Page 33 of Prettiest Little Thief
Before I could even get to my feet, loud voices came from behind the door of the hallway. My eyes widened. What if Lucas had been gunned down and I was next? My heart started to pound in my chest, and the spots in my vision started to spread. The door flung open.
Charles was shoved into the room, followed by a livid Lucas. The gun in his hand pressed against the Crimson leader’s back. Fox trailed right behind them with several other men in tow. None of them I recognized.
“What’s taking so fucking long?” Lucas screamed. His handsome face contorted into a mask of rage.
“She’s here, Mr. Knight.” Evan stepped aside. Lucas’s gaze landed on me, and for a moment, his face fell. The hardened,kickass expression was wiped clean off of his face. And just as quickly as it came, it went.
“Who the fuck did this to her?” he growled. The mask of fury settled back into place.
No one answered. Charles stood with his hands slightly raised, glaring at me and Evan as if it was our fault Lucas held a gun to him.
“Answer me!” Lucas yelled.
Evan took a step toward him. “Rocco. Rocco did it.” Color me surprised once again. Evan was giving up his partner. The need to cry rushed back, but I swallowed the urge.
Lucas didn’t move his crystal blue eyes from me. He scanned my battered face and body. “Bring him to me.” Evan didn’t hesitate and strode past the men that crowded the space.
Seconds ticked into minutes. No one spoke. No one moved. And even when the ding of the elevator arriving sounded, the entire room was quiet. Only the sounds of approaching footsteps and fabric rustling bled into the space.
Rocco entered before Evan. The sneer dropped from his round face when he saw the gun Lucas held. “Boss?”
“Did you do this to her?” Lucas nodded his head in my direction. His jaw clenched tightly.
“Who the fuck are you?” Rocco’s bad guy persona was on display. That’s right, question the guy with the gun. I rolled my eyes.
“It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is I asked you a god damn question, and I want the fucking answer. Now.”
“Answer him, Rocco, you fucking idiot,” Charles snapped.
“Yeah. I beat the bitch. What of it?” Rocco cracked his knuckles like he was preparing for a fight. Without a moment’s hesitation, Lucas pointed the gun at Rocco and fired. The sharpsound of the pistol unloading caused me to shriek and cover my ears. Rocco’s scream followed, and his leg buckled. He fell to the floor and grabbed his knee. Lucas fired again. Evenly distributing a bullet into his other knee. Rocco’s wails of agony continued as Lucas motioned for Fox to take his position, holding his own gun at Charles. I dropped my hands from my ears.
Lucas took several steps toward Rocco and squatted in front of him. He placed the tip of the pistol beneath his jaw, his other tattooed arm dropped to rest on his knee. Rocco rocked back and forth with tears streaming down his face. “Call this your lucky day. Since I don’t want Roe to witness your murder, I’m considering this as a warning. If you ever…everlay hands on what’s mine again, I’ll hang you up by your balls and bleed you out in front of your family. Understood?”
Rocco was shaking, and blood pooled underneath him. In his shock, he couldn’t answer. His mouth hung open as he cried from the pain of having his kneecaps blown off. Lucas pressed the gun harder into Rocco’s chin.
“Understood?” Lucas ground out. Teeth bared in a feral expression.
“Yes… yes. Oh god. My knees.”
Lucas removed the weapon from his target and pulled back up into his full height again. All muscles and brawn. A freaking hero. My freaking hero.
He prowled toward me, kneeling in front of me. His frown softened as he took me in. “Are you okay, little thief?” He gently brushed a knuckle along my uninjured cheek. Trying to push the fluttering down in my belly that his touch elicited, I gave him a subtle nod and licked my dry lips. “Then let’s go home.”
Chapter Nineteen
Monroe
Lucas refused to let me walk through the house of the Crimson leader.
He scooped me up into his big, tattooed arms as if I weighed nothing. With no more energy to hold my head up, it lolled to the side and right into his muscled chest. The scent of him surrounded me, and my heart settled into a soft rhythm. Anxiety fled and consciousness waned.
I heard the voices of men around me as Lucas carried me to the car. I could have sworn Raf was one of the deep timbres that circled around me. But that couldn’t be right. Raf didn’t know Lucas.
He had saved me. Never in a million years would I have thought Lucas Knight would rescue me. And in doing so, it led to a ton of questions that muddled my thoughts. Uncertainty skittered through me that I didn’t really know who the grumpy business owner was.
What I did know was he shot Rocco without remorse for hurting me. And he called me…his.
Maybe I was overthinking it. Maybe I was so dazed from the brutal attack from Rocco that he had never even said it. That had to be it. Because Lucas hated me.
