“Why didn’t you ask me for the money?”
“I couldn’t.” Shame glimmered in his eyes. “I didn’t want to destroy what we had, but it didn’t matter in the end. I still managed to ruin things.”
“Is that what Tristan’s doing? Getting you the money?”
Pain strained his voice. “I doubt he has that much.”
“No shit.” I shook my head. “I can’t believe you. No, you know what. What I can’t believe is that I ever thought I loved you. That you were a good guy. How could I have been so wrong about you?”
“Regardless of how you feel about me, we need to get to my car.” He dropped his voice. “There’s a gun under the seat.”
My eyes widened. “You have a gun?” I hissed lowly, making sure no one but Preston could hear me.
His one good eye just held mine, the other too swollen to be able to see out of.
“Tristan?” I guessed where he’d obtain such a weapon.
His silence and tightening of his mouth confirmed what I suspected. “Don’t give me your holier-than-thou attitude. You had sex with my brother. You don’t get to judge me.”
“Then you never should have involved me. I shouldn’t be sitting here as a hostage,” I said through gritted teeth. He was lucky I didn’t stick my finger in one of his wounds.
Two of Angelo’s men came around the corner, eyeing Preston and me before entering the office. “You never told me how you ended up here,” Preston said lowly.
My spine stiffened as I became more aware of what was happening and focused less on Preston. “Does it matter?”
“My brother,” he rasped, coming to the right conclusion, his coloring paling.
“What of it?” I retorted, my fingers moving his shirt’s hem. I needed to see the injuries to his chest. They were clearly hurting him.
He didn’t protest as I lifted his shirt. “Are you guys dating or something?”
I sucked in a breath.Shit. He was right about the broken ribs, and tomorrow morning, if we survived this night, he’d be one black and blue motherfucker. “It’s none of your business who I do or don’t date.”
“He’s just sleeping with you. So very Tristan-like.” His voice was laced with anger, scorn, and hurt. “But why would he bring you here? That’s out of character for him.”
Letting his shirt drop back over his chest, I moved away. There was nothing I could do to ease his pain. Physically or mentally. “You didn’t give him much of a choice. Angelo’s crew came to our house. Tristan made me leave. Do you know he’s out there right now doing God knows what to protect us? I swear, Preston, if anything happens to him, I’ll kill you if Angelo doesn’t.”
Angelo laughed from the doorway of his office. What bothered me more wasn’t the amusement on his features but that I hadn’t felt his eyes on me. How long had he been watching Preston and me? We’d been so self-absorbed in our bickering.
I pinned Angelo with a glower, tired of him finding me so damn amusing, which only made his smirk intensify.
He leaned a shoulder on the door frame, twirling a lighter between his fingers. “She’s right, you know. You really are a fool, letting a girl like her slip through your fingers. It’s no wonder your brother swooped in and stole her right under your nose.”
“You bastard.” Preston started to rise, lunging toward Angelo.
Good thing I was quick. I bolted to my feet and ran after him, grabbing the back of his bloodied shirt. “Preston, don’t!” Itugged. Normally, I would never have the strength to stop him, but Angelo’s men had done a number on him. “Haven’t you gotten your ass kicked enough for one day?”
“She has a point.” Angelo flickered the lighter off and on, and the expression on his face said he would be more than happy to accommodate Preston and give him another lashing.
I had to intervene. Preston couldn’t take another beating, and I wasn’t sure I could stomach it. Scrambling forward, I positioned myself in the middle, keeping a hand pressed to Preston’s chest in case he got any more stupid ideas in his head. Clearly, he wasn’t thinking straight.
But my mind wasn’t precisely in the right space either. Angelo had a gun, and I had…my wits—not exactly a fair fight.
If I got Preston’s gun…I might be able to raise the odds but not by much considering we were still outnumbered. We could use surprise to our advantage.
But how would I get to the car without raising suspicion?
Angelo held the lighter, the yellow-orange flame flickering as he passed his finger through it. “Your girlfriend has more balls than you ever had, little Malone. I’d be disappointed if she hadn’t dumped your sorry ass.”