Page 32 of Pretty Dark Vows

“No,” Maddoc answers without turning around. “If you tell us where you live, I’ll send someone by to grab a few things, but we’re not chauffeuring you around.”

No, they’re fucking kidnapping me.

I glare at the back of Maddoc’s head, and next to me, Dante chuckles.

“We’ll make sure you have what you need,” he murmurs, his body heat burning into my side as he slings an arm over the back of the seat behind me.

“All I need is help getting Chloe back,” I whisper, stiffening my spine and pulling away. But Logan is right there on my other side, both of them taking up too much space, and there’s nowhere to go.

Dante’s leg brushes against mine, and I jerk my eyes up to meet his, unsure if the contact was deliberate or not.

Banked fire burns in his eyes when he glances down at me, a contrast to the bland, indifferent expression he wore in the bar when he told his two friends about our hookup. For a split second, my body reacts to the way he’s looking at me, a rush of remembered heat pouring through my veins.

It feels impossible that I fucked him less than twenty-four hours ago. Honestly, it feels like an entirely differentlifetime. Nothing is the same now. Everything is so much more complicated. So much more dangerous.

I look away, pulling all my limbs in tight and trying not to notice that Logan has his eyes on me too.

These two are like fire and ice, and I don’t know how to handle being sandwiched between them.

Logan’s face is set in a cold, hard mask that doesn’t take away from his sleek good looks but does absolutely terrify me. I have no idea what I did to make him hate me so much, or what kind of bullshit he’s sitting there assuming about me, but while I have no doubt that any of these three men would kill me without a second thought if they uncovered something to make them doubt me, Logan is the only one who looks like he might actually enjoy it.

I suppress a shiver and do my best to pretend neither one of them exists until we finally pull up in front of a surprisingly nice house in a neighborhood I never would have pegged as the home of the Reapers. These guys are clearly doing well for themselves. Not that surprising, I guess, based on rumors about their gang’s activity.

Maddoc pulls into the driveway, and I glance around as the three of them lead me into the house.

The entryway is clean and bright, with nice lighting and a broad stairway leading up to the second story. But the windows look like they’ve been reinforced to be bulletproof, the doorway we walked through has an industrial style lock, and off to the right in what’s probably supposed to be a living room, I’m pretty sure I see a gun lying on the coffee table.

Panic rises up in a sudden wave as the lock on the door clicks into place behind us. I’m on the Reapers’ home turf, in their inner sanctuary, and I’m sure they’re not going to let me leave until they’re good and ready.

Shit. What the hell am I doing here?

I whirl to face Maddoc, trying to keep the fear from showing on my face as I cross my arms over my chest. “Okay, I did what you wanted. Now start working on getting my sister out.”

He raises his eyebrows, seeming surprised by my sudden outburst, but I don’t stop. I can’t. All of my panic is pushing at the inside of my chest, demanding that I dosomething. I need to make sure the risk I took was worth it.

“Now,” I insist. “I came with you. You’ve got me. Now give me your word you’ll help me.”

Dante hums under his breath, and Logan’s eyes narrow. The two of them have been flanking Maddoc, and now they each step forward at an angle, surrounding me roughly between three large bodies.

“That’s not the way this is going to go, butterfly,” Maddoc murmurs. “You’re not the one calling the shots here. If we help you—and like I told you, that’s still up for debate—we’ll work to get your sister out on our own time, doing it our own way.”

“She’s my sister. I get a say in—”

“No.” He cuts me off. “You don’t.”

“Listen—”

“No,” he repeats, a hard edge to his voice this time. “And if you want that help you keep begging us for, then you’ll shut your damn mouth unless I ask you to open it. Or maybe we’ll change our minds about even considering giving you our help.”

My stomach feels like it drops right out of my body. An acidic, coppery taste coats the back of my tongue as bitter disappointment edges out the fear churning inside me.

“I should have known,” I mutter, shaking my head in disgust. “You’re too fucking scared of West Point to actually go after them. Is that it? Then I’ve got no reason to be here. Either promise me you’ll help me go up against Austin McKenna or let me go, because—”

“Strip.”

“I—what?”

He didn’t even yell, but the single word almost knocks me off my feet. Those cloud-gray eyes of his burn a hole right through me, and even though he hasn’t made a move, I flinch.

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