Page 40 of Pretty Lies (Watch Me Burn #1)

“Of course,” he answered before I’d even finished the sentence, moving around the bar to join us. “You both heading home already?”

“I have an early shift at the diner tomorrow,” Mule grumbled, nursing her split knuckles as we walked towards the door. “And Donovan’s got a psychopath for a boyfriend, so we didn’t question it when he said to go home.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I grumbled, making Diesel snort, but he didn’t voice his opinion as he walked outside ahead of us to make sure it was safe.

He muttered under his breath at me as we neared the Corvette though. “Heads-up, Donovan.”

“Cage fighting? That’s what you’ve been fucking doing?” Caden barked as he stalked towards us. “Ty told you not to fuck with them, Aurora. They kill people for sport, and you have no idea how dangerous cage fighting is!”

I expected Diesel to step in, but he stood back and let me handle it, relief washing through me. If it was Skeeter out here with me, Caden probably would’ve been smacked in the mouth already.

“Why would I listen to him? I never listened to Jensen when he told me numerous times not to trust any of you. Don’t tell me that I don’t know shit about cage fighting either, I used to come here and fight after I was fucking raped by your father.

Don’t you dare pretend to give a shit about my safety, Holloway. ”

Tyler snorted from beside him as he joined the conversation, Jensen and Lukas standing off to the side. “I’ve never seen you here before.”

“So?” I asked curtly, watching him roll his eyes.

“I’m surprised Skeet even lets you fight. He knew it would just piss us off.”

A smirk stretched across my face and I leaned back against the door of the Corvette, holding his dark gaze. “You think Skeet gives a fuck if he pisses you off? Word of advice, guys. Don’t fuck with the Psychos.”

Lukas looked concerned as he finally spoke up, his voice hitting me right in the chest. “We didn’t fuck with them. Rory, you’re bleeding. Let me?—”

“Don’t,” I bit out, my gaze landing on him as he paused before he could touch me. “And Skeet’s pissed .”

Caden narrowed his eyes on the hickey on my neck, his voice sounding curious and pissed off all at once. “Who are you fucking?”

“Pretty sure you already know,” I retorted as I unlocked the car and opened the door, glancing at Diesel with a warm smile. “Thanks for walking me out, D. I’ll see you later.”

“You good to get home on your own?” he asked, thankfully not referring to home as Skeeter’s. I didn’t want the guys knowing I was there.

“I’ll be fine. Mule has to go that way too,” I answered, waiting for Mule to nod before Diesel finally made his way back to the Shed, leaving me to handle my problems on my own.

“I’ll text you,” Mule said as she jiggled her keys. “Maybe get some extra training in.”

“Sounds good,” I answered, intending on climbing into the car, but Caden’s hand shot out to slam the door shut. Mule hesitated, but I waved her off. “I’m fine. My big bro is just a real asshole sometimes.”

She laughed before leaving, and I let out a pained gasp as Caden’s hand pressed against my tender ribs. “Ouch! What was that for?”

“Show me,” he demanded as he grabbed the bottom of my shirt to shove it out of the way, my jaw clenching as I batted his hand away.

“What are you guys even doing here?”

“Us? What about you? Ty texted and said you’re rubbing shoulders with the Psychos, so who’s dick did you suck to get those kind of connections?” he spat, glaring at me as I opened the car door again. “Is that Skeet’s Corvette?”

“Yep.” I didn’t elaborate.

“You need to see a doctor,” Jensen said with worry, completely ignoring the current conversation as his eyes roamed my face. “What if you broke something?”

“I have broken ribs but my face is fine. I know what broken bones feel like, trust me,” I said dryly. “I’m leaving so I can have a bath and go to bed. Go back to your stupid big empty mansions.”

I climbed into the car and locked the doors so they couldn’t stop me from leaving, and I started the engine before flipping them the middle finger.

Caden scowled at me as I reversed away from them, the other three appearing torn. Something shifted in my chest at knowing they were hurting, and I had to remind myself that they had no one else to blame but themselves.

Skeeter

I eyed the camera footage once the fights were over, glaring at the screen as I watched Caden slam the Corvette door to stop Rory getting in. They were lucky I hadn’t been out there, or I would’ve knocked him the fuck out for touching my damn car.

It had been three hours since Rory had texted me to let me know she’d gotten home safely, and I kept checking the cameras at my house to make sure no one showed up to give her any trouble.

I hadn’t been lying when I’d told her we had a lot of enemies. We weren’t the only crew around, and it was common for bullets to fly between us all.

The Shed was almost empty now that the action had finished, only a few drunk idiots left behind and our crew. Slash was currently throwing some guy out, while Brick and Liam started the shit job of cleaning the cage.

“Tonight made a lot of money,” Diesel said as he joined me in the office, his eyes drifting to the computer screen as I sipped my whiskey. “She handled them fine.”

“She did,” I replied as I flicked through more footage to try and see where Caden and his boys went, scowling as a code request popped up.

“Move,” Diesel chuckled, and I pushed back from my seat, letting him sit down in front of the computer.

It took him a few moments to hack into the system before pulling up the surveillance at Caden’s house to find the guys’ cars all in the driveway.

“They’re all there. See?” he stated as he flicked through the footage to find all four of them sitting in the backyard by the pool.

“Can you bring up audio?” I asked, and he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. This girl’s making you crazy. Well, crazier than normal. People are saying she’s your girlfriend, you know that, right?”

“Bite me,” I muttered, leaning forward to try and listen to the footage and block out what he’d said. I was aware of the gossip, but I was ignoring it. I didn’t have girlfriends, no way in hell, but if it kept people away from her while I had my fun, that was fine by me.

“She’s bluffing,” Caden snapped through the speakers, frustration seeping out of him as he sat on the edge of the pool. “She’s just pussy for them and they’re letting her think she has a place there. The crews don’t let girls in. They use them, fill them with cum, then toss them aside like trash.”

He wasn’t wrong. It was rare any of us committed to anyone, it wasn’t worth the drama that came along with it. Some of my guys had learned the hard way what happened when you cared too deeply in our world.

“The only people that made her believe a lie was us,” Tyler grunted.

“Don’t speak to me like it’s my fault.”

“It is your fucking fault!” Jensen snapped, kicking a chair over to let out some of his anger. “You’re lucky I don’t knock your teeth down your throat, Caden.”

“Try me. I have no problem laying you the fuck out,” Caden threw back, motioning to Lukas. “You and your boyfriend don’t even want to be here, so fuck off home and rail each other like we all know you want to. Don’t play nice with me on my account.”

“You’re as bad as his mother,” Jensen growled, motioning to Lukas. “C’mon, let’s go. He can sit here and be a dick on his own.”

“I’m not gay,” Lukas seethed, and I winced as Caden laughed cruelly. It was a shame he was such a liability because he had a mean streak that could’ve been an asset to us.

“You don’t think I’ve seen how you look at him? You look at him in the same way you look at Rory. Stop living in denial and just admit it. You want Jensen’s dick.”

I expected Jensen to blow up, but Lukas surprised me as he didn’t hesitate to shove Caden into the pool.

“Fuck you. You’ve wrecked my chances with Rory but don’t wreck my friendship with Jensen just because your ego’s bruised. Did you really think she was going to come home with you tonight?”

“She’s lucky I didn’t shove her in the trunk!” Caden sputtered as he surfaced.

Rage burned through me at the thought, and Diesel sighed.

“I think it’s time you made it very clear to them about who she belongs to if you want to keep her, brother. Might save us some bullets in the future.”

“She’s just pussy to me.”

“You going to let everyone else have a ride on her then?” he asked bluntly, huffing when I glared at him. “Then claim her before someone else does.”

“Rory doesn’t want Holloway’s boys to know where she is or what she’s doing,” I said lightly, earning an amused glance as he leaned back in the seat.

“And I want to be rich and bring the dead back to life, but we don’t always get what we want.

She can’t escape it anymore, Skeet. Let them know whose dick she’s bouncing on before they convince her to go back to them.

We all know her spat with them is temporary. She’ll miss rich boy dick in no time.”

I glared at the screen as Caden pulled himself out of the pool, and Tyler didn’t move to help him like I thought he would. That surprised me more than anything.

Those two were tight, so if they were having problems, things were more serious than I thought. They loved Rory, they were becoming divided over their betrayal of her, and there was no way in hell that I’d let her run back to that fancy mansion.

She didn’t belong there, she belonged on this side of town with blood on her knuckles and fire in her eyes.

Lukas stormed off with Jensen not far behind him, and Tyler bickered with Caden for a few more minutes before stalking off as well, leaving Caden to stare after them in disbelief.

“I know just how to break the news to them too,” I mumbled as an idea popped into my head, giving Diesel a pat on the shoulder. “Thanks, D.”

“Don’t kill any rich boys, the aftermath isn’t worth it,” he joked as he stood, giving me my seat back.

“Don’t worry, those dumbasses fell on their own sword when they broke her trust. She’s starting to trust me, man. That’s going to kill them more than anything because she’ll do anything I say.”

“Are we talking about the same girl? The bratty one that has issues with authority? That one?” he deadpanned, making me scowl.

“Get out and clean the bar. I know what I’m doing.”

“If you say so.”