Page 22 of Broken Promises

“Leave it,” I said quietly, closing my eyes in defeat when the door handle started rattling.

“Raven, stop playing hard to get with me, baby. I’ll give you twenty bucks if you wrap that pretty little mouth around my cock right now.”

“Ander—” I warned, but he’d heard enough as he unlocked the door and flung it open, aiming his gun at the drunken idiot’s face.

“If you even think about her again, I’ll truss you up and gut you like a fucking pig,” he said coldly, the guy taking a step back with surprise.

“Who the fuck?—”

“Don’t look at her, speak to her, or think of her. Clear?” he bit out, half closing the door to block the guy’s view of me when his eyes flicked in my direction. “What did I just say?”

I grabbed some sweats from my drawer and put them on quickly, panicking when I noticed Ander had vanished.

“Fuck,” I cursed under my breath as I darted out into the hallway, seeing him stalk into the kitchen with the drunk guy firmly in his grasp.

I hadn’t been in that end of the house since the day after Dad arrived, and my steps slowed when I realized the carnage surrounding me. The walls had dents and holes all over, the carpet was missing from the corner of the living room, the only TV left in the house was smashed on the floor, and as I stepped into the kitchen, I saw half the cupboard doors were missing or hanging off their frames. There were empty beer bottles and cigarette butts covering the counter, and I was pretty sure someone had taken a shit in the sink.

“Who the fuck are you?” Dad barked, drawing my attention to the fact that Ander was pointing his gun at him.

“Who the fuck areyou?” he countered, and I moved in front of him to push him back a step.

“They’re harmless. It’s just my dad and his friends,” I said confidently, his abs flexing under my palms as he glanced down at me.

“This piece of shit is your dad? You really think drunk old dudes trying to convince you to suck their dicks are harmless?”

Dad took a step towards us, and Ander’s arm slid around me to put me behind him.

“You think you have some kind of claim over my daughter, you prick?” Dad snarled, not seeming to give a shit that Ander had a gun. “If I tell her to drop to her knees and choke on a cock, she will. If you want to fuck her, you should be paying me!”

He’d barely gotten the words out before Ander’s fist met his face, and I wasn’t surprised when Dad stumbled back and landed on his ass. He had zero chance against Ander, let alone when he was drunk.

“She’s not property, she’s a fucking person,” Ander hissed, standing over him furiously. I could tell he was pissed from the way his back muscles were bunched. “You think you can make money off her body?”

“That's all she’d be good for,” Dad argued, and I had to grab Ander’s arm to pull him back before he could do something like shoot him.

“You’re not staying here,” Ander said sharply as he turned to me, taking my wrist to drag me back along the hallway to my bedroom.

“Excuse me?” I snapped, stumbling after him. “This is my fucking home, asshole.”

“I can’t keep you safe here, Raven.”

“I’m not your fucking problem!” I shouted, shoving him in the chest, but instead of moving back, he only stepped closer.

“I want you to be my fucking problem. Pack your shit. You’re staying with me until I can get these creeps out. I’ll force your dad to sign the house over to you, and then you can come back.”

I stared up at him, wanting to argue but knowing I wouldn’t get any sleep here tonight if I stayed. Not after what just happened at the party.

“Only if you feed me,” I mumbled in defeat, a small smile tugging at his mouth.

“Deal. Now grab your shit and let’s go.”

CHAPTER FIVE

RAVEN

Iblinked against the light peeking through the curtains, a little surprised I’d managed to fall asleep in the first place. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes, finding Ander sitting on the chair in the corner.

“Did you sit there all night?” I asked flatly, assessing him. He was slouched back in the seat lazily, his gun in hand on his thigh as he watched me.

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