Page 16 of Prettiest Little Thief (Band of Thieves #1)

Pain invaded my senses. My lip throbbed, my head ached, my eyes puffy from crying.

Rocco had thoroughly thrashed my body. I had pegged him for a woman beater the moment he shoved me from the car, but this…this was more than a few scrapes and bruises.

The moment he was left alone with me, he took advantage. He didn’t use any of the devices on the wall. No. He used his fists. The brute force of his masculine hands. Knuckles against my face and gut. Blood flowed from my nose and flooded my mouth.

With the chains secured to the wall, there was still enough length for me to sit on the concrete floor.

Albeit uncomfortably, with my hands by my face.

Sleep evaded me. With the bruising, throbbing pain in my face, there was no peace.

No blissful dreams to escape the nightmare of my reality.

I would have taken the darkness of a dead sleep for a reprieve. Anything.

My mind wandered to what the people in my life were doing.

If they were searching for me. If Fox was in big trouble with Lucas.

Grumpy Lucas would be angrier that he hadn’t gotten his hands on the key than he would be about my abduction.

And Evie… I was sure Evie was losing her mind.

It was a miracle she had even let me walk away without her hopping into the backseat wi th me.

If she had, I would have bargained my life for hers.

This was my mess, and no one else deserved to be punished for it.

The door of the torture room creaked open, making me jump. The tension in my limbs immediately returned. Expecting to see Rocco, I was on high alert. Relief rushed through me at seeing Evan striding toward me.

“Christ,” he murmured as he stepped closer. He squatted in front of me, gently taking my chin in his hand. I flinched, but he didn’t take his fingers from me. His gaze inspected my injuries. His dark eyes were hard to read. “Fucking Rocco.”

“You had to know this was going to happen,” I said. My voice was raspy from a night full of screaming and pleading.

Evan swallowed and released my chin. “I didn’t think he’d go this hard.”

I scoffed in disbelief. If it didn’t hurt so much, I would’ve headbutted the jerk. “Really? You’re surprised? He threw me out of the car without any remorse.”

He stood to his full height again and stared down at me. “I’ve seen Rocco do plenty of shit to men, but I never… I never thought he would do this to a woman.”

A frown creased between my brows, causing a jolt of pain to lance through my head. “You’re just as pathetic as him. You left a monster with me. Don’t you dare feel sorry for me when you knew what he was capable of. Don’t act like you didn’t know,” I seethed.

Somewhere down the line, Rocco started hating women. Whether it was his mother or sister or an ex-girlfriend… now I was his punching bag. My chest rose and fell quickly. Spots dotted my vision.

Evan didn’t seem angry at what I had said. He knew I was right. Guilt settled behind his gaze, and he stiffened. “I came down here because Lucas Knight is upstairs with a gun to Charles’s head. He claims you’re his.”

My anger evaporated and I sat up straighter. “What?”

“Lucas Knight—”

“I heard what you said. Why didn’t you lead with that?” I asked.

“Because sometimes, I think men like Charles need to be knocked down a peg or two every so often. “A grin appeared on Evan’s face.

“So, you’re just letting Lucas scare the bejesus out of him?” My mouth popped open. Never would I have taken Evan for someone who would mess with his boss like that.

“Don’t tell anyone, though.” He gave me a very un-Tweedle-like wink.

A breathy laugh left me, the split in my lip stinging. Evan reached into his pocket and pulled out the key to my restraints. When the lock clicked and released my wrists, they dropped. Achy and stiff from being in the same position for hours on end.

Before I could even get to my feet, loud voices came from behind the door of the hallway. My eyes widened. What if Lucas had been gunned down and I was next? My heart started to pound in my chest, and the spots in my vision started to spread. The door flung open.

Charles was shoved into the room, followed by a livid Lucas. The gun in his hand pressed against the Crimson leader’s back. Fox trailed right behind them with several other men in tow. None of them I recognized.

“What’s taking so fucking long?” Lucas screamed. His handsome face contorted into a mask of rage.

“She’s here, Mr. Knight.” Evan stepped aside. Lucas’s gaze landed on me, and for a moment, his face fell. The hardened, kickass expression was wiped clean off of his face. And just as quickly as it came, it went.

“Who the fuck did this to her?” he growled. The mask of fury settled back into place.

No one answered. Charles stood with his hands slightly raised, glaring at me and Evan as if it was our fault Lucas held a gun to him.

“Answer me!” Lucas yelled.

Evan took a step toward him. “Rocco. Rocco did it.” Color me surprised once again. Evan was giving up his partner. The need to cry rushed back, but I swallowed the urge.

Lucas didn’t move his crystal blue eyes from me. He scanned my battered face and body. “Bring him to me.” Evan didn’t hesitate and strode past the men that crowded the space.

Seconds ticked into minutes. No one spoke. No one moved. And even when the ding of the elevator arriving sounded, the entire room was quiet. Only the sounds of approaching footsteps and fabric rustling bled into the space.

Rocco entered before Evan. The sneer dropped from his round face when he saw the gun Lucas held. “Boss?”

“Did you do this to her?” Lucas nodded his head in my direction. His jaw clenched tightly.

“Who the fuck are you?” Rocco’s bad guy persona was on display. That’s right, question the guy with the gun. I rolled my eyes.

“It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is I asked you a god damn question, and I want the fucking answer. Now.”

“Answer him, Rocco, you fucking idiot,” Charles snapped.

“Yeah. I beat the bitch. What of it?” Rocco cracked his knuckles like he was preparing for a fight.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Lucas pointed the gun at Rocco and fired.

The sharp sound of the pistol unloading caused me to shriek and cover my ears.

Rocco’s scream followed, and his leg buckled.

He fell to the floor and grabbed his knee.

Lucas fired again. Evenly distributing a bullet into his other knee.

Rocco’s wails of agony continued as Lucas motioned for Fox to take his position, holding his own gun at Charles. I dropped my hands from my ears.

Lucas took several steps toward Rocco and squatted in front of him.

He placed the tip of the pistol beneath his jaw, his other tattooed arm dropped to rest on his knee.

Rocco rocked back and forth with tears streaming down his face.

“Call this your lucky day. Since I don’t want Roe to witness your murder, I’m considering this as a warning.

If you ever… ever lay hands on what’s mine again, I’ll hang you up by your balls and bleed you out in front of your family. Understood?”

Rocco was shaking, and blood pooled underneath him. In his shock, he couldn’t answer. His mouth hung open as he cried from the pain of having his kneecaps blown off. Lucas pressed the gun harder into Rocco’s chin.

“ Understood ?” Lucas ground out. Teeth bared in a feral expression.

“Yes… yes. Oh god. My knees.”

Lucas removed the weapon from his target and pulled back up into his full height again. All muscles and brawn. A freaking hero. My freaking hero.

He prowled toward me, kneeling in front of me.

His frown softened as he took me in. “Are you okay, little thief?” He gently brushed a knuckle along my uninjured cheek.

Trying to push the fluttering down in my belly that his touch elicited, I gave him a subtle nod and licked my dry lips. “Then let’s go home.”