Page 92 of Dirty Dancer

“Yeah, we need to go. We’ll get you shoes out there.” I didn’t want her to get hurt.

Bodhi was already on the move. He was right. If we strode out of here like we belonged, we could do this. He’d come through on everything else. The guy was unhinged but he was my kind of people.

I clasped her hand. “Stay with me, okay, Boo-Boo? No running off. Trust me.”

She grabbed a stapler of all things. “I promise.” But I didn’t ask. If she wanted it, then we were taking it.

The alarms started screaming.

Yep, Bodhi was definitely unhinged.

Thanks, man.

Now to get Boo-Boo the fuck out of here.

BRUTAL FIGHTER BONUS SCENES

APPROPRIATION (ALTERNATE POV)

ROME

“Do I want to know?” Starling’s eyes were huge. They reminded me of a startled animal trapped by oncoming lights in traffic. I’d never let anything hit her though.

Not as long as I was there to stop it.

“Probably,” Liam admitted with more than a sigh. My other half was tired. But he needed her more than he wanted to confess. It was good that we’d come here. Both for Starling and for him. “Ezra is there.”

“Lainey’s Ezra?”

“Yep.”

I almost wished he wasn’t. I’d like to keep Starling here for a while. Let them both rest.

“Does Lainey know?” Worry chased another emotion across her face.

“No,” I answered. Vaughn did. I did. He was Liam’s problem.

“Is he in trouble?”

“To be determined,” Liam said. “Your call, Hellspawn, what do you want to do?” While my brother could be guarded and careful of his thoughts, he made no such effort at the moment.

We wanted her to know us. To trust us. She needed us to trust her. So, no more secrets. I liked that.

Liam and I had no secrets. If I wanted to know, he would tell me. The same for him. Now for Starling. She bit at her lower lip and frowned. I didn’t like when things bothered her. Especially when she seemed on uneven footing.

“We need to go back then?” The question was for her, not for Liam. If Starling said no, we would stay here. He could deal with Ezra or not. The man would be fine where he was in the meanwhile.

At least, he wouldn’t get shot.

She sighed. “We should.” Then she glanced down at her bare feet.

“Go change,” Liam suggested. “We’ll wait for you.” He didn’t glance at me but I heard the unspoken “we need to talk too” but Starling just cast us both a smile, tremulous though it was.

“Promise?”

“You’re not getting rid of me,” Liam informed her. “Ever. Get used to it.”

Then her grin turned real and she pivoted to head for my room. As soon as she disappeared, I went into the kitchen. If we were going back, now would be a good time to pack up the coffeemaker.

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