AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dario spun around, his eyes red-rimmed and swollen. It looked as if someone had struck him, but how was that possible? Trenton had no idea where Jake lived. They’d left in Jake’s car, so there hadn’t been a way for Trenton to track Dario down by scent.
“I’m sorry to intrude like this,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he looked nervously around. “It wasn’t my choice to come here.”
What in the hell did that mean? Sanjay didn’t like this. There was something off about his friend.
Jake stepped in front of Sanjay, his body tense. “What in the hell is going on, Dario?”
“I—” Dario swallowed roughly. “I made a mistake.”
“What kind of mistake?” Sanjay curled his fingers over Jake’s shoulder to anchor himself because Dario standing in Sanjay’s living room in the middle of the night was freaking him out.
Dario wiped his eyes. “I was a fool, Sanjay. I let loneliness get the better of me.”
Sanjay did not like where this was going.
“I made a phone call.”
“Don’t tell me you called Trenton,” Sanjay hollered. “I can’t believe you, Dario. Why would you do that after Jake stood up for you and gave you a safe space to lay low?”
“I know!” Dario folded his arms over his chest. “You think I don’t regret calling him?” His gaze darted toward the kitchen. “But that’s not the worst part.”
Sanjay wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the rest of what Dario had to say. He was livid that his friend would call Trenton after what Trenton had done. “You told him where you were.”
When Jake growled, Sanjay felt the vibration through his hand. “You compromised my home,” he snarled. “Where is Trenton now?”
Dario’s eyes darted back toward the kitchen. “He forced me to tell him, Sanjay. I’m so sorry.”
It clicked in Sanjay’s head a second before Trenton stepped into view, a gun in his hand. “You led him here,” Sanjay whispered.
“I’m so sorry!” Dario cried out. “He said he’d kill me if I didn’t tell him!”
Trenton, with a menacing grin, held the gun steady, pointing it at Jake and Sanjay. Dario looked terrified, his eyes wide and pleading as he shrank back against the wall.
Sanjay was never going to forgive Dario for this. He understood his friend’s fear of dying, and that was why he’d told Trenton anything he wanted to know, but they wouldn’t be in this situation right now if Dario hadn’t called his ex in the first place.
Sanjay might have stayed with Matt after the abuse started, but once he’d decided it was over, he hadn’t given in to the urge to call the guy. He knew Matt was toxic, and Sanjay knew, if he ever stood a chance at a better life, he had to leave Matt in his past.
It seemed Dario couldn’t quit Trenton, no matter how much he said he wanted to. That was the part that Sanjay couldn’t understand.
“Trenton, what the fuck are you doing here?” Jake’s voice was low and dangerous, his fists clenched at his sides.
Trenton sneered, the sound grating on Sanjay’s nerves. “I’m here because you two interfered. You should have stayed out of it. You just had to confront me on Dario’s porch, act like you’re better than me.”
“I am better than you,” Jake growled. “I would never claim to love someone and then beat the shit out of them.”
Sanjay screamed when Trenton shot Jake. It was point-blank. Jake crumpled on the stairs, blood pooling around him. For a moment, Sanjay froze, unsure if any of this was real.
The blood had to be fake.
Jake was just playing around and would jump up at any second.
Trenton and Dario weren’t really there.
“No!” Dario shouted as Trenton charged Sanjay.
Trenton grabbed Sanjay by his arm and yanked him off the steps, throwing him to the living room floor.
Sanjay just knew his life was over when Trenton pointed the gun at him. “I told Dario to drop you as a friend, that you were too nosy and a busybody.”
