Page 51 of Pin-up Girl

“Not fair, man. Don’t ask this of her if she doesn’t want to go home with you.” Emmett’s knee banged against mine.

“Okay. I’ll go. If it’s what you want…Fuck.” She scooted toward Jules. “Let me out. I need to get my thoughts together. I’ll be right back.”

Jules complied, but not happily. He stared after her with lowered brows.

“What the fuck, Milo?” Emmett slapped his palm on the table.

“Shh.” I never let my gaze stray from Elise as she made her way through the crowd. We had an exceptional view, since we were on a raised platform. It was the perfect position to watch some girl grab Elise’s arm.

My first reaction was to give the bitch a lesson in keeping her hands to herself. But Elise jacked her arm back as if to punch her, stopping when she realized who it was.

“That’s Super Model.” Emmett crossed his arms on the table. “Her best friend. What did she say her name was? Cassidy?”

So it was. Now I recognized her with her long black hair and tall, slender figure. She was hot, no doubt about it, but next to Elise, most girls didn’t even make my radar. As if the entire student body of WU knew she was one of us, people gave her three feet of space on every side.

Elise had her back turned to us, but Super Model’s face was turning an ugly shade of red.

Jules waved his phone to catch my attention.What are the chances that Elise is laying her out in the way only she can?His eyes glittered in amusement.

“I’m sure that’s exactly what she’s doing.” I turned back to the floor. “What kind of upbringing do you think she had to make her so aggressive?” I mused. “She’s smart, but no one is that good at cutting down their opponents unless they’ve been in a position where they had to defend themselves, and often.”

We all knew something about that. Born with silver spoons in our mouths and proverbial wolves on our heels, our lives forced us to be just as lethal as villains to survive. The kind of grit and determination it took to shred anyone before they could shred you? That had tempered in us over a long, relentless life of shit.

“I don’t know, Milo. She’s so full of life, but sometimes, when I’ve had her alone, she seems off. Sad.” Emmett shuffled in his seat, doing what did he best, fidget.

You know, she wanted to know me, but locked up when the conversation turned on her. We silently agreed to leave personal questions off the table. Focus on the small things and the present,Jules typed out on his phone.

How many times had we wondered what kind of life she’d led? The question of the hour was, did we want to crack through her shields and risk her getting behind ours?

“Who wants to be the one to stage the intervention?” Emmett tossed out flippantly.

“Water?” The waitress’ smile was all teeth as she filled our glasses. “Anything else, or would you like the check?”

“The check.” I laid on all my charm to get her to leave us the fuck alone. It was time to get our Pin-up and take her home.

“Sure thing.” She sashayed away, swallowed up immediately by the crowd.

Jules snagged my wrist with a too tight grip. When I met his gaze, his eyes were slightly wild.Where did Elise go?He actually signed in public, something he never fucking did.

Whipping my head around, Elise was gone. So was Super Model. We hadn’t actually planned to let her out of our sight, especially with the organization hanging over our head.

“Fuck.Let’s go. I’ll take the front, Jules, you take the back, Emmett, I don’t give a fuck what you do, just look for her.” As I shot out of the booth, I pulled a fifty out of my wallet, tossing it on the table, and ran straight for the door.

“Hey, man! Watch it,” yelled a guy I nearly plowed over, before he gaped and backed up.

The air was cool, crisp now that the sun had fully disappeared. The sidewalk was packed with college students bar hopping. No sign of Elise. She couldn’t have gone far, I only had my eyes off of her for a minute.

I went left, around the edge of the building toward the alley. Chances were she was probably in the bathroom, but the fear of the unknown nearly choked me, squeezing tighter with each second we failed to find her.

As I entered the alley, soft sobs echoed off of the pavement, and I nearly sighed in relief at the sight of Elise in Jules’ arms. Her head was tucked neatly under his chin while he rubbed circles over her back, even rocking her side to side.

The alley was empty except for them. Where the hell had Super Model gone?

“Elise, when you said you needed to get your thoughts together, I didn’t fucking think you’d disappear.” I tore a hand through my hair and paced the narrow width of the alley.

The familiar pattern of pounding footsteps alerted us to Emmett’s arrival before he came around the other side of the building. His breathing was slightly labored as he stopped inches from where Jules held Elise.

“What the hell, Pin-up? You must have a thing with alleys, huh?” Emmett scanned both ends of the alley, too wired to pretend Infinity wasn’t watching us. I wasn’t quite as convinced as Emmett, but it was never a good idea to let your guard down, so I watched our surroundings too, as did Jules.

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