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I was almost afraid to ask him what he’d come up with.

“If Damien can hold her arms down, I’ll need you to get her mouth open, Quinton.”

I nodded, I could do that. Easy.

“Did she really hit Ariel?” Damien asked in a gruff voice.

From his voice, I could tell he did not enjoy the thought of someone hurting our girl.

“Yeah,” I ground out. “The bitch slapped her across the face. Right in front of us, too. I think she would have kept hitting her if I hadn’t dragged her out of there.”

“She cornered me when I was coming out of the bathroom at Dash’s house,” Damien shared. “She got up close and in my space, rubbed her tits up against me and tried to slip her hand down the front of my jeans. She went straight for my dick. Seriously, my boy wasn’t even hard and still she went right for it.”

After a few seconds of stilted silence, in a sarcastic voice, I asked, “That’s it? You’re okay with fucking some lady up because she grabbed your dick when it was soft? Un-fucking-believable. I would expect something like that from Julian, but you? No fucking way.”

Julian started laughing.

“You don’t understand,” Damien exclaimed in a taut voice. “I think it’s my fault she attacked Ariel.”

Julian stopped laughing and, sounding genuinely confused, asked, “What are you talking about?”

If he hadn’t asked, I would have.

Without the use of my turn signal, I slowed down and turned right, onto Jackie’s street. The houses on this street were the polar opposites to the one’s on Damien and Julian’s street. These houses were large and had tall fences around them.

I slowed down and switched off my headlights as I pulled up to the curb in front of her house. She’d downsized after her husband croaked and moved into a much smaller house. My house was bigger than the one she lived in now.

“When she tried to feel me up, I stopped her and told her I wasn’t interested because I had a girlfriend.”

“Yeah, Damien,” I bit out. “We all know about your fucking girlfriend. What’s this have to do with Ariel?”

A click came from the back, telling me Damien had unbuckled his seat belt. He appeared closer in the rear-view mirror as he moved, leaning in between the front seats. He placed his elbows on the arm rest and propped his chin on his closed fists.

Always striking a pose, was out Damien. Even when no one was looking.

“I described my girlfriend to her. I told her my girlfriend was beautiful. That she had light blonde hair and lovely, mysterious green eyes that reminded me of my brother, Dash’s eyes. I told her about how sweet this girl was and how she was everything to me and to the rest of you. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have shared that last bit but it had just come out. I feel responsible, and I feel like it’s my fault Jackie attacked Ariel. I want to make it right, which is why I’m here.”

Damien straightened and sat back. He scooted across the seat and opened the door behind Julian. He slipped out of the car and closed the door without making a sound.

My head swiveled to the side and I caught Julian’s shocked expression. I imagined I wore a similar one.

“What do you think happened to the girlfriend he wanted to keep around?” Julian asked me.

I grinned at him. “Don’t care. She’s gone and that’s all that matters to me. Now we’re all on board.”

A slow, smug smile spread across Julian’s face.

He didn’t need to say it, I knew what he was thinking because I was thinking the same thing myself. There’d be no more fighting amongst us. If we could bring Ariel around then we’d both get everything we wanted.

I opened the door and got out of my car, closing the door behind me as silently as Damien had. Julian did the same.

We moved closer to the wooden fence, hiding in its shadows.

Damien stood on the wide porch, bathed in the light. He rang the doorbell and we all waited. Jackie’s car was in the driveway, so we knew she was home. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She had a nice and big attached garage, she should have parked her car in there. Especially if she was one of those idiots who didn’t lock their car doors, thinking they were safe because they were parked in their own driveway. Please. I had watched one too many horror movies to swallow that load.

The door opened, and Jackie appeared. Damien immediately reached out and took her by the hand. She didn’t even flinch or try to pull away from him.

After doing some fast talking, Damien was pulled into the house behind her. The door closed behind them and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I’d been nervous about this first part not going smoothly. Forced entry and breaking and entering weren’t my style. I could usually charm my way into anywhere. Anywhere except for maybe here.