Page 114 of As Thick As Thieves

“Stone!” I screamed, slamming my fists against the door to try and draw attention. “Cruz!” I kept pounding on the door, screaming all their names until Owen yanked me away, holding a gun to my head. I froze, sobbing as he watched me through tear-filled eyes.

“Don’t do this to us, baby. They don’t love you, I do. I’ve always looked after you, haven’t I? When your dad hurt you, or when you needed an escape? I never would’ve let you get hurt in that explosion. I’d planned on taking you, and blowing it up once Drake got in to chase after me, but then Knox showed up.” He reached for my pants and I flinched, the gun pressing against my head more. “I can take it all away. I can call you Penn today, okay? Would that help? You can learn your new name later.”

“Please, don’t touch me,” I begged, the safety clicking off on his gun and making me whimper.

“Stop fighting this. We can start fresh. I can cut that thing out of your arm, and we can have lots of babies and get married, just like we were supposed to. Take your pants off.” I shook my head, but he waved the gun at me with a scowl, losing his temper. “Take them off!”

My hands shook as I reached for the waistband, nausea twisting inside my stomach as I did as he said. “Owen—”

“I love how you say my name,” he breathed, pulling his shirt off while keeping the gun trained on me. “Go on, now the shirt. Put on a little show for me.” He put more space between us, but I felt even more trapped as I removed my torn shirt, leaving me in nothing but my bra and panties. This wasn’t the guy I’d fucked to take my mind off things, the gentle guy who’d been worried about hurting me the first time we’d had sex despite me not being a virgin. This was a psychopath who was locked in some kind of self-made reality where the past clashed with the present.

“Can’t we talk about this first?” I asked quietly, trying to stall him.

“No. Take the rest off.” His jaw was set hard, his patience completely gone. “Penelope, take it the fuck off, or I’ll cut it off you.”

“I’ll never love you,” I whispered, his face falling. “I love them.”

He snarled, starting to pace the room again, but he suddenly shook his head, pointing the gun at me. “If I can’t fucking have you, then neither can they. They don’t even love you! I’d never share you with my friends like you’re a cheap whore! You’re a queen, you’re supposed to be cherished!”

I was going to die in my fucking underwear thanks to a psychopath. What Emily had seen in him, I’d never know, but the more he talked, the more I realized she’d probably felt trapped with him, and that was why she’d chosen death. It was the only way to escape his chains.

“Just let me go.”

“I can’t,” he said through gritted teeth, taking a calming breath as all the emotion vanished from his face again. “I’m sorry, Emily. I won’t let them have you.”

I squeezed my eyes shut as he steadied his aim, but they flew open again as the door was kicked in, and someone hurtled towards me. A scream left me as the gun went off multiple times, pain slicing across my arm as someone wrapped their arms around me like a shield.

Shouting filled the room, but all I heard was Stone’s voice in my ear, soothing me.

“I’ve got you, Princess.” He kept repeating it as if to convince me, but after a moment, he started leaning on me, his words slurring.

“Stone?” I asked with worry, pulling back to see how pale he was. “Stone!”

I wrapped my arms around him to try and hold him up, my hands getting covered in blood from his back. He choked, leaning on me harder as he fought to stay on his feet. He was hurt, badly.

“I love you. Even if you don’t believe me,” he mumbled, a loud sob leaving me.

“Don’t you fucking dare! Don’t you—” Cruz was suddenly there, helping get Stone on the ground.

“Baby, give me your shirt,” he said in a panic as he pointed to the torn material on the ground, everything moving in slow motion. “Penn!”

I scrambled to grab it, dropping it twice before handing it to him, and he pressed it to the growing blood puddle on Stone’s back. Knox dropped to his knees to help him while talking on the phone to who I assumed were the paramedics, my vision blurring as more tears poured out of me. Stone looked so cold, his eyes now closed as the guys tried to stop the bleeding.

To the world, he was going to be just another person who died because of me.

“Hey, stay with me, babe,” Drake murmured, pulling his hoodie over my head and reaching down to grab my pants to help me into them just as sirens sounded outside. “I’ll get you home.”

“No!” I tried to yell, but my voice was half-gone and it came out raspy.

“Cruz and Knox will stay with Stone. We can get updates from them,” he promised, holding me tightly as my legs gave out. I couldn’t lose Stone, but from the way his body stayed completely still and his eyes remained shut, I think I already had.

Maddox appeared beside us, his voice low. “Who was he?”

I was confused for a moment, but my eyes landed on Owen’s still body across the room, giving me my answer. He’d been my best friend for years when I’d had nobody, but my grief for him felt wrong now that I knew every second of our time together had been a lie.

“Penn’s friend, Owen. He ran the Stoneleigh gym,” Drake answered, lifting me into his arms. “I need to get her out of here.”

“She needs the hospital, too,” Maddox said calmly, and I could feel his eyes running over me. “She’s in severe shock, Drake.”

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