The tall one in front with a red basketball jersey squinted at me. “Hey , I
remember you. Aren’ t you one of the chicks from the shelter?”
He must be thei r ringleader—and the one I’d need to negotiat e Bear ’s
safe return with. I could do this. I needed to do this. “Yes, and you stole a
beloved member of our family .”
He laughed and looked aroun d at his friends. “Just consi der him
adopted, then. It’ s a shelter , ain’ t it? I’m helping you out.”
I suc ked in a breath at his auda city . Were children not taught manners
anymore? “There are protocols for that. Paperwork . You’d never be
approved for an adoption in a million years!”
That wiped the smile right of f his face.
“Who invited Miss Priss to the party?” Sneering, he crossed his arms.
“Fine. I’m willing to deal. What can you of fer for your dog?”
It took all my willpower not to smack him upside the head with my
broom.
Who did this boy think he was?
“I don’t need to offer you anything,” I said through clenche d teeth.
“He’ s my dog.”
He cocked his head before trailing his gaze down my figure and back
up. I shivered in disgust at the blatant leering. “Tell you what? I’ll hand him
over if you stick around and party with us tonight. The name’ s Fessy , by the
way .”
My jaw dropped.
Had a teenager just propositioned me?
“Watch it, kid,” Davian warne d evenly before I could get over my
shock.
Fessy smirked at Davian. “Can’ t blame me for trying. A body like that?
I’d smash —”
A loud bang filled the quiet garage like an explosion going off, making
all of us jump.
What the ȉ"
Fessy bent forward with a grunt. His brow scrunched in confusion, then
pain flashed across his face, and his leg drew everyone’ s attention.
Blood gushed from his thigh.
He stared at the wound in shock—I couldn’ t believe what I was seeing,
either—then screamed loud enough to burst my eardrums.
Which made me scream, too.
And then his friends joined in.
I looked at Davian in alarm, but he just stood there—cool as a cucumber
—with a gun pointed right at Fessy .
The broom dropped from my hands and clattered to the floor .
“What the frick? You psycho ,” Fessy yelled at Davian. His voice had
gone all high-pitched and squ eaky , and he clutched his thigh as blood
poured down his leg. “Y ou shot me?”
My body swayed as I stared at the growing puddle of blood.
Fessy’ s screaming friends move d like they didn’ t know whether to help
him or scatter , and Davian’ s men both pulled out their own guns as my
shock k ept me frozen.
When the screaming didn’ t stop , Davian raised his arm and rapid-fired
three sho ts into the roof of the garage. I flinched at each one. “Shut the hell
up . ”
Everybody froze , and the only sound in the garage was Fessy’ s labored
breathing.
Well, my rescue plan had of ficially gotten out of hand.
D a v i a n
So, this was what the beginning of a migraine felt like.
“I must be losing my touch, because I ke ep having to r epeat myself
today.” I pointed the gun at Fessy’s other leg, losing my patience. “Give us
the damn dog, or you’ll find out how many bullets I have left.”
He was still staring at his thigh like he’d never seen blood before, and
none of his crew moved to help or pull out their own weapons.
Amateurs.
“The dog,” I bit out on a growl.
Fessy whimpered before yelling at his boys. “You heard him. Get the
freaking mutt!”
Four of his crew scattered out the back of the garage. The one left
behind hoisted Fessy under the arm and dragged the boy back into their
office with lots of screaming from Fessy .
My ears rang.
I tempered my glare before turning to Sadie, but she was too busy
gaping at the growing trail of blood on the floor .
Her shock was a wake-up call. She was new to this.
I grunted and holstered the gun before walking over to her, still pissed
she’d even shown up. She didn’t notice my approach, and I didn’t stop until
I was close enough to brush a strand of hair off her cheek—w hich I did.
“Don’t look at it, sweetheart.”