Page 120 of Queen of Anarchy (Dirty Broken Savages 2)

Ash and I follow, watching as Knox dumps the body on the floor and then cracks his knuckles. He’s got that caged animal energy going on, and it’s clear he’s as pissed as Gage. Ash has a watchful eye on me, protective and calm, even though it’s clear he’s angry too.

Priest comes over to me, and I can see rage burning in his clear blue eyes, mingling with the panic and pain. I remember what he said that night when they got me back from Julian, about how he was going to keep me safe and no one else could have me. It’s obvious this rattled him. He runs his hands over my body, not just to touch me but checking to make sure I’m okay.

“I just got grazed,” I tell him softly, turning my head to let him see the spot where the bullet just missed piercing my neck. The wound stings, but I can tell it’s not bad. It’ll be fine once I have a chance to clean it up and put something over it.

Priest lets out a heavy breath, like he’s been holding it in his lungs since the moment the shots started firing. “Okay,” he murmurs, still touching me. “Okay.”

I put one of my hands over his, trying to reassure him. “I’m just… shaken up. But I’m not hurt.”

He nods, and either that or the fact that we definitely have a more pressing issue lets him turn his attention back to the dead man on the floor.

“Okay,” Ash echoes, moving in closer so he can look down at the body. “I’ll say it, I guess. What the fuck just happened?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Gage replies, folding his arms. He looks down at the body too. I follow their lead and peer at it, examining the face.

It’s just a guy. Generic square jaw, dark hair cut close to his scalp. Big build, but not even close to being as built as Knox is. There’s nothing remarkable about him at all, and after looking him over, I lean back and shake my head.

“I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him before.”

I run through a mental list of everyone I’ve ever pissed off or tried to kill before, but nothing about this guy stands out at all. So whoever he is, he’s probably not the one who wanted me dead. He’s just a hired gun.

“So someone is trying to kill you by proxy,” Gage growls, echoing my thoughts. “But who?”

“I mean, I’ve made my fair share of people mad before,” I tell him. “But I usually clean up my messes. I don’t know who it could be this time.”

Ash pulls a coin out of his pocket and starts flipping it while he thinks. “Assuming they were only after River,” he says. “Then it seems like it has to be someone tied to Ivan or one of the other guys on her list, right? Maybe the same person who put Ivan’s body up on that pedestal.”

“Except we still have no fucking idea who that was.” Knox scrubs a hand over his jaw. “Do you think it’s Julian?”

“That wouldn’t make any sense.” Priest shakes his head.

I nod, poking gingerly at the raw patch of skin on my neck where the bullet grazed me. “Yeah. He did want me dead at one point, but now we have this deal in place. It’s better for him if I’m alive, right?”

“Right,” Priest confirms, glancing at the other Kings. “He needs her alive for it to go through, otherwise we’d definitely walk away. He doesn’t get anything out of her being dead. Keeping Hannah clearly doesn’t mean that much to him.” He looks back at me. “No offense.”

I shrug, because he’s right. Julian is willing to trade my sister in order for his sister to get married to a powerful player in Detroit, so it doesn’t really make sense to assume he’d try to kill me just to keep her. Because that would blow this whole wedding deal he’s got set up.

Gage tugs at his full lower lip and then blows out a breath. “So basically we have another fucking mystery on our hands. Someoneelsewith a motive we have no idea about, who could be anyone. We don’t know if they’re watching us or how much they know or what they want.”

“Yeah, that seems to sum it up,” Ash agrees. He flips the coin into the air and then catches it. “We’re going to have to be careful. Keep our heads down. We don’t know if this is one person or a group or what. We can’t take any chances.”

“Agreed,” Priest says. “We have to keep River safe. Whatever it takes.”

“No more leaving the house without one of us with you,” Gage tells me. “I know you can take care of yourself, but we’re not going to risk something happening.”

I nod, going along with his order. There was definitely a time when I would have pushed back against it and told them I’m not a fucking child who needs to be watched and guarded like I can’t defend myself. But now that I’m so close to getting Hannah back and so close to having things I never even knew I wanted, I don’t want to fuck it up.

And I don’t want any of them to get hurt in the crossfire. So it’s better to just stick together until we can figure out where this new threat came from and deal with it.

“I’ll get rid of the body,” Knox offers. He snorts, sounding pissed off. “If this one shows up on a goddamn piece of art somewhere, I’m gonna be pissed as fuck.”

“There’s nothing artistic about this one,” Ash jokes, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

Knox rolls his eyes and kicks at the body. “Yeah, because those chunks of Ivan St. James were so fucking aesthetically pleasing or whatever. I don’t think whoever’s doing this really gives a shit about art.”

He grabs a tarp and starts rolling the body in it, muttering under his breath as he goes. That’s how I can tell he’s mad as hell. Usually this kind of thing puts him in a better mood, not a worse one

Once it’s rolled up, he hefts the body over his shoulder and goes to dispose of it, and the rest of us go back upstairs.

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