Page 45 of As Thick As Thieves

He snorted, giving her the stink-eye. “That’s rich coming from you. You’re usually the first to take a stab at anyone outside your circle.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been working on it. It’s called personal growth,” she said bitterly, dramatically making quotation marks with her fingers as she said it. “It’s riveting.”

I smothered a grin behind my hand, noticing a few others doing the same. Rory would never change and she knew it.

By the end of the meeting, we’d gotten nowhere, and the only productive thing that happened was Rage and Rory didn’t try to kill each other for once.

Chapter Ten

Penn

“What’s your problem?” Beckett muttered as she walked into the kitchen to find me freaking out at the dining table, sliding her gaze to Drake who sat beside me. “Did Mom scare her? Or was it Skeet? It’s always one of the two.”

“There’s been some development on Penn breaking in,” Drake mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck as he eyed me. “Stone set her up. So now he’ll be punished, and Penn’s freaking out.”

“You assholes fucking lied to me?” she bit out, narrowing her eyes on me. “I asked you if you’d been ordered to break in and you said no.”

“Stone was the only one who knew,” I choked out. Stone didn’t deserve my sympathy, but I didn’t want him to die. “I didn’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“Hey,” she scowled, fisting my hair. “Stop whimpering like a little bitch, stand up, and don’t cower. I thought you were stronger than this.”

“Donovan—” Drake started with worry, but she smacked his shoulder.

“Don’t coddle her. That shit gets people killed in our world and you know it,” she snapped, turning her attention back to me as she let me go. “Well? Stand the fuck up, Whitlock.”

I stood, taking some deep breaths as I tried hard to get my shit under control. “The guys didn’t—”

“Don’t tell me what didn’t happen, tell me what did.”

“Stone wanted me gone, and since I was so eager for him to accept me, I didn’t question it when he told me to get in the car and go on a job with him,” I said with a shaky voice, clearing my throat when she raised an eyebrow at me. “He parked down the street then told me I had ten minutes to get in and out with a painting or he’d leave me behind. He claimed it was how he trained everyone, so I did as he asked.”

“So you didn’t bother to question whose house it was?” she grunted, her face softening a fraction when I replied.

“No. I just wanted him to see me as one of his team members. I knew he didn’t like me, but I didn’t realize he wanted me dead.”

Beckett was silent for a moment as she considered her options, finally giving me the stink-eye. “Girl, you need to grow some fucking balls. You don’t need anyone, you got through life on your own and you survived. Only let those in who have your back. Stone’s a walking red flag, and you’d have to work miracles to make him see you as anything more than the dirt on his shoe. He’s an asshole.”

“If you have to punish him, punish me instead. I was the one who—” She didn’t let me finish my sentence before grabbing my throat and yanking me against her angrily.

“Don’t you dare. He didn't give a shit about you when he sent you into this house to die, so don’t take the fall for his bullshit. Whatever trauma bond you have with him needs to stop. You want people to respect you? Don’t hide behind men who have a power complex. You think my mom is feared because of the guys in her life? No. She’s feared because she personally gave everyone a reason. You think I scare people because of my guys? Jett screams when the house creaks because he thinks there’s a ghost, and I’ve killed more people than Maddox. I even stabbed him once.” She let me go, her voice lowering. “Women learned to survive in our world by taking the power into their own hands. Trust me, you’ll feel safer the day you can defend yourself than if you cowered behind a man to protect you. When that day comes, people will respect you.”

Drake chuckled, tilting his head with amusement. “Aw, I didn’t know you were such a motivational speaker, Donovan.”

“Shut the fuck up,” she snarled, wiping the smile off his face.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She scowled at him and waved a hand in my direction. “Teach her to defend herself before someone takes her again. Maybe next time she can save herself instead of waiting for one of you idiots to do it.”

“I know some stuff,” I said quietly, cringing at the nervous tone and speaking louder. “I just lack technique. I can throw a punch but once someone has me, I can’t do much. I used to go to the gym in Stoneleigh to train, so once I’m healed—”

“Nothing’s stopping you from going to the gym to build strength. Don’t over do it, you still need to get your weight back up, but small things make a huge difference. I know Lopez is being a tyrant about nutrition, but it’s for a good reason. Drake’s a health nut when he wants to be, so sit down with him and work out a meal plan that will work well with a small fitness routine. You’ve had time to indulge in comfort food, but it’s time to get serious. Those guys you want to be with? It means getting shot at regularly, violence, being targeted because women are seen as the weak link. If you want to be in their lives so badly, it’s time you start preparing for that.”

“What’s going to happen to Stone?” I asked, holding her gaze as firmly as possible. “He fucked up but—”

“Stop. Listen to what you just said. He fucked up. Leave it at that and don’t worry about him, he’s a grown-ass man who made his own choices. Now he needs to face the consequences,” she said bluntly. “I need to go and fill everyone in on the cops and the clean-up. Penn? Be your own savior.” She walked off, leaving me staring after her, and Drake chuckled as he pulled me against his chest.

“Damn, didn’t know she was so passionate about your safety.”

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