Treachery

My father wasted no time, apparently, his anger at my supposed incompetence a blade ru

Sunday had been like any other day. I was exhausted from shitty sleep, the guys invading my space before I’d even crawled out of bed that morning.

By the time I finally gave up on a few more hours of shut eye, the guys were blasting music downstairs, the crack of balls over the pool table a faint noise in the background as I descended the stairs and rounded the corner into the rec room to meet eyes with Gabriel.

After talking to him about my less than fortunate luck with Luca and his surprisingly good luck with Ivy, we’d all spent the day pla

At least until our fathers arrived, mine, Gabriel’s and the twins’. My mood went from bad to worse the second those fat fucks strolled through my front door, the tension in the house thick enough to drown anybody standing in it.

Ten minutes into their surprise visit and we were informed that Luca Bailey was now their problem.

For what fucking reason, I have no idea. As usual, they were less than forthcoming about why Luca is such a problem.

Obviously, that a

But, knowing them, I set out to make sure Luca would remain safe and stuck in place until I could figure out what to do with her.

Judging by what I just heard, our fathers apparently meant business, and even her apartment is no longer a place where I won’t have to worry about her.

“Luca!”

Screaming into the damn phone isn’t worth a shit. All I hear in response is the usual chaos of rush hour traffic. Impatient horns honk at the cars in front of them, the occasional voice of road rage competing against music blasting.

My fingers tighten over the steering wheel as I weave through traffic as fast as I can, hoping like hell that Luca didn’t just become roadkill.

I hang up on her and dial Shane’s number, his groggy voice coming through the line because it’s too much to ask for him to drag his ass out of bed on a Monday morning to go to work.

Granted, his late night was partially my fault, and for that, I can’t be too pissed off.

“What did you do to Luca’s car?”

I can hear a woman’s soft voice on his end, his palm scrubbing down his face as he moves around in bed.

“Is there a reason you’re calling me at the asscrack of dawn?”

Some dick on the road gets pissed off when I cut him off, his horn blaring as I roll my fucking eyes.

“It’s ten thirty in the fucking morning. You’re supposed to be at the office, or did you forget you have a damn job?”

Turning a corner as he laughs, I slam on my brakes when I hit a standstill. My palm hits the steering wheel and I glare at the Bluetooth screen in my car as if that will force Shane to get his shit together and answer the question.

Eventually, his voice rolls through the speakers.

“I didn’t do much to it. Just broke in and turned on the interior lights to kill her battery.”

As if she couldn’t buy another one. You give these guys one job and they half-ass it every time.

“I told you I needed it disabled permanently.”

Another asshole honks at me, his hand laying so heavy on the horn that I can’t hear what Shane says in response. It doesn’t matter though. Luca’s apartment is in view and I’m too pissed off to give a damn about his excuse.

Reaching her building, I end the call without bothering to say goodbye and swing into the parking lot.

Luca is standing at the hood of her car as I pull up, some thug next to her with more ink on his skin than a paperback of War and Peace.

Sunlight glints off the chain hanging down the side of his baggy jeans, and I park my car, step out in a suit that costs more than most people make in a year to stroll on up and claim my fucking space.

“What happened?”

Both Luca and the thug glance up at me, Luca’s blue eyes instantly narrowing on my less-than-happy expression while the walking wall of graffiti cocks a brow like he has any right to be standing between me and the girl I’m staring down.

“Is this the boyfriend?” he asks, his voice a rough drawl that makes my eye tic with a

“We’re not dating,” Luca and I answer in unison, our eyes locked together in battle while the asshole between us chuckles and gets back to jumping her battery.

When Luca doesn’t answer my question, Thug answers for her.

“Someone tried to run her down. She got scraped up pretty bad when I knocked her out of the way, but she’s not a stain on the pavement, so that’s something, I guess.”

Son of a bitch...

Thug steps away from the engine to round the car, giving me free space to get closer to Luca.

“Let me see the damage.”

She rolls her eyes but holds up her hands, her palms scraped to shit. Staring at them, I fist my fingers, knowing exactly who sent that car after her.

“It was probably just some asshole who was late to work and didn’t see me standing there,” she says, but her voice is weak, her eyes glaring at me because, despite how shaken she is, she still hates me.

Or it was my father making good on his threat to take care of the problem, I think.

I can’t leave this up to chance anymore. Not with what I know. The game is going to have to change again.

Before I can answer her, the engine roars to life beside us, Thug stepping up to the hood to stand far enough away so as not to encroach on us, but close enough that he’s pissing me off just by existing.

“Once the battery has time to charge some, we should take the car to my shop. You can ride with me or...”

The dipshit eyes me up and down, his lips pulling into a grin that makes me want to slam his skull against the ground.

“You can go with pretty boy here.”

Eyes sliding to Luca, he shrugs. “It’s your call.”

I glance between them, mentally willing Luca to make the right choice.

“I’ll go with you, Priest.”

Priest? Are you fucking kidding me? Of course, Thug has a thug-ass name. There is no way in hell Luca is going anywhere with this asshat.

“Wrong choice,” I growl as I grab her arm and drag her away from our audience. She struggles at first, her eyes going to Priest as if he has any chance in hell of helping her.

Thankfully, the asshole stays back so I can talk some sense into her.

Not so thankfully, I’m too frustrated to think before I speak. Luca is the type you have to lead without being demanding, a girl who has to believe she’s made up her own mind rather than being cornered. But I have no patience for that shit at the present moment.

“You’re not going with him.”

Her defiant, little chin lifts just like I should have known it would, the line I’d just drawn in the sand one she wants to traipse all over just to prove she won’t be told what to do.

Fuck, I hate how she does this.

And I love it.

Never before has a woman driven me this crazy.

Unfortunately, showing her just how much I enjoy how she drives me crazy is not possible at the moment, especially with a tatted-up grease monkey standing at my back who might be stupid and think he has to be a hero and step between us.