Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High #2) - Sam Crescent Page 0,58
of your business,” Caleb said.
Emily waved her hand at us. “Don’t mind them. I’ll tell you all about it. Come on.”
“What about dinner?” Earl asked.
I noticed Ashley tense up the instant asshole spoke. I couldn’t see any visible bruises, and as Ashley glanced behind her, Earl was only interested in her.
“We’ve got business to attend to. If it would make you feel better, I’ll have one of your men, as well as one of mine, escort them to a safe place where they can’t run away together,” Caleb said.
“I don’t find this amusing.”
“Well, seeing as we played our part in the deal and you didn’t, I’d say you’ve got a lot to be worried about. As it is, so long as our women wish us to play nice, nothing bad is going to happen. Ashley, do you want me to end this fucker now?”
In answer, Ashley looked behind her at him. She nibbled on her lip and finally, after a few minutes, she shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”
“Holy crap, Drake! As in crazy Drake?” Ashley asked.
Drake whistled and winked at her. “You sure look fine, sweetheart.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t even remember you.”
“Sure do. New girl. You actually got this chick here all fired up in protecting you. I thought that was damn fine!” Drake whistled. “Where do you want them to catch up?”
“The library,” Caleb said.
“Not a chance.” This came from Earl.
We all turned toward him. I hadn’t taken my attention from him, but now I looked at him.
“You think I don’t know there’s an exit in the library? Not happening. You’re not stealing her away.” Earl tensed up and I put my hand to my gun hidden beneath my jacket. I wanted any excuse for us to make this right with our woman, and if that meant popping him, then I was in a good enough mood to do it.
I watched him in case he decided to make any sudden moves.
“Our intention is not to steal her away.”
“Good. She can go to your office then, Caleb. You’re the one in control. We’ll be the ones to go to the library.” He moved toward Ashley, leaned down, and whispered something to her ear.
She pressed her lips into a firm line but stepped away from him.
That clearly displeased Earl.
It would all be easier if I just took him out. One glance at Caleb and he shook his head at me.
Fucker. It would do the entire world good to end this asshole.
But then, it would probably do more people good to end us. I kept my hand on my gun, but I didn’t kill him. I considered this all progress.
Drake led the two women toward the office, while Caleb took the lead in walking us all the way to the library. I couldn’t believe Ace was dead. Out of all the men, he’d caused us the least trouble during our takeover plan. He’d wanted death, and we’d kept him alive.
“You betrayed us and now you think you can come into our domain and bark orders?” Caleb asked.
“The only part of our arrangement I didn’t keep was staying too close to you. You think I didn’t know there would be consequences of staying close? That woman has all four of you by the balls. One snap of her fingers, and I’d be dead and Ashley would be free. I’m not that desperate and I’m certainly not an idiot.”
“What about dealing with our fathers’ prior arrangement to have Emily killed?” I asked, speaking up for the first time since he arrived. “What do you have to say about that?”
“I told you, I broke one part of our agreement. The other, I took care of. There wasn’t a threat to Emily’s life. All of the prior negotiations and bounty are over. I know how your fathers handled that mess, so I knew how to get rid of it.”
This made me tense. I stared at Earl.
He wasn’t a stupid man. “You knew how to erase it because you put it in place,” I said.
Earl smiled. “Well, well, well, I had to wonder who would figure it out eventually. The fact it was you, I’m rather impressed.”
“Cut the crap. You did this to start with. You gave them the ammo they needed to take Emily from us?” Caleb asked.
Earl sighed. “I need a drink.” He stepped toward the drinks table, pouring himself a large shot of brandy. “Do you want