Page 17

17: Thorne

*Earlier that day*

Leaving Tori is always the worst part of my day, especially considering how I'm always stuck with Mia. Never once can I just do something on my own.

And that's probably the point.

Diablo doesn't trust us, so he has these assistants do every task with us. They're his spies, I know that much, but I also know that Mia isn't a bad person...or so I hope.

We're back to the warehouse today, double-checking crates. Since we didn't see anything at our useless stakeout, Diablo wanted us to check the crates and see if they were messed with, too. This would at least help narrow down the areas where the crates are being changed.

If it doesn't happen at the warehouse, then it happens before that. I'm sure after this, he'll have us follow that trail too.

What I'm learning from Diablo is that once you're the leader, you delegate everything you can. Maybe he already knows the answers. Perhaps he even knows the culprit. More than likely, all this is some twisted game he's put on for us.

“Hand me the crowbar.” I hold my hand out toward Mia, who quickly places the cold metal in my hand. With a grunt and a lot of upper body strength, I pry it open and check it. “Yeah, this one was changed, too,” I confirm, closing it back up and setting the crowbar down .

I sigh, staring up at the ceiling, so exhausted from all of this. Vic means everything to me, so I will do literally anything she asks of me, but it doesn't mean I’ll enjoy it. She wanted to get to know her dad, and I sure as hell am not going to complain to her about this shit.

I want her to keep wanting to get to know him. I want her to form a relationship, even if the guy is a dick to me. He's her father, and I've heard her drone on enough about meeting her parents one day that I won't ruin this for her.

“You okay?” Mia asks, her hands tucked behind her back as she leans forward to look up at me.

It makes me think of a small child.

“Yeah. Just tired.” I reach for the bar again, but Mia steps in my way.

“It's not good to work this hard all the time, Thorne,” she advises, her eyes locked on mine. “You need to take care of yourself.”

“Thanks, Mia. I got it,” I say, my tone sharp and annoyed. I'm too tired to try and hide it.

“I can help, you know?” She blinks up at me so rapidly, for a moment I think she has something in her eye.

I sigh, sliding my hand down my face. “Mia, you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine.”

She steps forward, too close, too in my personal bubble. I'm still half reaching for the crowbar around her when she suddenly leans in and lands her lips on mine.

What the fuck?

What the actual fuck?

My mind is racing, trying to catch up, but my body...oh, it boils with fury.

You can't hurt her.

You can't kill her.

Calm. Be calm, Thorne.

It takes maybe two seconds—two seconds too long—before I push her. I try not to hurt her as I do, worried Diablo would dole out some repercussions if she was hurt because of me. Still, my anger is too much, and my body doesn't know gentle at this setting, so my push is more of a shove that lands her on the ground, and I'm exploding.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I snap, wiping at my mouth like she poured acid over it. “Why the hell would you do that?”

I turn to grab the crowbar and leave, but in the distance I catch the soft waves of Vic's hair disappearing through a door.

She saw that, didn't she?

Oh, God, no.

Mia!

“You did that on purpose didn't you?” My grip tightens on the crowbar, catching Mia's eye as she swallows hard. There's fear in her eyes...as there should be, because it's taking everything inside of me not to just hit her right now.

“I don't have time for this shit.”

I need to catch Vic.

I run through the warehouse, searching for her, but when I make it outside, I see her in the passenger seat of the SUV as Gabe drives them off. Her eyes are misted.

Fuck she saw.

Vic, please. I would never hurt you like that.

I'm seething. My ears are pounding, my head is roaring, and my heart is two beats away from shattering. Try as I might, I can't focus. I can't decide what to do now.

How the fuck do I fix this?

There's only one thing my brain keeps yelling at me. Mia. Get fucking Mia.

My feet march their way back to where I left her, thudding against the concrete floor as I practically stomp my way there. She hasn't moved from the floor, only now she's curled into a ball, crying .

“Get up!” I yell at her, because she gets absolutely no sympathy from me ever again.

“Thorne, I—”

“I don't want to hear it. You're coming with me.” I drag her up by the arm, probably too rough, rough enough to leave a mark. She yelps, but again, I don't care. “You're going to explain to Tori what happened. What the hell you were thinking.”

She pulls away as hard as she can, but I don't let her go, dragging her through the warehouse in protest. I throw her into the SUV as gently as a bear trying to catch salmon and make my way toward my seat.

I have no idea where to go from here, but I start driving, looking for their vehicle even though I know I won't find it. My hands burn as I grip the leather steering wheel so tight you can see the whites of my knuckles.

“Start talking!” I demand, cutting the tense silence as I make a left turn.

“I…” she gets quiet after one word.

My hand slams against the dash, so fucking furious I can't contain it. “I said start talking!”

She flinches, looking at me as if she can't recognize me, as if she doesn't know me.

You don't know me, Mia. You don't know me at all. If you did, you wouldn't have done what you did today.

“It's just—,” she starts, hanging her head low. “We were told we needed to push harder. That we needed to get some kind of result if I didn't want—” she cuts herself off there, twisting her hands in her lap.

“Didn't what, Mia? If you didn't want what?” I insist, chasing an SUV down only to realize it's not them when I pull up beside it.

Goddammit!

“To stop paying for my mom's treatments. ”

“Your mom's treatments?”

“She's sick, and insurance won't cover the treatments she needs. She may not have wanted me back after juvie, but my siblings need her, and she's still my mom.” She fidgets again, avoiding all eye contact as she stares at her lap. “Diablo heard what was going on from Cassandra and he offered to help me if I helped him.”

“So, what? The kiss was your way of stepping it up?” I ask to clarify, because I am really not understanding what anybody would have to gain from this.

“Yes. We're supposed to try to get you to be unfaithful to Tori,” she admits, her voice smaller and meeker, like she regrets it all.

Part of me wants to understand, wants to sympathize, but the larger part of me just wants to kick her out of this moving car right now.

“Why?”

“Cass said it's because Diablo doesn’t want you guys to be with her. He wants her to have one guy to help take over. Actually, I think he’d rather the guy be the one to run things,” she whispers, her eyes finally daring to meet mine. “I don’t think he really trusts Tori to take over. I mean, she just kind of popped up.”

If he weren’t her father...if Tori didn’t want him, he’d be a dead man.

I don’t care how powerful he thinks he is—get him alone and he’s dead.

“He’s going to learn the hard way that we’re not going anywhere. Tori is ours, and we are hers. And only hers.” My grip tightens on the steering wheel so hard it strains to keep its form. “When we find Tori, you’re telling her everything. You got me?”

She nods, growing silent again.

All I can think about now—all that I can hope—is that Vic will forgive me for ever letting this happen, for ever letting Mia even have the chance to get close enough to my face.

Don’t leave me, Vic. I won’t live .

It isn’t until I’ve wandered around the city twice that I remember Blaze made us all get that tracking app. Always ready, that one. I pull over and open the app, seeing she’s at some random house twenty minutes away. I quickly put my phone away and head that way, running a couple red lights that were taking too long to change. No cops, no problem.

When we get there, my heart lurches to a stop. The door is broken, furniture tossed around, shards of glass from a tableside lamp scatter the floor. It’s a mess, and by the look of these men, Vic put up a bigger fight than they thought—or Gabe did. For once, I guess I’m glad he’s with her...just for these moments.

They’re all huddled together, wounds mended and faces scowling. They’re on the phone, focused on the voice on the speaker when I enter. I gesture to Mia to stay back—because I don’t need her getting in my way—and let that anger in me come to the surface. The aura I’m putting out must be murderous, because despite not making a sound, they all suddenly turn to face me. The phone drops, a woman’s voice echoing in the silence. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”

“Did you hurt her?” are the first words to come out of my mouth, dark, sinister. They narrow their eyes, sizing me up from head to toe.

I’m tall, and lean, but these guys are bigger, and because there’s three of them, they’re thinking they have the upper hand. “I asked you a question. Did you hurt her?!” I enunciate each word loud and clear, raising my voice with each syllable.

The leader of the group, I’m assuming, lets out a chuckle as he stares down at me. “I don’t think you understand the situation you’re in. You should turn around and walk away while you still can,” he tries to warn me, crossing his arms and flexing his biceps to try and intimidate me.

“Clearly, you underestimate me.”

I don’t wait any longer, pulling my gun out and shooting the man to his left in the knee. He goes down with a shout, cradling his leg to his chest as he groans in pain. The other two leap forward, taking their chances on closing the distance before I can fire again. Too bad for them, I’m a quick shot. I clip the man on his right thigh, making sure he can’t get back up. All that’s left is the leader, who’s exactly the man I want.

His fist rounds forward, aiming right for my jaw, but I duck fast enough, wrapping my arms around his chest and pushing him back to the floor. The gun is knocked out of my hands beneath him, and he reaches for it immediately. Somehow, I manage to kick it away from him and toward Mia.

“Pick it up. Shoot anyone that stands,” I order her, and surprisingly she doesn’t freeze. Her hands shake and her breathing is panicked as hell.

Idiot. She’s scared of guns.

Thankfully, these guys don’t know that, and as such, they’ll just continue to nurse their wounds rather than try to get up. Leader man and I are tumbling around the floor, throwing punches, which for the most part he misses. He gets me a couple of times in the ribs, but not hard enough to knock the wind out of me.

He breaks away and we’re left out of breath and staring at one another. I take the opportunity to slip on my brass knuckles, seeing his eyes twitch as he watches me. He knows this isn’t going his way, and by the way his eyes keep darting toward the door, I think he just might bolt and leave these two behind.

“Now, I asked you a question. Did you hurt her?” I ask, keeping my attention on my knuckles as I open and close my hands. After a second, I stare at the man, showing him there’s not a single shred of fear in my eyes. His jaw tightens and his teeth grind, but finally he answers.

“Not really. Maybe scrapes and bruises because she put up a fight. But no, we didn’t hurt her exactly,” he responds, his back hunched, his arms stretched out like he’s ready to catch me in a hold if I lunge for him.

“That wasn’t very smart of you.” I close my fists shut, and I know my monster has come out to play. I can feel it showing by the way my mouth curves into that sinister grin. “Victoria Reyes is my woman, and no one ever lives when they hurt what’s mine.”

The room grows silent, the air so still, like it too is waiting for something to happen. And then it all snaps, as he decides to make the first move. He’s on me in seconds, but these knuckles don’t play. They’re sharp enough to be considered blades on the other side.

My fists land on his side, punching repeatedly over and over, taking small pieces of flesh and blood with it every time I pull away. He’s groaning, mouth shut as he tries to keep himself from yelling. Finally, I land a blow to his head hard enough to make him take a step back. I use that moment of disorientation to tackle him to the floor and beat his face in.

I don’t stop.

Not when I hear my name. Not when he stops moving. Not even when he stops breathing.

It isn’t until Mia very gently places her shaking hand on my shoulder that I snap to my senses. I take the gun from her hand and shoot the other guys right in the head. Then I find the phone they dropped earlier and pick it up, slipping it into my pocket for later.

Mia’s watching me in shock, like she had no idea I could be this dark. There’s not a shred of remorse in me for these three. They went after her, and after Nico, I won’t stand for anyone who wants to take her from me to breathe another second of air.

I check my phone again, finding Vic is back home, but this time, she’s with Blaze and Ryder.

She’s safe.

“Let’s go,” I tell her, walking out like nothing happened. “Call someone to clean up this mess while I drive. ”

She nods and is on her phone typing away while I speed through town, back to the estate. My heart is hammering, all the anger fading from my body as we get closer. I can’t describe this feeling, the ache I feel at knowing I caused her pain. The need I feel to have her in my arms. The absolute fear that’s gnawing at me at the chance that she won’t forgive me even after Mia tells her what’s going on.

When we pull into the driveway, I park the car as quickly as possible, running toward the door without checking to see if Mia is following. There’s blood splattered on my shirt, on my knuckles and hands, my hair is pulled in different directions from the fight, but none of that matters—not when I know she’s on the other side of this door.

The moment I enter, my eyes land on her and my heart tears wide open. She’s been crying . She’s been crying because of me .

I see Blaze coming, and I know he’s going to deck me, so I let him, because I deserve it. We both know I do. He doesn’t hold back, not an ounce, as I fall back onto the floor.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he yells. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Blaze this angry, not even with Nico. “How could you hurt her like that?”

“Tori, I—”

“No! You don’t get to talk to her! She saw you kissing her, Thorne!” Blaze interrupts, his anger erupting like Mount Vesuvius.

I ignore him, because yes, he’s right. I fucked up, but like hell am I going to let him keep me from talking to Vic.

Her eyes lock onto me with a plea. She wants me to give her something, anything, some way that she can forgive me, and that alone tells me I have a chance. And then at the worst possible fucking moment, Mia walks in.

Vic is vicious, her eyes locking on Mia with a murderous intent. We all see it, but the one to hold her back is Gabe. Vic lunges for Mia, metaphorical claws out and all, but Gabe wraps his arm around her waist, hoists her up in the air, and keeps her there.

“Calm down, Tori. Listen to what they have to say. Remember what I told you about your father,” he whispers, and now I’m curious about what he said. Maybe she knows what Mia is about to tell her.

Vic’s nostrils stay flared as she glares at Mia, as if her eyes alone could kill the girl. They very well could, with how badly Mia is shaking. She might just have a heart attack.

“Start talking. Both of you!” Vic demands.

“It was my fault. Your father ordered us girls to be more aggressive and get your guys to be unfaithful to you. I took my chance and kissed him, but he—”

“Why didn't you push her away immediately?” Those beautiful brown eyes are on me, demanding an explanation, not caring for a single word Mia said.

“I did push her away, but you’re right…it wasn’t immediately,” I admit, getting off the floor and walking toward her. Blaze is tense. I can tell he wants to stop me, but he holds himself back. When I get to her, I don’t hold her like I want to. I don’t grab her hand like I desperately need to. No. Instead, I kneel in front of her, because she’s my goddess, my queen, my love, and I hurt her today. “Please forgive me, Vic. I should have never given her the chance to kiss me. I promise that my reason for not pushing her away instantly wasn’t romantic. More like I didn’t want to end up hurting her too badly when I did. I couldn’t get my anger under control.” I look down at her feet, fear creeping into my soul. Can she forgive me? “I swear to you, Vic. You’re my whole heart—all of it. There is no world in which I could love anyone else, need anyone else, the way I do you. You have me, Victoria Reyes. All of me. Please,” my voice shakes, and for the first time in a long time, I feel ready to burst to tears. It doesn’t happen often. Hell, it practically never happens. But Vic somehow always brings out this softer side of me. “Forgive me. ”

There’s silence, utter and complete silence. The seconds that tick away feel like millennia as I wait for her response, too scared to look up. It isn’t until she kneels in front of me, until her hand gently lifts my chin that I fall into the depths of her brown eyes.

“You’re my everything, Thorne. When I saw her kissing you today, when you didn’t push her away, I…” she trails off, her voice shaking now too. Her eyes mist and I can’t help but wrap my arms around her and pull her into me. “I thought you didn’t love me anymore. That maybe you started to have feelings for Mia.”

“Never. No one could ever come close to you, Victoria. Absolutely no one.” I bury my face into her neck, finding comfort in her sweet scent. We hold each other for a long time before Vic pulls away.

She stands slowly, leaving me where I kneel as she adjusts her clothes and very casually marches up to Mia. It’s strange how calm Vic seems as she stands before the girl she seemed ready to murder when she walked in. Vic takes a deep breath, stares Mia right in the eye, and then decks her so hard Mia’s nose starts to gush.

I think she just broke it.

I want to laugh. I want to laugh so hard, but I hold it in.

“Don’t you fucking dare touch him again. Don’t even look at him. You’re not his assistant anymore. Don’t ever cross my path, Mia, because you might not survive.”

Gabe is suddenly at her side.

“Tori stop. It’s not her fault.”

Oh fuck. She’s pissed now.

Vic turns her gaze towards him. “Excuse me?”

“This is all your father. She was just following orders, trying to help her family. Please, she can’t just leave. Diablo would kill her.”

“Good,” Vic spouts, her anger clouding her compassion.

“You don’t mean that,” Gabe insists, as if he knows her so well. He may have been with her every day since we got here, but it doesn’t give him the right to feel so close to her.

She’s ours, not yours.

“Maybe I do,” Vic retorts, crossing her arms, but by the way she’s biting her lip, I think Gabe got to her—and somehow that pisses me off more.

“No, you don’t. So how about we sit and hear her all the way out?”

Vic rolls her eyes, looking at me over her shoulder. “Fine, but if she goes anywhere near Thorne, I’m not liable for my actions.”

Gabe nods and then leads Mia toward the living room. I finally get off the floor, but Blaze is still pissed. And he won’t be done being pissed at me for a while.

He should be. Hell, I’m mad at myself, too.

“That’s one down, now to talk to Ryder.”

“Ryder?” I question, because it finally dawned on me that he’s not down here.

Did he let something stupid happen too? Did we both unintentionally hurt Vic?

Before anyone can answer me, a body thuds down the stairs, rolling off each step until it lands on the ground before us.