Worse Than Enemies

I lower myself to my knees, fighting like hell not to cry. I don’t think I’m going to win that battle.

He chuckles as he undoes his belt, then unbuttons his jeans and lowers the zipper.

All of a sudden, the room gets bright, almost blinding. I blink, confused, stunned, while Logan whirls around with his dick in his hand. Salem was right. It’s huge.

I look up to see Theo standing on the other end of the garage, and he’s holding his phone in front of him like he’s recording. “Here’s the thing about this being my house: I know all the entrances.”

“Get the fuck out of here!” Logan shouts.

“Like I said. My house.” I get on my feet and brush off my knees and thank God for him. “What do you think you’re doing out here? Because I know you weren’t just forcing an underage girl to perform oral sex on you in exchange for not going to the police, right? That’s pretty serious.”

I’ve never seen him like this. He’s not joking, not even a hint of a smirk. He’s a lot more like Hayes when he’s in one of his dark places, his eyes stormy, his face a mask of barely contained rage.

“Okay, fine. I guess I have to go to the cops then.” Logan shrugs, arms extended to the sides.

“No. I don’t think so.” Theo puts his phone in his pocket, advancing on us. I back away because something tells me this will not be pretty. “You’re coming with me.” He pulls something else out of his waistband—and I barely bite back a scream at the sight of a gun. He has a gun! Theo?

“You’re going to go back inside,” he growls, and Logan’s eyes go round when Theo circles him and presses the gun to his lower back. “Right now. March. Morgan, would you open the door?”

Like I have a choice. I scramble ahead of them, opening the door and scurrying into the kitchen. Theo pushes Logan inside, one hand on his shoulder while the other maintains its hold on the gun.

“Okay, man. I get it.” Logan’s starting to sweat, but Theo doesn’t show any sign of strain. Instead, he takes Logan into the center of the kitchen, where a group of football players and another of guys I recognize from the basketball team are gathered around a couple of kegs.

“Hey, guys!” Theo shouts, his voice ringing out over the music and chatter. “See this guy? He just tried to coerce Morgan here into giving him a blowjob out in the garage so he wouldn’t accuse Hayes of beating the shit out of him.”

I’m horrified and embarrassed, but that’s nothing compared to Logan’s obvious horror.

Especially once the guys move toward him.

Theo backs away, and in a flash, he tucks the gun in his waistband. “I’d run if I were you,” he says to Logan, who makes a break forward, fighting his way through the crowd on their way to the kitchen to see what’s going on.

“Take him outside!” Theo calls out. “No blood on the floor, please. I don’t want to explain it.” He’s so cool and calm. I barely recognize him.

I fight my way through the crowds of confused people and finally make it out to the front of the house, where a circle of guys are beating the shit out of somebody in the middle. I’m disgusted, but I can’t look away. Two of them pick Logan up by his shirt and drag him to a truck.

I look around, confused, and find Theo watching from behind me. “What are they going to do to him?”

“Don’t worry about it. Things like this have a way of sorting themselves out.” He looks at me, and his brows draw together. “Are you all right? That’s the real question.”

“I’m fine.” I’m not. I’m sort of scared of what this all means now. “How did you know to be there?”

“I saw him dragging you away. I didn’t know who it was with that mask, but you looked like you were trying not to piss yourself.” He puts a hand on my shoulder, and I can’t believe how comforting it is after what he just put in motion. “Would you really have done that for Hayes?”

“Yes. I was going to.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s part of my family now. And I don’t want him in trouble.” I bite my lip, unsure. “So you know what he did?”

“You mean showing up at school with a swollen fist the day after somebody was beaten half to death?” Still, he shakes his head. “He wouldn’t like it if he knew you were going to do that for him.”

“Somebody has to look out for him.”

“I guess you’re right. He’s not always so good at doing that himself.” He looks across the lawn. I’m pretty sure there’s blood on the grass. “That piece of shit will get what he deserves. Don’t worry about that. He’ll never bother anybody again.”