AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No,” I breathed out in a whimper.
The sound of shattering glass had a scream tearing from the depths of my soul. It was loud enough to startle me out of the memory, but my reality was equally as unnerving.
Smoke and yells filled the room before I was roughly pulled into someone’s arms and carried away. It wasn’t until we were outside that I could even sort out where we were.
The chilly night air chased away some of the fog still hanging around me.
“Are you still with me?” Weston asked, almost frantic.
“What’s happening?” I asked. Thick white smoke was billowing out of the building, but it lacked the smell of embers and ash. This wasn’t a burning fire, but something else altogether.
“Smoke bomb,” he answered. He’d barely finished the words before Hayes burst out of the smoke and ran toward us.
“You guys good?” he asked as he choked out a cough. “Fucking assholes.”
“What is it?” Hayes eyed the way I was cuddled up in his brother’s arms but didn’t question it.
“Some assholes shattered the windows in the front. Smoke bomb,” he answered. Weston started walking further away, so Hayes had to follow us or be left behind.
He was working on something on his phone while I worried about the other two. Sterling was a dick, but I didn’t want him hurt.
“They used our blindspots against us, which means they knew the layout and cameras,” Hayes announced absently.
“I’d chase the fucker down if she wasn’t with me,” Weston muttered angrily. “Kill them for even daring to cross us like this.”
Something started to click when he said that. There had been several moments that made them seem more like mafia men from a movie than security. Most people didn’t threaten to kill someone and sound like they meant it. Not to mention the calm vigilance they held far surpassed the rent-a-cop role they currently occupied.
“Do you think this was for the senator or me? I was the only staff in the office outside of you guys,” I asked, not having to fake the shaking voice this time.
This was turning into a life or death job in an entirely unexpected way. Before this, I’d thought the only threat to my livelihood was the Syndicate, and even though I didn’t know who they were or even where they might be, that was sort of a known quantity. This… Well, I really had no clue what to do aboutthis.
“Why is she in your arms?” Hayes finally asked.
Weston let out a low growl that had his brother rolling his eyes. “She wasn’t doing well before it happened. Sterling was a dick,” he said, then he glanced down at me. “And whatever caused that flashback? I’m going to need details at some point. They aren’t ever going to touch you again.”
“They can’t anyway,” I whispered so only he could hear. His jaw tightened, but he nodded sharply, letting it drop. I knew I’d have to face more questions eventually, but for now, I’d take it.
More voices joined us as Sterling and Cyrus argued back and forth. By the time they reached us, Cyrus was already on the phone. We stayed quiet but couldn’t make sense of the conversation from his noncommittal grunts.
“The senator wants you to stick with us,” he said as he hung up the call. “We’ll swing by your place and get a few things. You can stay with us at a hotel for the night. It’ll be safer.”
“There’s no way they know where I live,” I countered. I wasn’t even sure why I was arguing, but I wanted to go home and curl up in my bed—probably because I was currently a mess. I’d just had a full flashback and panic attack right in the middle of a conversation with Weston. He now knew more about me than I’d ever intended.
Or he thought I was downright crazy.
“Why are you so calm?” Sterling accused.
“Why are you such a prick?” I spit back.
“Probably because she went into a PTSD flashback earlier. She’s not calm, she’s numb,” Weston said to end the fight before it could start. He probably thought that had triggered it, and I couldn’t even lie and say it hadn’t led me down that path in at least some way.
Sterling let it drop. In the sudden silence, I felt all of them looking at me, so I wiggled to get out of Weston’s hold and refused to meet their eyes.
“Come on, let’s go back to your place,” Cyrus conceded. The others looked like they were going to argue, but his words had a ring of finality that silenced them.
No big deal. I was just going to go home with four mates I barely knew, right after a flashback and a violent attack.
This night couldn’t get any worse.
