She must mean a lot to you guys, which is exactly why I want her. Did you think I wouldn’t find out about her? I’ve been watching. Waiting for the right time to make my move. That time is now. Give me what I want or I’ll start sending you pieces of Blaze until there’s nothing left of him. Your call.”

The video ended. Unable to stand, I sat heavily on the floor. My lungs heaved, trying to get enough air. My heart pounded in my ears. The room spun as a panic attack hit hard.

Both Cash and Daire spoke, their voices blurring together, sounding far away. I couldn’t focus on what they were saying. Someone touched my shoulder. I stared at the floor, chest heaving, tears streaming down my face.

There was no out of this. We were backed into a corner. Brady had made himself clear. It was either Blaze or me.

CHAPTER TWO

DAIRE

Watching Clover melt down filled me with anger and helplessness. There was fuck all I could do to help her. Shouting her name, slapping her cheek, none of it worked. She sat on the floor hyperventilating, crushing her hands into fists so tight her fingernails drew blood in her palms.

Finally, Cash grabbed her and dragged her to the bathroom where he splashed cold water on her face. That seemed to snap her out of it.

She clutched the side of the sink, water dripping from her face. Gradually her breaths came more naturally. Her entire body quaked.

“One breath at a time,” Cash said softly. “It will be okay, Sunshine. We’ll figure something out. Let’s get you upstairs to bed. You need to rest.”

She let him guide her along up the stairs. I followed, feeling like a failure. I didn’t know how to help her. Right now my best friend was getting his ass beat. The pressure to solve this problem was giving me a headache.

“In my room,” I said when we all reached the top of the stairs. “I want Clover with me tonight.”

I hated the way she cast a wary glance over her shoulder at me. Not that I blamed her. I’d given her more than enough reasons to be suspicious of my intent.

After Clover entered my bedroom, I closed the door, staying in the hallway with Cash. “How the fuck do we handle this?”

He sighed, rubbing a hand through his mohawk. “I have no goddamn idea, man. It’s getting late. Let’s sleep on it and try to make a plan in the morning. Brady won’t kill Blaze. Not yet anyway.”

“We need to kill that motherfucker,” I muttered. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were absolutely screwed.

“We will,” Cash affirmed, refusing to believe otherwise. “He’s not going to win this. Go get some sleep. I’ll make sure everything is locked up and double check the security system.”

He headed back downstairs, leaving me standing in the hallway. The need to do something to fix this shook me. Briefly I considered what Clover had said about the Gods. No doubt they had the manpower we lacked. Still, my ego wouldn’t allow it.

I entered my bedroom, closing and locking the door behind me. Clover sat on the edge of the bed. She stared out the window at the house next door, although I didn’t think she was really seeing it.

Digging a t-shirt out of my dresser, I tossed it onto the bed beside her. “You can sleep in this if you want something more comfortable.”

Clover jumped like she’d just realized I was there. “Oh, thanks.”

She held the t-shirt against her chest, peering up at me with glossy blue eyes. “Are they going to kill Blaze?”

Sitting on the bed next to her, I searched for the right words. Offering comfort wasn’t really my forte. I kind of sucked at it.

“I won’t let them do that,” I said, brushing a lock of hair back from her pretty face. “We’ll figure something out. I promise.”

Clover didn’t believe me. I saw it in her eyes.

She nodded and stood up. “I need to wash my face and stuff.”

While she was busy in the bathroom, I made a half-assed attempt at tidying up my room. I tossed dirty laundry in the basket and straightened up the sheets on the bed. Every few minutes I found myself checking my phone. When there was nothing new about Blaze, I checked the cameras at the entry points.

This was going to be a hell of a long night.

The cameras revealed nothing. Not content with that, I left the room and went through the house checking the windows. Everything was locked. I knew it would be.

After taking my turn in the bathroom, I did my best to settle down. Clover was jumpy enough. I didn’t want my scattered thoughts to make things worse.

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