Page 178 of On The Rocks

“How adorable. Big, brave Griffin. Always the peacemaker. Always the savior.” She lowered the gun to her side. “I don’t want to hurt you. Well, not much.” She snickered. “I mean, I’m going to kill the bartender. You have to be punished for what you did.”

I sucked in a breath, shifting Elmer in my arms to get my right hand free. “Why do I need to be punished?”

“Because, silly, you broke up the band.” She lifted the gun and pointed it at me. “It’s all your fault. You ruined everything!” Rage lit her perfect porcelain features, making them sharp and ugly. She pointed the gun at Lennon.

I couldn’t move fast enough, and the shot went off.

“No!”

“Relax.” She rolled her eyes. “I just needed to let out a little of my anger. You know I like shooting.” She touched the tip with her finger and her eyes lit with the pain from the heat of the muzzle. “Sorry about your couch though.”

I twisted to see Lennon, who was still out cold. A small bullet hole seared through the saddle-colored leather.

She walked toward me, her hips swaying in the skintight black catsuit. She used the muzzle of the gun to coast over her narrow hips. She was thinner than the last time I’d seen her—almost skeletal.

Evidently, stalking wasn’t good for the diet.

Her nearly white-blond hair was long and loose over her shoulders. The front was choppy as if she’d taken shears to it herself. But her eyes were absolutely flat.

My stomach dropped.

This wasn’t good at all.

I bent down and she snarled, “What are you doing?”

I toed Elmer’s bed. “Just want to set him down. He’s heavy.”

“Fine. He better stay quiet.”

The gun dug into my shoulder. I could still feel the heat from the last shot and the muzzle was going to leave a mark.

But she was too close for me to hide a quick hand in my pocket. The SOS function on my phone just needed a few quick taps.

I set Elmer down and stroked his head. “Be quiet for me, okay?”

“As if he knows what you’re saying.” She nudged me with the gun. “Go sit by your whore.”

“Stop calling her that.”

“Why? I did watch you fuck her in that club. Right out in the open in the outdoor patio. I had no idea you were so...” She trailed the gun down to my zipper. “Voyeuristic.”

I forced my breathing to even. I’d been trained to rescue people by the best people in the Navy. Maybe that’s why I’d been the diplomat in our fucked-up band. While I hadn’t used those nerves in a damn long time, I called on them now. I just needed to keep her talking.

Keep her calm.

“I love her.”

Irene sneered. “Please. What on earth is she going to do to keep you happy? We are built for the open road. New cities every other day.”

“This place makes me happy. She makes me happy.”

“For now.” She laughed and lifted my cock with the barrel of the gun. “We’re different. You’ll never be happy staying in some shithole orchard. Apples, for fuck’s sake? Are you serious?”

“You’ve been skulking around for weeks now. You know this place isn’t a shithole. It’s a thriving business.”

“I don’t want to hear it. You’re talking nonsense. All I have to do is take care of her.” She flicked my balls with the gun before she swung it back to Lennon.

I swore and it took everything in me to keep upright. “No, don’t touch her. If you do, I’ll never go back with you. Ever.”

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