Page 34 of Slaying for Santa
“The fuck do the Serpents want with a kid, mate?” Wesbarks, following me out of the security room as I storm back through the garage and into my house.
“The Serpents don’t have an interest in Libs,” I sneer. “Carlos does. He’s been licking their boots, trying to climb the fucking ranks.”
“Wait… Carlos, as in Rhonda’s drug bag cousin?” Wes asks, and I nod as we step into the kitchen, my eyes automatically finding Bell, who is sitting at the kitchen bench, watching Colt lay out six laptops on the dining table.
“Yep. Rhonda got carted out of here by the cops last night,” I explain, moving to the table to open my laptop. “My guess is her one call was to her gangster cousin.”
As I boot up the device, a quiet lull washes over the room, and I glance up to see my team staring at Bell.
“What?” she snaps, and I’d smirk if I wasn’t so fucking worried about my little girl.
“Who are you and why are you here?” Kade snaps, always the fucking prick.
I’m about to open my mouth to tell him to fucking check himself, but Bell beats me to it.
“I’m none of your fucking business. That’s who I am.”
This time, I can’t fucking hide my smirk.
“Guys, this is Bell. Tillie’s best friend,” I explain, and Colt walks by her, giving her a nod. The kind of nod that could mean hi, or I’ll kill you later.
That’s about as social as Colt gets, so I’m impressed he gave her that much.
“Shit. Weren’t you like a goth girl or something?” Wes smirks with his signature shit-eating-grin that has most people wanting to smack it right off his face, as he leans against the counter and he looks Bell up and down. “All black eyeliner and misery?”
Thank fuck the corners of Bell’s lips kick up, taking no offense.
“I seemy reputation precedes me.” Her dark eyes flick to me. “You been telling your buddies about me, Kitty?”
I stiffen at the nickname as the guys fucking chuckle.
“Yeah-nah. He’s kept you all to himself.” Wes winks. “But I remember you from his wedding. When our fearless leader made the biggest mistake of his life and married the chick he knocked up.”
“Hey!” I snarl, shooting Wes a fucking glare. “It was worth it for Libi.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He waves me off with a lazy flick of his wrist, his attention fixed on Bell. “Still… you were what? Sixteen? Seventeen?”
I can’t help but sneak a glance at Bell to see if our age difference is going to be a fucking issue. There’s nearly a decade between us. Nothing too fucking far-fetched, but still noticeable.
“Were you checking me out back then?” Bell crosses her arms over her chest and raises a dark brow at Wes. “Because I was sixteen at that wedding. Past the age of consent, but still, dude… that’s creepy.”
Wes’s mouth drops open, and he can’t string a fucking sentence together.
“What? I… shit.”
Kade, aka Bruiser, bursts out laughing. “Oh, mate. She’s got you good.”
“Remind me to put ‘verbal injuries’ on your file.” Garrick, otherwise known as Doc, snorts.
“Tragic.” Julian smirks from behind his laptop. “The great Wildcard taken down by a teenage memory.”
My eyes flick to Colt, wondering if the Ghost of our team has something to add, but all he offers is a slight twitch of his lips.
“Bell, we have some work to do,” I mutter, shooting the guys a pointed look before they stop staring and move over tothe table. “You’re welcome to use my suite if you want to watch some TV.”
Bell scoffs. “Unlikely. I want to find Libi too, you know.”
“I know, but this stuff is… well…” I glance around my team, huffing out a breath. “Not exactly legal.”
