was about to take him home.
Saint chuckles under his breath. “Work. You’re cute, you know that? All innocent and shit.”
“I’m not inno—”
Yelling draws my attention back to Temper and the men he was speaking to, my eyes widening as four men appear from nowhere, dressed in all black, guns in their hands. What the hell? Panic starts to fill me—I have no idea how this is going to play out.
Saint grabs me by the arm and quickly leads me to a car, opening the door and all but shoving me inside. “Stay in here and stay low.”
He runs off just as I hear gunshots go off. Lifting my head, I can’t help but look through the window, my eyes darting around for Temper. He starts to chase the men, but Renny calls his name, so he stops and turns back. My eyes then move to Renny, who is standing there with a gun in his hand, one of the men on the ground by his feet.
He isn’t moving.
Renny’s gun is still pointed at his body.
There’s blood, a lot of blood.
Temper walks over to him, kneels down and checks the man’s pulse at his neck. My eyes go back to Renny, who is now looking at the gun in his hand, still as a statue.
Oh my God.
The man doesn’t move, and Temper looks up at Renny, shaking his head, and he then brings his eyes to the car I’m in.
To me.
I duck my head back down, crouched on the floor, staying hidden.
Holy crap. I just witnessed a murder.
Wrapping my arms around myself, I wonder how the fuck tonight turned into this. I had the perfect date with Temper, and now a quick stop on the way home has turned into me witnessing something I never should have seen.
As if reading my thoughts, Temper comes over to the car, opening the door and sitting next to me. “Fuck,” he whispers, clenching his teeth, and I sit properly on the seat, staring straight ahead.
“Who were those men?” I ask, feeling numb at this point, and not knowing what to do or say. Maybe I’m going into shock, I don’t know.
“I don’t know,” he admits, staring straight ahead. “We’ve never seen them before, but they obviously wanted us all dead. If Renny didn’t have that gun on him, we probably wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Did Renny kill him?” I dare ask.
Temper stays silent, and then whispers, “I should have taken you home first. I shouldn’t have stopped. I just didn’t think...” He trails off. “We’ve never had any problems here, with anyone.”
“Temper—”
He slams his fists against the back of the driver’s seat. “Fuck!”
“Can you take me home now, please?” I say, swallowing hard. I just want this night to be over. In fact, I’m going to pretend anything after our date never happened.
I could have died tonight.
What if I was accidentally shot? If I was standing somewhere else when the guns went off? What if it was me lying there on the ground, in a pool of my own blood?
“He hasn’t moved. He’s dead,” I announce, shaking my head. I stare at the man, whose light hair is covered in blood. “Oh my God, he’s dead.”
Temper finally brings his gaze to me, studying me. I don’t like the look in his eyes—it’s a look I’ve never seen before from him, almost a detached look of concentration. He then glances outside, I’m assuming at Renny or Saint, and gives a slight nod.
“Come on, I’ll take you home,” he says, sighing. “And for what it’s worth, Abbie. I’m sorry. I’m so fuckin’ sorry.”
I follow him out of the car, toward his motorcycle.
I thought he was saying sorry for what I had witnessed tonight, but when I’m grabbed from behind with a hand covering my mouth, I know that he was only apologizing for what’s to come.
Chapter Five
With my hands and feet tied in front of me, rope around my mouth like a gag,