Page 49 of Unhinged Cravings
She glanced over her shoulder, terror in her eyes before she sped up. I pushed harder as she gained on the woods. Just as the woods swallowed her, I reached out and snagged her arm. She tumbled, and I went down with her, trying to pin her under me. Nails scratched, punches flew, and I remembered how she had disabled her stepfather. Pinning her flailing legs with mine, I tried to make sense of what she was screaming.
“You won’t kill me, damn it. I’ll fight you. I won’t stop.”
“Ava, I’m not going to kill you.”
She fought harder, and I had to give her credit. She was strong, her hits calculated, and it took all my skill to block them until I captured her wrists and pinned them to her sides. Still, she struggled, her body bucking, her mouth continuing to spew swears and insistences that I was planning to kill her.
“Ava, stop fighting me. I won’t hurt you.”
“You’re going to kill me,” her voice broke, her fight simmering. She looked exhausted. Her skin was flushed and her eyes wild.
“I promise you, I have no intention of killing you.”
Her chestnut eyes searched mine. “But you said…I heard you tell Pack.”
“Were you listening to my conversation, wildcat?”
Sight flitting from mine, then back, she said, “You told him you would kill me.”
I sighed. “It was a lie.”
Her muscles went slack, and I rolled from her, resting my head on the ground. “Don’t run,” I told her. “If you go any further, you’ll lose a foot, or worse. The woods have traps.”
She made a strange squeak but didn’t move.
I ran my hand through my hair. “I have a reputation to uphold, but it’s crumbling.” Admitting the truth was easier than I’d thought.
She still hadn’t run and remained where she was.
“A few years ago, I discovered a few of my men were running a trafficking ring and disguising it as part of the Omens. Like it wasmy ring, and I was in charge. They’d been doing it for years, right under my nose. I’d always wondered where those rumors came from, but I’d never imagined they had substance.”
She rolled toward me. “Wait, you don’t traffic women and children.”
“Fuck no,” I said. “I despise scum that get into that shit. I have a line I don’t cross.”
Irises of chocolate penetrated mine. “But everyone thinks?—”
“Because I let them. I founded the Bad Omen on blood and death. My reputation is the most ruthless of any of the bosses, and I like it that way. People react better to me if they fear me. The rumor was there, and I didn’t stop it. But I tried to stop the instigators. It was a brutal fight, and I lost five men that night.”
She stayed quiet, letting me spill the secret that only Pack and Breaker knew.
“They slipped away, and we lost them. I thought that was the end of it until they resurfaced about two years ago. Only, I can’t locate them. Their leader, Henley, is using the training we gave him and hiding too well. They’re taunting me, luring my newer men away, slowly dismantling my empire, pretending to be me while fucking up because they aren’t me.”
“All the stuff in Armina? With Riley?” she asked.
“None of it was me.” I rubbed my face. “Clint Randall was one of the originals who broke from me. He was an idiot. Sloppy and one mistake away from a bullet in his head. He knew it and left when the others fled. I don’t step into my brother’s territory. And It’s been years since I’ve bothered taking over another family. I don’t give a shit about the families in Armina as long as they continue to fear me. But these imbeciles are out there stirring up trouble, trying to turn enough families against me that there’s no way for me to fight my way out.”
She chewed her lip, her eyes keen. “That’s why you wanted to kidnap Riley? To force your brother to talk to you?”
“Yeah. We’ve hated each other for so long that when we dotalk, it’s quick and heated. I need him to hear me because these assholes are ruining my reputation.”
“And threatening your empire?”
“Yes,” I turned toward her. “But it’s not just what I’ve built. There are people who count on me. Jill, my men. The cities in my territory benefit from my businesses. People work in those establishments. I put back into my territory, donate, invest in it even if no one knows it’s me.”
“And what if your brother doesn’t help you?”
I cringed at the word help, hating that it had come to this. That my hands were tied, and I had resorted to begging my brother for help.
