Page 62 of Duke
“Oh, hell fucking no you didn’t,” Bear grinds out.
It’s followed quickly by Mason’s shouted, “Get thefuckaway from her.”
And then Duke finishes my job, shoving his already off-balance and cursing father to the gravel of the parking lot. “Fuckingprick.Keep your goddamn hands to yourself. She’s not yours. She’s ours.” His eyes are a fiery blue now, rage spilling from him.
I put my hand on Duke’s arm to get his attention because I don’t want him to take this further. Instead, I step forward, towering over Tristan. My lip trembles, but not from fear—from anger. “I’m not yours to manhandle.” I shake my head, exhaling hard. “I won’t ever be. Keep your fucking filthy hands off me.”
A few minutes later, we’re all safe in the SUV and heading toward home. We’re quiet for the first several minutes as we struggle to wrap our minds around what’s just happened. I probably broke my stepfather’s nose. Went against his demands. It makes me slightly fearful of what’s to come. But I let my gaze slide from Duke to Mason, and then to Bear, knowing we’re in this together.
From the driver’s seat, Bear finally grits out, “Lennon, you good?”
“Yes, I’m okay. Duke?” I ask, biting my lip.
He blows out a breath. “I won a fight and pissed some people off. And I assisted in knocking my father on his ass.” He shoots me a teasing grin from over his shoulder. “Never been fucking better.”
My gaze slides to Mason, who’s been staring out the window since Duke put him in the back with me. He’d gotten strangely quiet almost immediately after Tristan tried to grab me.
“Mase—”
But before I can ask Mason what’s in his dark, twisted-up head, he grabs my hand, holding on tightly. “I’m so fucking sorry,” he whispers. “If I hadn’t—” He can’t even get the words out.
My brows dart together, and I turn in my seat to face him. “No. We’ve already discussed this. Don’t go there. You and I are the only people who need to know the specifics of what happened in that attic and why. Just because someone stole some photos doesn’t mean jack shit. You aren’t responsible for that.”
He lets his breath hiss out, and finally he shakes his head. “You’re one of a kind, Lennon.” A moment later, his mood shifts, and he snorts. “I can’t believe you punched him.”
I shrug, smiling. “Yeah… well. I guess that little move Bear taught me works.”
THIRTY-TWO
MASON
It’s so fuckingweird how one day can be so different from the next. We’ve attended classes the last two days like normal people who hadn’t left a couple assholes in a swamp or fucked their parents out of a lot of money over the weekend. There’s a stirring inside me that makes me think something is coming. My nerves jangle with the anticipation of it—like the calm before the storm. Like shit’s about to hit the fan.
Sooner or later, it will. I have no doubt about it.
Our peace—or at least mine—is shattered by a knock on the door mid Tuesday afternoon. I do a quick mental accounting of where everyone is before I open the door. Duke and Bear had been finishing up a late lunch in the kitchen when I left them. Lennon had gone upstairs to work on a Psych 101 assignment that’s due soon. She wanted a jump start on it since she doesn’t trust that things won’t go haywire around here again, and I can’t blame her.
I suck in a breath, hoping it’s not my— Shoot, what do I call him? My former father, I guess. My lips quirk, glad to not have to call him my dad anymore. I disarm the alarm, then glance out the window next to the door.Fuck me.Nope, not Murdock.
With a disgruntled groan, I throw open the door. Hunter stands on our front steps once again, smiling like a deranged lunatic, and rather than waiting for me to invite him in, he brushes past me, his big body easily moving me out of the way.
“What the fuck, man?” I raise my voice on purpose, which brings Bear and Duke from the kitchen in no time flat.
Hunter eyes them, then me. He’s strangely silent, like a viper choosing exactly the right moment to strike.
“What can we do for you, Hunter?” Duke’s blue eyes flash, and his teeth grind. He’s never liked Hunter, and he makes no move to disguise that fact now.
“Young Valentine. I hear congrats are in order.” His brows go up a fraction as if he thinks Duke will somehow be accepting of the fake-as-fuck praise he’s doling out.God, I’m glad I’m only related to him with half my genes. Must be the half that he gets from his dad that makes him such an ass.
Duke stares stonily at him. “Yeah, whatever. What are you doing here?”
“I was hoping we could discuss the grunts. I want to talk about how they’re faring now that a couple of weeks have passed. Could you get them down here to speak with me?”
My eyes connect with Duke’s, then Bear’s in an attempt to communicate that I’ve got this one. Thankfully, they hear me loud and clear, letting me take the lead. “’Fraid not.” I shrug, eyeing him shrewdly. I’m one hundred percent sure he doesn’t know where the fuck their little spies have gotten off to, and because he’s been in charge of their devious actions, I bet he’s freaking the fuck out. “They’re tied up at the moment.” I almost laugh at my unintended pun, but catch myself, scraping my teeth over my lip instead as I study him. “I tell you what,halfbrother. You can wait for them. Should be back soon from the errand we sent them on. You want a beer? We have plenty we should probably discuss anyway, right?”
He throws his head back, chuckling in a way I find disturbing. “Yeah. Sure.” While he’s busy laughing, I turn and mouth one word to Bear, hoping like fuck he understands what I want.
“I’ll get the beer,” Bear grunts. “Duke, hang with them. I’ll be right there.”
