Page 57 of Escape From Me

“Here.” Zeid bent down and took the zipper. “Breathe, little dove. It’s just a drug deal gone sideways.”

Drugs? Blowing out a breath, I looked down at my shoes.

“Uh, will these shoes work for a, well, whatever this is?” Really the question I didn’t ask was what happened if I needed to run?

“Shit, yeah. I’ll be right back, Zeid.” I heard what I had to guess were Cali’s footfalls as she ran and then the click of what I’d guess was the other door.

“Caspian, I am not staying here.”

I looked around my mountain of a man to see that Cas was pulling a similar jacket to mine away from Rylee.

“You are not going to risk your life for something stupid,” said Cas. Rylee yanked at the jacket again.

“Caspian, you are such a hypocrite. You can’t take one of us and not take the rest. Where you stupid men go, we should be able to go.”

Zeid’s fingers tickled against my skin as he grabbed my face and pulled my gaze to him.

“Do not go getting ideas in your head. We don’t put our women in danger for no reason. My gut tells me you are going to be key to getting out of this and sending daddy a little message.”

I took the helmet I noticed he was holding out for me.

“Who am I to argue? I just got here.”

I put the helmet on right as Cali appeared in front of me.

“You’re close to my size. These will be way better for kicking a man in the balls.”

I took the combat boots and shrugged. Something told me this wasn’t exactly a fashion show even if I could hear my mother’s disapproval like it was a ghost on the air.

“Here are socks too. Now, X, where’s my shit? I’m with Rylee. You don’t get to take the new girl here and leave us behind. We take care of each other.” Cali was already grabbing her jacket, and X had his hands up and was backing away from her.

“Fuck me,” Cas said. But instead of continuing to fight, he let the jacket go.

Zeid got the helmet tightened, the shield still up, and his finger hooked under the chin strap, keeping me from getting to the boots.

“You don’t play the hero. You don’t fucking look at anyone without my permission. This isn’t a game. Not like the judge.”

I could hear my own breathing in this damn helmet.

“Yes, sir. Now let me put these boots on. Just in case. I know deep down you’re secretly excited to see if my daddy paid for any good self-defense lessons. The answer is no. YouTube though? Okay, let’s hope I don’t have to try it out.”

He hadn’t let go of the helmet yet. The way his eyes burned into mine said I might have poked the bear.

“Don’t you dare.”

That was all he said before letting go of the helmet, but I was fairly certain we were far from done. Then again, I had zero idea what we were really doing right now.

One minute we’re talking about a wedding and the next I’m getting bulletproof armor.

I knelt down and slipped off the stupid heels and slid on the socks and boots. Cali at least had good taste and she was pretty close to my size. I would welcome having my own stuff, but I’d never had anything like sisters. The warmth that spread through me right now at how they shared clothes with me and now shoes. They did it all without so much as a question.

I never was one to believe in signs, but I felt like Zeid and his little family, gang lords and all, seemed more like a flashing neon sign that this was it. This was what I’d always wanted. Hell, needed. My father sure tried to scare me away from it all, but from this side of things I wouldn’t place money on him being a good guy.

I stood up and Zeid did something with my helmet before sliding the visor down and then, like the controlling male he was, he picked me up and carried me to his bike.

“Can you hear me, dove?”

I nodded as his voice came through clearly.

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