Page 167 of Pretty Wicked Secrets

Logan nods sharply, and pulls my hand off his chest… but before he drops it, his thumb rubs over the back of my hand in something a lot like a caress. Or a goodbye.

Chloe comes back downstairs, and the guys hustle the two of us into the Escalade, coordinating with the caravan of other vehicles that fill the driveway as we all head toward a part of town that makes me feel incredibly out of place.

“Here,” Chloe says, slipping something into my hand in the backseat of the Escalade.

I look down. It’s one of my favorite nose rings, the black faux-diamond skull that she always says makes me look badass.

I smile at her, and switch out the blue teardrop-shaped one for the skull. I slipped the blue one in yesterday, feeling sentimental, but she’s right. Now isn’t the time for that.

Logan pulls into a parking garage under a high-rise office building, a half dozen Reaper vehicles following us in and arraying themselves around the spot he parks in.

“Ready, princess?” Dante asks, turning to face me from the front passenger seat.

I squeeze Chloe’s hand and nod, but it’s only true because they’re going inside with me.

Maddoc speaks quietly into his phone, coordinating with his crew, and then finally gives us the go to head inside. A handful of his men accompany the five of us, and for a moment, a frisson of nerves twists my stomach into a knot. I’m not sure whether Maddoc actually expects there to be a problem here, or if these are just the kind of precautions he’s learned to take as leader of the Reapers, but I half expect to get turned away before we even get started.

Instead, the uptight-looking older woman seated behind a massive reception desk looks a bit taken aback when we walk in, but quickly rallies and shows us into the attorney’s office.

The estate administrator, a slim woman in an expensive suit, zeroes in on my skull mood ring the minute we walk in. “Ms… Sutherland?” she asks, a pinched look around her lips as she looks me up and down.

“Sutton,” I correct her, straightening my shoulders. “Riley Sutton.”

“I see. And you have documented evidence of your relationship to the Sutherland family?”

I’ve been so focused on what I’m losing here—leaving the Reapers behind and losing the connection I’ve found with these three men—that I honestly haven’t given much thought to all that I’m gaining. The well-masked distaste in her voice gets my hackles up, though. This is my birthright.Myinheritance. If she doesn’t like the fact that I’ve shown up to collect it looking the way I do, or in the company I choose to keep, then fuck her.

“Yes,” I say, staring her down. “We’ve got everything in order.”

And thanks to Logan, we do.

He lays it all out for her, answering question after question as she rifles through the paperwork he’s put together. Chloe keeps a hold of my hand, Maddoc and Dante flanking us on either side, and even though I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, the woman finally admits that everything checks out.

“I’ll need you to sign a few things,” she finally says to me, pushing a stack of papers across the desk toward me. I follow her directions, putting my signature in a dozen places while my heart tries to beat out of my chest…stillwaiting for the other shoe to drop.

But it doesn’t, and once all the paperwork is handled, she gives us instructions for accessing the money, and the meeting ends.

“That’s really it?” I whisper to Dante as we walk out.

He nods, one hand resting protectively on my back until we all shuffle back into the Escalade. He gets behind the wheel, and Logan takes the front this time while Maddoc slides into the back with Chloe and I, conferring with the other Reapers before giving Dante the signal to head out.

“That’s really it, princess,” Dante says as we exit the parking garage in the middle of a caravan of SUVs bristling with gang members. “The money is yours now. Once we get you to the safe house, you can—motherfucker.”

Whatever he was about to tell me I could do is cut off when a sleek silver car skids into the lane in front of us, cutting us off from the caravan of Reaper vehicles. Dante cuts the wheel hard to the left, taking the Escalade up onto the sidewalk to avoid a collision. It puts us parallel to the silver car, and I see its windows start to lower as Maddoc shoves me and Chloe down.

Then the other car opens fire.

49

DANTE

“Fuck,”I grit out, slamming on the brakes and throwing the Escalade into reverse.

Chloe screams from the back seat as muzzle fire breaks out from the silver Charger, and Logan lets out a string of vicious curses when my wheels jump over the curb, causing his phone to slip out of his hands.

I slam the Escalade back into drive and twist the wheel hard, skidding out as bullets thud into the side of the SUV. Two more cars roar up from behind us, and there’s no fucking time to figure out where the rest of our escort went because reinforced or not, the Escalade’s side panels aren’t going to hold up to the level of firepower bearing down on us for long.

“Go, go, go,” Maddoc yells, covering the girls in the backseat as I tear down a side street. “They’re fucking trying to isolate us.”

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