AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Watch. Your. Tone. I won’t tell you again.” His hand rests on his hip, right by the gun holster and I grind my teeth at the not so subtle threat. I palm my knife, confident that I can have it in his temple before he even gets the thing unclipped. “We have nothing but respect for Beth, she’s an incredible woman.”
“Lizzie. Her name is Elizabeth.”
“It was. Beth is who she is now and you’re going to have to accept that. My girl out there? She’s a stranger to you and you to her. If you want that to change you’re going to have to accept who she is.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“That’s the first time I’ve not threatened you.” He chuckles, shaking his head in amusement.
“You keep saying ‘we’. Who is this ‘we’?” I cut in impatiently.
“My brothers and I.”
“Biological brothers?” Raven asks.
“Does it matter?”
“And what is your relationship with...Beth?” Raven demands.
“What’s yours with him? It’s none of your business.”
“When Liz—when Beth…what do you know of her story?”
“Nothing. She has no memory of before but...she was in a pretty bad state when we found her…” He hesitates.
“What?”
“It became obvious pretty quickly that there was some trauma there.” Raven nods sadly.
“She was bullied and raped, then thrown off a cliff by her attacker, who pretended to be her only friend. She was pregnant,” Raven quickly explains.
“Shit.” I watch as his hand tightens on his gun, completely understanding his reaction. I never knew Lizzie but I still want to cause unimaginable pain to the scum who hurt her. “I’ll kill him.”
“She already did,” I say, nodding to Raven.
“You?” He turns to look at her, staring in disbelief.
She shrugs casually and lets the small knife I gave her slip from her fingers effortlessly. Before he even sees it coming it slides into the cork noticeboard right behind his head. He doesn’t jump, which I’ll give him credit for, but he does raise a single eyebrow. I think he’s impressed. He pulls the blade free from the noticeboard and spins it in his hands contemplatively.
“Damn, you should show your sister those moves.”
“I will be,” Raven promises.
“Meet Raven, I’m Baxter.” I decide now that no one seems inclined to kill anyone, for now, I may as well make introductions.
“Macerio. S’up.” He tilts his head back in greeting.
“So what happens now?” I ask.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna go look after my girl and make sure my family’s alright. Pretty sure you’re not here for no reason, so I suggest you go check on yours.”
He walks towards the door, handing Raven her knife back as he passes, and has his fingers on the handle before she calls out to him.
“Wait! I can’t lose her again...please don’t disappear,” she pleads. The heartbreak in her tone makes my stomach twist. This would be so much easier if I could just kill him and kidnap Lizzie until she sees sense.
“He won’t,” I tell her before she can reply. They both turn to stare at me and I reach up to flick open the top button of my shirt, pulling it down to reveal my Order tattoo.
For the first time, some of the guy’s cocky swagger leaves him.
