Page 8 of Playing with Fire

"Who sent you to break into my house?" He was drunk. I had lots of experience with drunken men, which usually didn't end well for me. He stepped into my personal space. "Who?" He knew who. I shook my head. If he expected me to say a name out loud, I knew better than to play this game. He might slap me around, but if I told him anything, Noah would kill me, cut my body into tiny pieces, and feed me to the dogs.

Closing in, he pinned me to the wall, pressing his body into mine, one hand tight on my waist, fingers digging into the sensitive skin, and the other around my throat, forcing my face up to his. His face pressed against mine.

I was used to being manhandled. This wasn't the kind I was used to, though. He wasn't hurting me. Pain wasn't what I felt; it was something else. Something that made my stomach flutter. Something I knew better than to feel.

"You're going to tell me," he whispered against my lips.

"Snitches get stitches," I hissed, not bothering to fight against him.

"You know what bitches get?"

"Fucked!" Maverick cackled from the living room. "We fuck bitches?" My body tensed slightly at the words but immediately relaxed when Christian rolled his eyes and released me with a groan. He wasn't going to force himself on me.

"I really need to go," I said. I didn't need to go, but I didn't want to be there anymore. There was no one waiting at home for me. They didn't care whether I came home unless Noah had dirty work he needed me to do.

"Link, take Harper home."

"No," I snapped, throwing my hand up and pressing my palm flat against his bare chest. His eyes blinked from my hand to my mouth and back to my eyes. Dropping my hand, I braced for impact, unsure whether I would take a hit to the face for touching him. I knew he wasn't mad when the corners of his mouth turned up. He was something else, but I wasn't sure what. "I'll walk." I didn't want them anywhere near my dilapidated single-wide trailer.

"It's eight miles," Christian said. "Link will take you." I opened my mouth to protest but realized it was pointless. He would put me in the truck if I didn't get in it.

So, I sucked it up and followed Lincoln to his truck.

"So, what's the real deal with you and the Villa Boys," Lincoln asked once he swerved into traffic.

"I don't know what you mean," I rolled my eyes.

"You obviously belong to them, but they don't stand up for you when we are harassing you right in front of them. It's weird."

"I do not belong to them." I clenched my teeth. "I don't belong to anyone. I'm not a piece of property."

"Okay." He leaned forward, looking both ways before surging toward forward. "That still doesn't answer my question."

I didn't know how to answer his question. The Villa Boys believed I belonged to them but didn't care what happened to me. They never had. Probably because I didn't fall in line like the other Villa Girls. I didn't willingly participate in anything they were involved in. I didn't want to. I didn't even want to be associated with them, but that wasn't my choice.

"Do you do everything Christian tells you to?" I asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Yeah, when he asks real nice." His tone was filled with sarcasm and humor. "Which house is yours?"

"You can just drop me off here."

"Christian said to take you home." His gaze flicked from the road to me.

"Well, lucky for you, I don't follow Christian's orders." I grabbed the door handle. "So, please stop so I can get out." I didn't want him anywhere near my house not to mention I didn't know what Noah would do if a Valley Boy dropped me off at my house.

He didn't stop.

"Pull over," I ordered. "Or I'll jump."

"You wouldn't," he challenged.

"Try me." I started pulling on the handle, saying a silent prayer that he'd stop and I wouldn't have to jump.

"Okay, okay." He eased the truck to a stop. "You know this is a bad neighborhood to be walking by yourself at night, right?"

I opened the door and slid out. "I live with the devil, so I think I'll be okay." His mouth opened, but I slammed the door shut and bolted into the shadows, where I waited until he was gone.

Chapter 6

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