Page 95 of Burned in Stone
“Please,” Maggie scoffs. “She’s a twenty-eight-year-old woman who spent a decade dancing professionally in New York City. She’s not some delicate flower.”
“She just got kidnapped,” Lee counters.
“And she’s upstairs holding her own against a man who’s got two foot and eighty pounds on her,” Maggie points out. “I think she’s doing just fine.”
That’s when we hear it. A soft thump against a wall. Then another. Then a rhythmic creaking.
“Oh my god,” Kya whispers.
“Is that…” Ginger starts.
“Yep,” Maggie says, not even trying to hide her satisfaction.
The thumping gets louder. More rhythmic. Then Emma moans—loud enough to carry down the stairs.
Stone’s face goes from confused to horrified to absolutely murderous in about three seconds flat. He lunges for the stairs, but Tank and Axel grab him.
“LET ME GO!”
“Boss, no?—”
“THAT’S MY DAUGHTER!”
“That’s a grown woman making her own choices!” Maggie blocks his path, surprisingly effective for someone a foot shorter than him.
“I’M GOING TO KILL HIM!”
“You’re going to do no such thing,” Maggie says firmly. “I don’t care if you are the president of this club. You will sit. down.”
Another moan from upstairs. Louder this time. More... enthusiastic.
Lee looks like he’s going to be sick. “I need to leave. I need to leave right now.”
Ginger giggles. “Good for them.”
“That’s it,” Maggie announces, clapping her hands like she’s herding kindergartners. “Everyone to the kitchen. Away from the stairs. Now.”
“But—” Stone starts.
“NOW, Boone Armstrong. If you go up there and embarrass that girl any further tonight, so help me god, I will make the rest of your life miserable. And you know I can.”
Stone’s face is doing something between rage and resignation as Maggie physically herds him toward the kitchen. The rest of us follow, because honestly, what else are we going to do? Stay here and listen to Emma and Bones work through their feelings in the most graphic way possible?
Cash pulls me into the kitchen. He’s fighting a grin. My lips twitch—after everything tonight, this is the most normal thing that could happen.
Ginger grabs Lee’s arm and sets him in a chair. “Come on, big brother. Let’s get you something strong to drink.”
“What about bleach? Can we bleach the memory out?”
I laugh at Lee’s expression, both traumatized and murderous. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”
“I’ll settle for forgetting tonight ever happened.” He downs the whiskey Ginger pours in one gulp. “My little sister. And Bones. Fucking Bones.”
“You know,” Cash says, “with a fight like that, I’d say this has been brewing for a while.”
“Keep talking and I’ll throw you through a wall,” Lee warns.
Stone’s pacing the kitchen, running hands through his hair. “I’m going to kill him, strip his patch. I gave him one job—keep an eye on her. Not—not?—”
