Page 142
Story: Princes of Legacy
A cramp rips through me and I gasp, clutching my belly.
The cop sighs. “Fine.You. Up.”
The wave of pain rushes away, and I realize they’re motioning at Remy, who rises fluidly to his feet. He grabs the corner of his shirt and lifts it, revealing his body art, arms spread. “Bad day for you, buddy. I’m clean as a whistle.”
Remy might be, but most of them get taken off—even the ones who don’t have guns—for something or another. Traffic violations. Probation violations. Simple possession of paraphernalia. Kaz gets the loudest cheer at four guns, with chants of, “To the victor go the spoils!” and he obnoxiously bows as he’s led away, handcuffed and skipping. But it’s all small stuff, and from the way Remy is chuckling as he stands back—one of the only guys who couldn’t be arrested—chances are, all of them will be out by tomorrow.
But then they get to Eugene.
Agent Knight is the one to step over his prone form, bending to gather Eugene’s wrist for the handcuffs. It’s nothing like it was with the other guys. There’s no fun frisk to see who’s won the raid’s gun count.
Instead, Agent Knight clicks the cuffs, saying, “Eugene Warren, you're under arrest for suspicion in the murder of Laura Walker. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say?—”
It hits me as the room erupts in a different sound this time, full of indignation and hurled profanities, that this was the whole point. To clear the guns, the frat boys, even some cutsluts out of the room before they arrested him. The realization knocks me sideways, and I no longer hear what anyone is saying. Theonly thing swimming in my ears is an odd sort of ringing as I watch Ballsy turn to meet my gaze, all the blood draining from his face.
Everything falls apart.
The artifice of fun snaps away, and suddenly, a wave of fury fills the air.
I’m not even surprised when Remy rushes at Knight, slamming his tattooed fist into his face with a snarl. “That’s bullshit, and you fucking know it!”
Knight staggers from the hit, his sunglasses flying off, but quickly collects himself, offering Remy a bloody grin. “Thank you. When we came here, I didn’t have anything on you, and trust me, I looked.” He jerks his head at the officer running over. “Book Mr. Maddox for assaulting a federal officer.”
Remy puts his own hands behind his back, leaning in to sneer, “You’re a pussy. You wouldn’t make it ten seconds in a ring with one of us.”
But Knight’s already moving on.
To Wicker.
He stares down at him, dabbing his split lip. “I wonder what we’re going to find in your pants, Ashby.”
Wicker climbs slowly to his feet, a cocky smirk plastered to his face. “Just my throbbing, nine-inch cock.”
“Why are you doing this to us?” I ask, the words tearing out of my throat like a sob. “Eugene didn’t do anything. Why won’t you leave him alone? Can’t you see we’ve been through enough?”
Agent Knight gives me a long, searching look. “It’s always the boyfriend, Miss Sinclaire. Or the fiance. Or the husband.” He steps closer, peering down into my eyes. It galls me to see the sympathy on his face. “You think I’m gunning for the people you care about, Princess, but I’m trying to protect you from them.” Agent Knight glances back, watching as Ballsy’s led out of thegym. “Something you may think about before that baby gets here.”
Laura is dead.
Stella might be too, for all I know.
Eugene, the Dukes, DKS—everyone is being taken away in handcuffs.
And somewhere in that maelstrom of grief and anger and bone-deep helplessness, I feel a sudden trickle of warmth against my thighs, transforming to a gush, just as a cramp seizes me.
“Oh no!” I gasp. “No, no, no…” I grab for Wicker, but he’s already there, shoulder slamming into Agent Knight as he catches me. I know he understands what’s happening when his shoe slips, squeaking against the clear fluid pooling on the floor, because he inspects it with a frozen stare.
And then his blue eyes rise to mine. “We need to get you out of here.” He swings that panicked gaze onto Agent Knight. “Her water just broke. You can frisk me, but make it quick. We have to get to the car to—shit, my leather. No,” his head shakes, “don’t worry about that. Oh, fuck.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Knight says, pushing him back. “This is an active raid, Ashby. How do I know she’s not faking?”
“Her water broke! How’s she going to fake that?”
Another cramp hits, and I suck in a breath. Knight glances over, grimacing. “If your girlfriend needs an ambulance, we’ll call her one, but no one else is coming in or out of here until we’re finished.”
Only one problem with that. “They can’t get through,” says an officer, overhearing. “The tow companies here are giving us the runaround. We’re having to call the county wreckers to get those stalled cars removed.”
“County?!” Wicker snaps. “That’ll take an hour, at least!”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182