Page 96 of Don't You Pucking Dare

I press my ear to her chest, trying to hear anything over the blood pounding in my own head. The forest goes quiet, watching.

"She's not dead." The voice drifts from the trees like smoke.

I'm on my feet instantly, leaving Lola on the ground. If she's alive, fine. But someone's about to wish they weren't.

Her mother emerges from behind a massive oak, looking pleased with herself. "She'll wake up eventually. We didn't hurt her too bad." My eyes scan the darkness, looking for someone to destroy, but this bitch is the one who deserves it.

I start toward her, violence in every step, when Nico's voice cuts through the dark. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Nico." Noah's voice carries warning. "What the fuck are you doing?"

He gestures at Lola's mom like he's introducing a business partner. "She promised me quite a lot if I took out Rick Kemper."

"Fucking snake." The words barely leave my mouth before I'm moving. I grab her hair, silk-smooth between my fingers, and drive her face into the dirt.

She laughs into the ground. "Ooh, you're feisty. No wonder she likes you."

My grip tightens. "What the fuck do you want from her?"

"I already got it, son. Lola gladly handed it over."

"Bullshit!" I look to Noah. "What the fuck is she talking about?"

Noah won't meet my eyes, staring at his brother instead. "Lola would get an inheritance from her dead father. Not much though sadly, but we know our other half comes when this one turns 25."

Movement catches my eye—Nico, moving toward Lola's unconscious form. Something snaps in my chest. I drag her mother by the hair, ready to end this.

The boyfriend's hand is steady as he levels the gun at my face. "Let her go."

"Whoa." Thatcher's voice cuts through the tension. "Put that fucking thing away."

The gun swings toward Thatcher—amateur mistake. I'm moving before he can correct it, my hand connecting with his wrist. The gun goes flying, landing somewhere near Thatcher in the leaves. My fist finds the boyfriend's jaw, sending him stumbling backward over a rotting stump. While he's down, I turn and drive my boot into her mother's face. Blood sprays across dead leaves.

Nico's slow clap echoes through the trees. "Someone is in love."

"She's under my protection, and you brought her into this mess!" The words tear out of my throat as I watch them crawl toward each other, pathetic and bleeding. "All of this for money!"

"Take Lola and go." Nico says it like he's doing me a favor.

"I'm not fucking done." I grab the boyfriend by his collar, feeling cartilage crunch under my knuckles. He drops, gurgling blood. I turn to her mother, fisting her hair. "Something's fucking wrong with you." The slap leaves a perfect red handprint on her cheek.

"You fucking pussy!" She spits blood. "Hitting a fucking woman!"

My elbow connects with her face. "Oops."

The gun feels right in my hand when I take it from Thatcher. I level it at both of them, huddled together on the forest floor. "I'll fucking shoot one of you if you don't tell me details."

"Noah!" Nico's voice carries an edge now. "Grab your Reapers and take the girl and go!"

I swing the gun toward him. Noah doesn't move to stop me. "How about you shut the fuck up, Nico."

"I won't kill them. Just hurt them a little." The gun feels heavy with promise in my hand. Moonlight catches on the barrel as I adjust my grip.

Noah's voice carries urgency. "Let's get Lola out of here."

I swing the gun back to her mother's face, watching her flinch. Blood from her split lip drips onto her collar. "You're a piece of shit."

She laughs, the sound wet with blood. "Has she fed you the sob story that her mom was a drug addict and never cared about her, huh?" Her eyes go cruel in the darkness. "Did she tell you about all the times I'd rent her out for that drug money?"

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