Page 3 of Gambit
“No!” I say, gripping him by his shirt and slamming him back against the wall. “Don’t. Don’t fucking say that. Eliza can handle herself until we get to her, or she makes her way back to us,” I remind them, more for my own sake than theirs. “She’s not a fucking damsel.”
“Doesn’t mean she isn’t in danger,” Raphael counters, eyes dark with worry.
“Then we find out who’s behind this, and we tear them apart,” I growl, letting him go. “Nobody touches what’s ours. Nobody takes Eliza and gets away with it.”
“Too fucking right,” Raphael spits out. “We’ll burn the world down to get her back.”
The townhouse door slams open, and Lucas strides in, urgency carved into every line of his face. He doesn’t waste a second on pleasantries.
“What have you got?” Raph asks, striding back into the Entrance Hall as his informant makes his entrance like an asshole.
“When did you call him?” I ask, but I don’t expect an answer. Raph is on a mission. We all are.
Lucas holds an envelope out.
Raphael steps forward, snatches it, and tears it open, pulling out a couple of photos. His face goes hard, dark, like he’s seen something that makes him want to kill.
“What is it?” I ask, dreading the answer.
He holds it up for me to see, and my stomach drops.
“Shit,” Oliver mutters under his breath, peering at it. “That’s interesting.” He turns his head to the side as he takes in the pornographic screenshot.
It’s of Raph and me railing an older woman two years ago when we first got to Castle University with attitudes that were definitely less refined than what we have now. Which is saying a lot.
“Who is it?” James asks, plucking the printed screenshot out of Raph’s grip and staring at it.
“Professor Franks’ wife,” I grit out.
“Ah,” Oliver murmurs and twists his lips into a ‘yikes’ type expression.
“Yeah,” I mutter. “Fuck. Fuck! Do you think Franks has Eliza?”
“Maybe,” Lucas says. “Eliza knows about this pic. I gave it to her as proof that I had info and that she needed to listen to me.”
“You gave this to Eliza?” Raph asks in disbelief.
“Look, I heard rumblings that someone was looking for payback on The Kings. I went to Eliza wanting to form an alliance, but I didn’t have a name yet.”
“You should’ve come tous!” Raph yells so loudly that the windows rattle.
“I already have an alliance with you. How would that have helped me?” Lucas asks bluntly, not giving a crap that we are drowning without Eliza.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Raph roars and spins to walk away so he doesn’t smash Lucas in the face. I, on the other hand, have no such qualms about losing a trusted informant, so I step forward, fist ready.
Ollie pulls me back. “Don’t. We need him to tell us what else he’s got.”
“Who else knows about these?” I ask, voice low, forcing the words out through teeth gritted to keep my composure.
“Only us here and Eliza.” Lucas’s eyes are hard, like flint striking steel, ready for the firestorm.
“And Franks, obviously,” I murmur.
“Looks like we’ve got our vendetta,” James says, a storm brewing in his eyes as he stares down at the photos.
“We need to find her,” I say, my heart racing with fear and fury. “Before Franks realises he’s kicked a hornet’s nest.”
“Already on it,” Lucas says, ready to disappear into the shadows again.
