“Who is she?” I asked.
Lucas’s Adam’s apple jerked up and down his throat. “Fluffy, you need to help me, dude.”
On the floor in front of me, Fluffy groaned. And then moved.
I swung back to the Marine, stunned. What was he doing?
“I’ve…got this…Ronnie…” he mumbled, covering my hands on his shoulder with his.
I blinked. And then jerked my stare back up to the mysterious woman. “I don’t know who you are, but I’m going to kill you.”
She laughed. Actually laughed. Laughed as she continued to point the gun at my face. “I can see why you and Tripwire make such an endearing couple.”
My gut clenched again. Tripwire. Lucas’s name when he was in Trinity.
“You’re from Trinity?”
Disgust twisted her face.
“Ronnie,” Lucas said. “Stop talking to her.”
The woman laughed. She’d stopped shaking. That was both good and terrifying. She was in no risk now of accidently firing her gun, but she wasn’t scared any more. Now she was confident. “He thinks, sweetie, that if you don’t know anything about me, I’ll let you live after I kill him.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Oh, she was so going to die.
“You hurt her,” Lucas snarled, “and I will—”
“Allow me to introduce myself,” she went on, constantly flicking Lucas quick glances. She clearly knew how fast he could move. And how dangerous he was. And how fearless he was when it came to fighting. That’s why she had the gun pointed at me. Keep Lucas controlled by threatening me.
Smart.
“I’m Supreme Court Justice Maureen Ford.”
Supreme Court Justice? I went cold. Jesus. One of the state’s top judges?
“What…” I shook my head, looking at Fluffy—barely conscious and still bleeding—and then up at her again. If I looked at Lucas, I’m not sure what would happen. “What are you doing here? Why do you want to kill Lucas?”
“Don’t tell her, Maureen,” Lucas pleaded. “I’ll let you do whatever you want to me, but don’t—”
“I have to kill Tripwire because he is the last member of Trinity left who knows me as Queen B.”
“Fuck!” Lucas screamed again. I’d never heard him so furious. And scared.
I swallowed. “And who’s Queen B when she’s at home?”
Maureen Ford laughed. “I like her, Trip. She’s feisty.” She moved a little closer to me. “Queen B was Trinity’s main financial controller. The money brains, as it were, behind the organization. But now…” She preened. Actually preened. “Now, I’m about to step up my political career, so I need to get rid of the skeletons.”
“Maureen, you can walk away,” Lucas said. I couldn’t look at him. I didn’t want him to see the fear in my eyes—and I was scared. It would push him over the edge, and I couldn’t let that happen. “Just walk away. Stop talking and walk—”
“I’m not going to do that, Trip. You know that. You were the smartest member of Trinity I’d ever encountered. Which would explain why I couldn’t track you down. Until now. Nice of Ronnie here to find the little boy and get you both on television. If not for that, I’d still be trying to locate you.”
Shit.
I balled my fist and glared at her. “You made a really big mistake coming here.”
Cold hate flooded her eyes and she waved the gun at me again. “Get up.”
I shook my head, pressing my hands harder to Fluffy’s shoulder.
“I’m…okay…” Fluffy rasped.
“Bullshit,” I mumbled.
Maureen extended the gun a little closer to me. “I said, get up.”
I narrowed my eyes. Maybe, if I pissed her off enough, she’d try to scare me by shoving the gun completely in my face. If she did that, I could—
Wild barking bounced around the silence. Wild barking and the crazy click click click of claws on the floor as Groot came running into the living room from wherever he’d been.
Groot. My puppy.
“Groot,” I shouted, just as Maureen swung her gun to point it straight at my dog.
I shoved myself upright, driving my shoulder into her extended arm.
The gun fired. And then I felt it hit my back and clatter to the floor.
No gun in her hand now. Good.
She screamed. I slammed into her, driving her backward. We smashed into the wall. My teeth clicked in my head. I had a surreal moment where time seemed to freeze and I wondered how much of a dent we’d made in the plasterboard, and then Maureen Ford was fighting against me, trying to get away.
No fucking way in hell was I letting that happen.
I snatched a fistful of her hair and, clawing at her face, smashed her head backward into the wall.
She lashed out, her hands slicing my cheek, my face.
And then I was being pulled off her. Yanked away.
The room spun in a blur, and all I could make out was Lucas, between me and the judge.
“I won’t hit you, Maureen.” He balled his fists, shoulders bunched. “But I am telling you you’re in for a world of fucking hurt.”
“You can’t touch me. If something happens to me, I’ve got actions in place to immediately identify you as my attacker.”
I lunged at her. Lucas held me off. Just. “No you haven’t,” he said, putting me behind him again. “Because that would risk an investigation into why you even know me. And you don’t want that at all, do you.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Too smart for your own good, aren’t you, Trip.”
Lucas laughed, the sound cold and menacing. “Seems so, Queen B.”
“Don’t call me that!” she snapped.
“What did you plan to do here?” Lucas loosened his fists. His body seemed to become more fluid. I recognized it—he was preparing to fight. “Kill me? Kill Ronnie? Kill anyone here?”
She jerked her stare to me, and then to Fluffy.
Fluffy was trying to push himself to his feet. I don’t know if he realized she’d killed Francis or not yet. I wanted to go to him, but I wanted to hurt the woman with her back pressed to the wall and murder in her eyes more.
“I need to clean house, Tripwire.” She shook her head again. “And you’re the last of the muck. It would have been better if it was just you, but then, who knows what you’ve told your fiancée here. Or your Marine bodyguard.”
“Ronnie,” Lucas threw over his shoulder. “Check on Fluffy.”
“I’m up, Lucas.” Fluffy slowly straightened to his feet. Blood seeped from the hole in his shoulder, over his fingers, down his chest.
“But not for long,” Maureen shot back, lips curling in a cold smile.
I hurried to Fluffy. I had no idea what I was going to do to help him—it looked like he was losing a lot of blood—but I went to him anyway. Wrapped one arm around his massive back, and pressed my hand on top of his over the bullet wound. I also did my best to keep him turned away from Francis.
The Doberman hadn’t moved. The floor was a sea of red beneath him. Sitting in all the blood, nudging Francis’s belly with his muzzle, was Groot.
I glared at Maureen, an icy hate spreading through me. She had come into my home, she had hurt the people I loved, the animals…
“So what do we do here, Maureen?” Lucas started to inch closer to her, his hands open and to his side. Did she know he could take her out in barely a heartbeat from such a seemingly submissive pose? I suspected she did, given the way she watched him. “I’m not going to let you kill those I love. And I can’t just let you walk away after what you’ve done to Fluffy. To F—”
He stopped before saying Francis.
Fluffy stiffened, twisting in my arm.
“Fluffy,” I murmured. “Fluffy, look at—”
“Francis?” Fluffy groaned.
A split second before throwing himself at Maureen.
Everything went crazy.
Lucas roared, spinning to try to intercept Fluffy charging at Maureen. Maureen squ
ealed, cowering away. Groot started yapping. Wild, feverish barks, Francis’s blood splashing up onto his legs.
And in amongst it all, I saw…
Taser.
Maureen Ford was pulling a Taser from inside her jacket.
A Taser she aimed at Lucas’s back.
“No!” I ran. At Lucas and Fluffy.
I slammed into them, knocking them both sideways. Pain erupted in my shoulder, neck and head, but I’d deal with that later.
Regaining my footing, I threw myself at the judge.
“Bitch!” she yelped as I drove her—and myself—into the wall.
We fought. It wasn’t pretty. For a matter of seconds, we wrestled. When girls fight, we get nasty. There’s nothing glorious or elegant or honorable about a bitch fight, and Maureen Ford and I were in a bitch fight.
I don’t know how many seconds it lasted, but we used every weapon at our disposal. She scratched at my face. I bit her arm. She pulled my hair. I kneed her in the groin (just because there’s no dangly bits down there, doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when it’s hit hard).
A distant part of me waited for Lucas to break us up. Expected it. I didn’t want him to. This bitch had come into my home, had brought her shit into it… No way was I letting her off. Fuck that.
At some point, she dropped the Taser. I heard it clatter to the ground. Relief swept through me. Made me relax.
For a split second.
A stupid split second.
She took advantage. I don’t know if it was luck on her behalf, or if she was a better fighter than me (and let’s be serious here, until a few weeks ago, I’d never been in a fight in my life, and she was the secret money boss of a violent gang, so it was probably the latter), but as I dropped my guard to search for the Taser, she smashed her fist into my jaw and sent me reeling.
I crumbled sideways. Distant barking sounded over Lucas’s roar and Fluffy’s groan. Where they still okay? I couldn’t tell. My head was full of black, swirling pain.
“Put it down, Maureen,” Lucas yelled.
I blinked. Shook my head. Tried to clear it of the painful fog. Put what down?
“I will shoot her!” Maureen screamed back.
Groot barked at my feet.
“Put it down,” Lucas ordered again.
Finally, my head cleared and my stomach dropped.
Oh God, no.
Maureen had her gun again. Gripped tightly in two hands, pointed straight at me. Blood and sweat trickled down her face and terror swam in her eyes.
Cold glee surged through me. Good. Be scared, bitch. Be very scared.
“Put. It. Down,” Lucas growled.
I flicked him a look, and my gut—already a tight, sinking pit—rolled.
Lucas held Maureen’s Taser. Was aiming it at Maureen. On the floor, slumped but fighting to stand, was Fluffy.
“Put it down, Trip!” Maureen yelled. “The bullet will hit her before you can even move.”
I stood. Frozen. What should I do? Groot growled, small body pressed to my calf. He trembled. Or maybe that was me?
“So that’s it?” Lucas’s calm voice chilled me. “You’re going to kill me, kill us? To keep your connection to Trinity a secret? So you can, what? One day become president?”
I did not like how relaxed he sounded. How…indifferent. What was he doing? What…
“Got to get rid of the skeletons, Trip. As I said, I hadn’t planned to kill your fiancée or your Marine. Just you. But they unfortunately made the mistake of being in your life, so…” She shrugged. “That’s what they get.”
“That’s what they get,” he echoed, expression unreadable. “For being in my life, they get shit.”
Oh no. No no, I could see where Lucas’s head was going. I could—
“Lucas,” I poured every ounce of love I had for him into his name. “Lucas, listen to me. Listen. To. Me. My life would be shit without you in it. Do you hear me? Without you, it would be—”
“Shut up, bitch,” Maureen snarled. “Time to say good—”
Lucas moved. Fast. So fast.
And so did Fluffy.
Fluffy launched himself from the floor at me, smashing into me before I could blink, blood from his shoulder wound splattering everywhere.
Lucas threw himself at Maureen.
I hit the ground, taken down by Fluffy, just as a gunshot shattered the air.
Just as Groot burst into wild, crazy barking.
And then a female was screaming. And as I bucked and fought against Fluffy’s insistent weight, I saw Lucas slam Maureen to the floor. I saw him pin her there, sitting on her chest, the gun now in his hand, pressed to the middle of her forehead.
“Time to say goodbye, Queen B,” he growled, his stare locked on her, trapped beneath him.
Maureen twisted and bucked. “Please don’t! Please, don’t kill me! Please, please—I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”
Lucas pressed her gun harder to her forehead.
“Lucas.” My stomach lurched. Oh God, was he going to…was he going to… “Lucas!”
I fought against Fluffy. I needed to get up. I needed to calm Groot down. I needed to stop Lucas from killing Maureen Ford.
I needed—
Maureen bucked. Hard.
I saw Lucas fight for balance. I saw her snatch at his hand, at the gun.
And then I saw him reel back, bleak rage in his face, and smash the butt of the gun into her cheek.
She went limp. Boneless.
Motionless.
“Lucas?” My throat burned. My eyes did the same. “Is she… Did you…” I swallowed, still pinned down by Fluffy, stare locked on Maureen Ford.
Lucas closed his eyes and—with a shaky breath—shook his head. “Just knocked her out, babe. That’s all. I didn’t kill her. Promise.”
Fluffy straightened off me. Something wet and warm on my back told me he was still bleeding. I scrambled to my feet, giving Maureen one more quick glance before spinning to Fluffy. “You’re too hurt to do that!”
He grunted a disagreement. And then staggered sideways a little.
“Ronnie, call 911.”
I turned back to Lucas, standing with the unconscious judge at his feet. “Nine-one-one? Cops? Or paramedics.”
“We need both, babe. For both Fluffy and Judge Ford.”
Whoa. Lucas was inviting the police to come into our home?
Chest tight, I gave Fluffy another quick glance—hell, he didn’t look good—and hurried to find my phone. The last time I remember having it was in the kitchen.
I heard Lucas murmuring to Fluffy as I dialed 911. I heard Fluffy murmur something back. I don’t know what. All I could make out was “do with her” before 911 answered.
I remember staying calm. I remember emphasizing that the person shot was a Marine. I don’t remember if I named Maureen as the unconscious woman responsible for shooting said Marine.
Hurrying back into the living room, throat tight, worry for Fluffy—and Lucas—gnawing at me, I confirmed our address into the phone.
Lucas was checking Fluffy’s wound. Fluffy sat in a chair at the dining table, his eyes closed.
“Please do not leave the premises,” the dispatcher said into my ear. “The paramedics and the police will be arriving short—”
The front door, already ajar, swung open farther and my parents—my freaking parents!—stood on the threshold, gaping.
“Ronnie?” Disbelief filled Dad’s voice. His stare jumped from me, to Lucas, to Fluffy, to the unconscious judge on the floor, and back to me again. “What the hell is going on?”
“Miss?” the 911 dispatcher asked. “Is everything okay?”
“Veronica?” Dad’s gape turned to a glare. “What the hell is going on?”
“Please hurry,” I said into my phone, before stabbing the end key with my thumb and shoving my phone into my back pocket. I stared at Mom and Dad. “What the hell are you doing here? You’re should still be on your—”
“Lucas fucking Pratt!” my fat
her roared, glare jerking to Lucas. “What the fuck have you done to my daughter?”
“William!” my mom wailed.
Dad charged, fists balled, into the living room, running straight at Lucas. “I’m going to fucking—”
“Dad!” My brain jolted my feet. I stumbled towards him. But not fast enough.
He reached Lucas—standing stock still, watching him, probably just as shocked as I was—and smashed his fist into his face. A wild right hook to the jaw.
Hard. Hard enough to snap Lucas’s head to the side.
Hard enough for Fluffy to wince and shout, “Hey!”
“Dad!” I yelled, grabbing for him.
Fluffy intercepted me, strong hands on my arms. Protecting me, I know. From my father? Or Lucas’s reaction to Dad hitting him?
“Dad. You don’t—”
Dad spun to point a finger at me. “Be quiet, Veronica. Shut it. Now. I don’t know what you’ve been doing with Pratt, but it stops now. He’s taken advantage of you and made you do God knows—”
“Hey!” Fluffy protested again, stepping us towards Dad. “You need to stop—”
I squeezed Fluffy’s arm, my fingers slipping on his bloodied skin. How was he even still conscious? “Dad,” I shook my head. “Dad, you need to let me—”
“I said to shut up!”
“Hey,” Lucas said. “William.”
Dad spun back to him. Just as Lucas swung his fist in a tight, blurring punch. Knuckle smashed against jaw. Bone against bone.
Dad staggered sideways. Mom screamed. Fluffy groaned. Groot yapped. A happy yap. At least one of us was having a great time.
“Lucas!” I cried, stunned.
Lucas glared at my father. “Don’t ever talk to my fiancée that way again, Mr. Underwood.”
“Fiancée?” Mom gasped.
Dad gaped at me. “We go away for a cruise and you…what? Throw away your life? On Lucas Pratt? What? Has he gotten you pregnant?”
“And what?” Lucas balled his fists. “Ronnie would only marry me because I got her pregnant?”
“I can’t fathom any other reason,” Dad snarled. “She’s smart and has a future, and you’re—”
“Sleeping naked with her every night,” Lucas shot back.
Oh boy.
“That does it!” Dad lunged at Lucas.
I threw myself at Dad.
Groot yapped louder, prancing at my feet.
The Bad Boy In Cuffs Page 6
