Page 56 of Burning Bridges

I glare at him. We both know who screwed things up between our families, and it wasn’t me and Tony. “What’s in the book?”

He smirks, and I already know he’s not going to tell me, it was just a tease. He wanted to show me he has something he knows I want. That he is smarter than me and more equipped to take over this town.

I take another step away from him. He lunges at me, trying to grab me again, but I make a run for the door, trying to slam it in his face as I go. I run down the hall to the opposite side of the house where my bedroom is, making it before he has time to catch me. He might be larger and full of muscle, but I’m faster, and I know this house inside and out. I’m able to make it inside my room before he catches up with me. I slam the door shut and lock it. Knowing the cheap lock will only hold for so long, I drag over a chair and shove it under the handle, trying my best to buy me some time. If I’m going to beat him, I need to get out of here.

I jump up on my bed, throwing the painting off the wall and grabbing the shoe box inside. The money I leave behind this time, it’s no use to me anymore. The pistol I grab, tucking it inside my waistband. This place may have been a living hell for me once, but I refuse to die here at the hands of a psychopath like Kylo King while I watch him destroy my town. I repeat this like a mantra as I run through my room.

Shots go off, this time inside the house, bullets flying through the door of my room. I slide into the bathroom, locking that door behind me as well. As I try to catch my breath, I glance out the window, wondering just how secure the perimeters really are. From this room, I can see one guard standing facing the road. He’s the only person I can spot, and if I’m quiet, there is no way he will see me coming from this angle. I need to give it a try. It’s better than staying in here and waiting to see what plans Kylo has for me. I shove open the small window.

An explosion sounds from behind me, and I glance back over my shoulder, wondering if that was my door being blown off its hinges. Because that is what it sounded like. “Princess, you know how I like these games. It’s only going to make it even more fun when I catch you,” he teases, his voice sounding way too close for my liking.

Yeah, he’s through the first door. I squeeze through the window and land softly on the grass below. The guard has turned around, probably to see what all the noise was inside the house, but he can’t see me where I’m tucked away. I have escaped this house many times before when it was heavily guarded. I know exactly where to go, but with the guard right there, it’s going to be difficult.

I hide in the rose bush, feeling the thorns scratching up my arms, but right now I don’t care. I know it’s the only way I will be able to take this guy out without him seeing me. I aim the gun and take a shot, hitting him right between the eyes. He crumples to the ground. It's moments like this I thank Tony for the silencer he had fitted to my handgun. It might not have been completely silent, but it was quiet enough that it hasn’t drawn any attention to me.

Tony. I had gotten used to the idea he was still out there somewhere. And now that I know he’s not really, I don’t know what to think. Part of me is glad he wasn’t the monster I thought he was starting to become. He might have been crazy, but he loved me and protected me until the day he died.

I move around the front of the bush, hearing the bathroom door crash in. “Fucking little bitch, where are you?” Kylo yells, not loving the game so much anymore, but he is right fucking behind me. The only thing saving me is I know there is no way he can fit through that tiny bathroom window, so unless he has some way of blowing it up, I will have time to get out of here before he catches me.

The perimeter fence isn’t far from me, and I hurry toward it. Making myself as invisible as I can, I lean into the bushes, feeling for the hole I created fifteen years earlier. No one else knew it was there, so lucky for me, it still exists. I squeeze my way through the wire and come out the other side, looking both ways before I attempt to leave the safety of my shrubbery hiding space. Like I thought, Kylo's men are as dumb as my father's were, and they don’t patrol this part of the fence. I make a run for it, disappearing behind the black van the boys traveled here in, parked on the opposite side of the road. I find Jett squatting down behind it with a pistol in his hand.

“That was impressive,” he says, surprising me. “I mean, I had your back if you needed me, but you clearly didn’t.”

I’m panting like a dog trying to catch my breath. Adrenaline rushes through me, making me dizzy. I got away from him. “Tell the rest of them to get out of there. Kylo has taken over the house. It’s not Tony,” I get out between sucking in deep breaths of air so I don’t pass out, as much as I might want to.

“Yeah, we heard what he said. Leo wasn’t leaving until you were out of there. I told them you sorted it out yourself.”

“Thanks,” I say, finding it hard to believe this man who clearly hated me only a few days ago is happy to save my life just because his brother instructed him to.

The van door slides open and Kobe smiles toward me, offering me a hand to help me in. “Where’s Leo?” I ask them, panicked that he went in after me and knowing if Kylo finds him, he will kill him. That’s what he wants, after all.

Jett jumps in the front, starting the engine. “We can pick him up around the corner.” Jett flies up the road, stopping one house over from mine. Out of nowhere comes Leo, gun drawn. He cuts in front of the van then around to the side where Kobe slides open the door, and Leo hops in alongside us, just in time for Jett to take off again. Kobe pushes his way up front to sit with Jett, leaving me alone in the back with Leo.

It all happened so quickly. I don’t have time to process what happened until I feel Leo take hold of my arms, looking me over, I guess for any signs of injuries. I can’t help but do the same with him, needing to know he is still in one piece. He looks unharmed. “How the hell did you get out of there alive?” he asks.

“It’s not the first time I've escaped that house fully guarded,” I admit with a shrug. He pulls me toward him, and I can feel the way his hands tremble. Big brave Leo Rivera was afraid he had lost me back there.

“When we heard the audio, I thought the worst,” he admits.

“I know,” I tell him, letting him hold me tightly to his chest. For a second, I thought my fear of Kylo would paralyze me again, but the desire to escape was so much stronger. I’m not a scared kid anymore, and I won’t let him have any power over me. He might think he picked an easy target to play with, but he is wrong. And he has messed with me for the last time.

As we drive away, sadness washes over me. My brother really is gone. I feel so stupid for believing Kylo for all this time, but he made it all sound so real. How did he know so much about me and how I would react to my brother? It’s unnerving. Tony really did do what he told me he would and got Kylo locked up. He was always on my side, and now I need to make sure Kylo pays for everything he’s put me through.

Something clicks in my brain, and I know exactly what we need to do. Leo said Jett has taken on a young guy as a part of his security team, who used to work for the Kings. He’s our key to all of this. “Jett, do you think your new little friend might have some idea where Kylo is manufacturing Euphoria?”

In the rear-view mirror, I see the way his brow rises. He’s listening and is actually ready to take me seriously. “Possibly. What do you have in mind?”

“I want to hit Kylo where it hurts the most. He’s been messing with all of us for months. He thinks he has some sort of control over this town, and I want to prove he’s got nothing. I say we blow up his warehouse.”

Kobe looks back over his shoulder. “Why do you Acevedos always want to blow everything up? We should just leave an anonymous tip for our new pal Detective Reader. Let him take care of Kylo.”

I shrug, thinking my idea is perfectly fitting for the asshole who has been trying to destroy my life. “Even if he was charged and locked up, do you really think just taking Kylo out of the picture will put a stop to what the Kings are doing? I’m sure his little brother Liam will happily take his brother’s place.”

Leo's lips draw up in a smirk. “This time, I think she might have a point. We blow up all his haul and he has nothing left to sell on our streets. It will cost him a fortune and give him a bad name with anyone who is waiting on product. He’ll be hurting in a way he’s never known. He'll be begging the authorities to lock him up again.”

“Precisely,” I agree with him, planting a kiss on his lips, enjoying how well our minds work when we put them together.

“You two are fucking scary when you team up. I wouldn’t want to be on your bad side,” Kobe says, looking between us.

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