AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“W-we didn’t know,” Rose mutters.
Where I’d think she’d sound contrite, she sounds scared, and her eyes are wide as she looks anywhere but at Gunner.
“Now you do,” he says, unkindly. “Cara made her decision, and she was brave enough to stand by it. But the way you’re acting, you’re tainting her fucking training of all of you. Disgraceful.” He spits the last part.
Gunner takes another few steps, not stopping until he’s at my side. Then he throws his arm around my shoulder and smiles widely. At least I think he’s smiling, his damn beard makes it hard to know for sure. If he is, though, there’s something off with it. It doesn’t reach his eyes, and it’s making him look calculated as he tilts his head to the side.
“If you insist on someone to blame, how about Alana?”
“Gunner!” I cry.
“What?” Sasha questions, like she can’t quite believe what he just said.
Beth straightens, but still looks scared as she asks, “Why would we blame Alana? She’s never been anything but loyal.”
The chuckle coming from Gunner is frosty, devoid of any real emotion. “She colluded with Cara. Or, more accurately, Alana followed the orders she was given. Something the rest of you should keep in mind.”
Before I can react, the King takes my arm and firmly pulls me away from the Cunts. I try to fight him as he drags me outside, but it’s no use. I’m no match for him.
“What the hell did you do that for?” I spit the second he pushes me into one of the chairs. “Now they’re going to be angry with her.”
He shrugs. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“What does that mean?” I retort.
Gunner leans back in the chair he’s occupying, stretching his long legs out in front of him while placing his hands on the back of his head.
He looks straight at me as he says, “I don’t care if they turn on Alana, Sugar. But I doubt they will. If you haven’t noticed, they’re a pack, and they’ve already lost their leader. Besides, we know Cara made Alana do it, so she had no choice unless she wanted to be disloyal to their matriarch.”
I let out a sigh of relief. I really don’t want Alana to get into trouble, especially not for helping me. At the same time, I selfishly can’t deny that I need the reprieve Gunner is giving me.
Getting comfortable in the chair, I close my eyes. I don’t know how long I sit like that, but it’s long enough that I no longer feel like I’m suffocating when I open my eyes again. This is exactly what I needed, the time to think I longed for.
“I told Grayson what we talked about,” I say, shattering the comfortable silence around us. “I’m sorry he came at you.”
Shaking his head, Gunner smiles at me. “I don’t mind one bit, Sugar. Truthfully, he had a right to be pissed. But I don’t really care what he wants. If you need me, I’m here. And you had questions about the night I saved you.”
Nodding, I return his smile. “I did,” I say.
Being with Gunner is the complete opposite of Grayson. Where the latter is intense and a ticking time bomb, the former is easygoing, and he actually cares what I want.
“Thank you,” I breathe. “For answering my questions.”
“Don’t sweat it,” he chuckles, pushing some strands of his long, blond hair from his eyes. “That’s what friends are for, right?”
I nod again while nervously wringing my hands in my lap. “Speaking of friends, Alana is a friend as well. I don’t want her to get into trouble either.”
Gunner sighs. “You want me to go make sure the Cunts aren’t taking their anger out on her?”
Worrying my bottom lip, I consider his question. If I’m completely honest with myself, that is what I want—that, and so much more. I want to turn back time, so no one is in trouble, and to the place where I felt like the other women here didn’t hate me.
Of course, if I could travel back in time, I’d go back to before dad started working with the Cruz Kings. I’d make him drop the idea. Then I’d spend every free moment with Leslie. Help her with her homework, go to the stables with her, and… just be a better big sister.
The stables… that reminds me that I still have to pick up whatever Leslie left for me there. Yet another thing on my list, which is ironic, since I don’t really have a list of things to do. I have a list of the stuff I want, like get revenge on Grayson—but apart from that, it’s not like I have a fucking purpose. All I have to do is wait until I leave for Harvard, kick some Ivy League ass, and then stay alive until I’m twenty-one.
Huh, guess I do have a list after all.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I say, answering Gunner’s question.
