Page 81 of As Thick As Thieves

Cruz

It was hard not to explode at Penn. None of us talked the entire ride home, and Knox stomped out to the backyard to avoid strangling her the moment we arrived.

“You could’ve died today,” I said as calmly as possible, but she still flinched at the anger lacing my tone.

“You might say this is all Stone’s fault, but his death would be on my conscience for the rest of my life. I can’t live like that, Cruz. Yes, Stone fucked up majorly, but that doesn’t mean—”

“I know, baby,” I sighed, pulling her against my chest and wrapping my arms around her, kissing the top of her head. “That’s why we went there to try to talk the crews out of it.”

“You should’ve had his back from the start,” she whispered, peering up at me. “Whether he was wrong or not. He’s your family.”

“I’m not going to argue with you right now, but I can’t forgive him for hurting you.”

“I know,” she answered, tightening her hold on me. “Did you see how badass I was, though?”

“Pretty sure Knox is outside abusing his dick over it, yes,” I chuckled dryly, glancing over at Drake who was eyeing her with uncertainty. He’d been so sure she was going to sit at home on her own, but she’d lied right to his face. In her defense, he’d lied to her, too.

I gave him a pointed look, and he managed to relax his features a little, then he took a breath to calm himself before stepping closer to sandwich her between us.

“You scared my dick off, babe. You’re lucky Skeet didn’t kill you. He doesn’t tend to give a shit about our business arrangement, let alone your relationship to us,” he murmured against her neck. She turned to face him and I stepped back, giving her hand a small squeeze.

“I’m going to check on Knox.”

She nodded, tugging Drake down onto the couch to snuggle while they talked, and I wandered out the back door in search of Knox, not surprised to find him sitting on the porch with a cigarette between his lips.

“Where the fuck did you get that?” I grunted, dropping down beside him.

“I always keep some on me for emergencies.” He took a long drag before silently offering it to me, but I shook my head.

“I know I won’t stop if I have any.”

“Suit yourself,” he shrugged, popping it between his lips again and looking out across the yard. “I’m so fucking pissed with her, man.”

“Me too. Fighting with her won’t change anything, though, it will only make her resent us. Tell her you’re upset, you’re allowed to be, but don’t blow up like I know you want to. Just admit she scared you, and that’s why you’re mad,” I suggested. “Look, I think we need to—” Smashing glass stopped me mid-sentence, a panicked scream coming from Penn inside just before the sound of gunfire hit us. We were on our feet in seconds as we ran inside, finding Penn on the floor by the couch with Drake covering her. All the windows were shattered, bullet holes through the door and the walls. Car tires screeched outside as the shooter sped off, and I instantly moved towards the couch, kneeling beside Penn and Drake.

“Were you hit?” I couldn’t see any blood, but a few bullets definitely went through the couch.

“I’m okay,” Penn said in a shaky voice as Drake moved back to help her into a sitting position, her eyes raking over us for damage. “We can check the cameras, right? We can get their license plate information off it and—”

“Little hint about the criminal world, they’re not afraid to remove the license plate,” Knox muttered, helping Drake to his feet since I had Penn. Drake scrunched his nose up as he got a whiff of Knox’s cigarette-scented shirt, but he didn’t say anything.

“You might recognize the car or something, though, right?” she insisted, and she had a point.

“First, let me call Lopez and break the news to him that his and Lavaro’s safehouse just got hit in a drive-by,” I sighed, pulling my phone from my pocket. It rang before I’d even unlocked it, Zavier’s name popping up on the screen. It could’ve been a coincidence, but I knew it was likely that he’d seen it on the cameras. “We’re fine,” I said the second I answered, a rush of air leaving him straight away.

“Thank fuck. Did you recognize the car?”

“We haven’t seen the footage yet. Knox and I were in the backyard and Drake was on the couch with Penn. The house is kinda trashed, dude.”

“I don’t give a fuck as long as you guys are alright,” he replied, the sound of a car door slamming in the background. “I’m on the way over. I can’t get hold of Beckett, or I’d get her to come too.”

Penn grimaced as she must have heard what he said, knowing the reason behind Beckett’s silence before I even spoke. “Beckett’s with the Psychos and Devils at the compound. Stone’s being dealt with.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. Does Penn know?” he asked quietly, making me snort.

“Penelope is aware. She convinced them to beat him up instead of killing him.”

“How the fuck did she manage that? Beckett said they were pretty set on killing him.”

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