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“Oh fuck,” I whisper to myself. Josiah didn’t just bring Tony back, he brought someone else. Another large, intimidating man like Rhett and Josiah, but he looks scarier. He’s covered in tattoos and he looks deranged, smirking with half his mouth as he pops the trunk.
“Aye, lass. Ye might want to look away,” he warns with an accent. I’ve never heard him speak before, even when I’ve seen him at BIBO. I don’t know what he’s telling me to look away from, but I can’t do it. I can’t stop watching him.
“Phoebe,” Josiah says, coming around the front of the car to meet me.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Skids
“I’m going to puke,” Phoebe says, hanging onto the door jamb with both hands. She looks pale and terrified. At least she was alert enough to notice we came back, but that’s the only good thing about her being in here right now.
“Then go, baby. You don’t have to be here.” I knew Reaper was going to be too much for her to handle, but Pres insisted. Reaper is now his Sergeant at Arms- the presidential bodyguard. I missed that happening entirely, but Pres said‘that’s because you don’t answer my fucking calls’.Which is true enough.
At the back of the car, Reaper jerks Tony out of the trunk of the car and Phoebe’s eyes follow.Fuck, I wish he had just waited. Tony’s hands are bound behind his back and Reaper carries him towards the chair at the other end of the garage. We discussed the plan in the car, but I wasn’t expecting Phoebe to see us until everything was handled, then I’d go get her.
Her pallor increases and her mouth frowns. “He looks so… I can’t. I’m going to-”
“Phoebe, goinside,” I growl, putting force behind my words in the hopes that it will convince her to actually listen.
“Pretty Phoebe, I haven’t seen you in so-” Tony groans and lets his head fall forward after Reaper’s punch to his jaw.
“You dinnae speak to her.”
“Fucking prick! Keep your mouth shut or I’ll shut it for you,” I shout. I hate this guy, and this shit show is getting worse. “Phoebe?” I yank the binds around his legs tight when Reaper drops him into the chair, ensuring he’ll stay put. “You got this?”
Reaper nods. “Aye.”
“Great.” I have no doubt that Tony won’t escape Reaper. I huff and shut the door to the garage, leaving the soon-to-be-dead prick behind with Reaper as I search for Phoebe inside the house. “Phoebe?”
“I just need a minute,” she answers, leaning her head to the side so I can see she’s just inside the kitchen, hiding behind a wall. Her voice sounds surprisingly calm and even, despite the horror I know she’s preparing for. “I didn’t expect it to hit me so hard. He looks so much the same, but also, somehow, more fucking terrifying.”
I’m not sure if she wants me to hold her, but I open my arms to her and let her make the decision. “You don’t have to take part in this. You don’t have to do anything. Reaper and I can take care of it.”
She steps closer, reaching for one of my hands and squeezing it. “No, Iwantto. I want to do it. I just have to catch my breath.”
My thumb immediately starts to rub circles on the back of her hand, comforting me as much as it does her. If I’m here, doing this, then she’s safe and alive. We’re okay, except that she’s pissing me the fuck off. This whole situation is pissing me off. “Phoebe, don’t push yourself.”
“I'm not pushing myself,” she argues back. “I want to be part of this. I need to be. I'm just taking a moment. Can I have a moment?"
"Yes, you can have a moment. But if you decide you want to quit at any point, just tell me. I don’t want you to upset yourself by doing something you’re going to regret, having nightmares and panic attacks every day again. We’ll take it slow and easy.”
Phoebe finally releases the breath she’s been holding and crashes her body against mine. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was scared. I thought-”
“I know, baby. That man, Reaper? He's a little insane, I think, but he’s going to help us. Don’t let him scare you. He wouldn’t hurt you.”
“I’m not scared. I know you wouldn’t let anything happen to me.” Shaking her hair back, she looks up at me with her beautiful dark eyes. “I trust you.”
My thumb catches her bottom lip, tugging it down. Those are the best words I’ve ever heard come out of her mouth, my favorites. “Say that for me again.”
“I trust you. You’ll keep me safe. I know that.” The confidence in her words is enough to make me hard for her, and I wish we didn’t have guests so I could take her to the ground and fuck her right now. Her body, her words, her… everything, it attracts me like a magnet.
I draw her closer, sliding one hand behind her neck and the other to the small of her back. “You’re right, baby. I will always protect you, from everything.”Except myself. I may be just as dangerous to Phoebe as anything else out there. I’m not sure I have her actual best interests in mind. I just want her safe, and that overrides everything else. She can’t have other hopes or dreams if she’s fucking dead, so, she’ll just have to get over it.
“I know.”
“If you can’t handle this shit today, don’t worry about it. I promise you, I’ll get your vengeance.”
“I can handle it,” she assures me. “You’ve got me. You always do.”
