“Well, well, well…” He strolls over, leading his pack—Nicholas behind him and Axel on his right. “How old are you now, Trent?”
Old enough to do serious time if I hurt you, if that’s what you’re asking. Which is what he’s asking. He wants to make sure I know that I can’t hide behind being a minor now.
“I need to search her,” I tell him.
I felt something else in her pocket.
He grins, looking at his lapdog. “Did you steal something?” he asks her, but it sounds like he’s talking to his puppy who can do no wrong.
She doesn’t answer, just looks at me, a gleam in her eyes.
Hugo just laughs. “Sorry about that, man.”
But I look directly at her. “Empty your pockets.”
She doesn’t.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out, checking the screen. “That alarm triggered the security company, which is calling my phone right now,” I warn her. “When I don’t answer, they’ll send the police. Empty your pockets and then run. You have about four minutes.”
Her gaze doesn’t leave mine.
I step toward her, Hugo and his boys shifting to be ready. “Don’t touch her,” he says.
Her crew inches closer. “Not unless you want to pay,” he adds.
Her eyes flash to her boss, and I see the alarm.
Hugo walks up to me. “I’ll let you pat her down all night for the right price.” He looks over his shoulder at her. “You ready to start working like a big girl?”
“Hugo…” Their friend Nicholas moves forward, like he’s about to intervene, and I almost smile. Not all is well on Green Street.
But Hugo knows who’s in charge. “I know she’s not much to look at,” he tells me. “But maybe a street girl is exactly what you need. It gets better once she bathes. I promise.”
Some of the guys behind him break into laughter, and I glance at the girl, her expression not so steel anymore. She stares at the ground, her lips tight.
You ready to start working like a big girl?
Is he trying to turn her out? How old is she?
My father would kill these guys.
Axel saunters toward me. “Weston girls are hotter anyway. You know that.”
“But if there’s more than one of you, it’s extra,” Hugo adds, looking around at Kade, Dirk, and Stoli.
I hear Stoli speak up. “Nah. I don’t want any of that.”
“It’ll be too much work hosing her down,” Dirk says.
“Shut up,” I grit out.
I move toward her. “Come here.”
Her eyes flick up to mine, and I hold out my hand.
She looks at it, and I know she won’t take it, but I have to try. She shouldn’t be with these people.
“Come here,” I say again.
But she just shakes her head. “Fuck you.”
I pull the money Kade gave back to me out of my pocket and offer it to Hugo. His eyebrows shoot up, a gleam in his eyes.
He takes it.
“Come here now,” I order her.
She shakes her head, backing up to run, but Hugo takes her by the collar. “No!” She fights, and I take a step, ready to help, but this is what I want. I want him to force her to me.
“I told you not to come home empty-handed,” he says in her face.
He pushes her over to me, but she bites down on his hand, his growl piercing the air. I lunge for her, but she stumbles backward, out of Hugo’s hold and fumbles to get out of my reach.
Sirens blare, lights flash down the street, and she looks at me, fear written all over her face.
No, not fear.
Fright.
She’s afraid of me.
Did she think I was actually buying her? I take a step, but she whips around, running away. I spot something green hanging out of her pocket, the police close in on us, and I watch as she jumps into a black Mercedes and speeds off.
I swing around as she zooms past, watching her go, and something nips at me as the wheels in my head turn. Something green…
Hugo chases after her. “Aro!” he yells. They all run in her wake, but she charges away, turning right, and peels around the corner, out of sight.
“Fuck!” Hugo rages. “Aro!”
“The trunk!” Axel shouts at him as if reminding him about something.
They go after her on foot, disappearing down the next street, and I realize…
That was Hugo’s car she took. She left Rivertown in a Jeep Cherokee. I turn my head, spotting the old navy-blue vehicle way down in front of Mr. Woodson’s house.
She took the wrong car.
Guilt hits me. She took the closest escape.
But then, it hits me. Green…
“Shit,” I whisper.
It was a ribbon hanging out of her pocket. A tattered. Green. Ribbon.
I turn to Kade, pointing to his truck. “Go!”
We run, Stoli and Dirk following, all of us piling into the cab. I start the engine and take off. “She’s got Jared’s charm,” I spit out, racing around the corner.