“Gia, get out of here,” I said.
“No,” she said. “This isn’t fair to do to him.”
“Fuck, you have your own harem,” Noah said.
“She’s not paying me with cash,” Talon said as he nodded to Gia.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Xavier asked.
“I’m sorry, Winter,” Gia said. “I can’t let anything happen to him. I’m in love with him.”
“You love me, darling?” Talon asked Gia.
Easton suddenly breezed by me.
He looked at me. “Bad idea, Winter.”
I opened my mouth and turned my head just in time to see Xavier lunging at Talon. He moved with speed and force. He threw the first punch, hitting Talon on the right side of his face.
Talon pushed Gia toward me and I grabbed her.
She screamed and thrashed to get out of my arms.
“It’s okay,” Talon managed to yell. “Get somewhere safe. Right now.”
Xavier hit Talon again.
I heard Easton groan before he threw a punch to Talon’s stomach.
Then came Noah, charging from around the table, rolling up his sleeves.
“Noah, don’t do this,” I said.
“You did this, Winter,” he said.
Noah jumped right in and threw two punches that dropped Talon to one knee.
Talon pushed himself forward and tried to wrap his arms around Noah and Xavier.
But it didn’t matter.
It was three on one.
I paid Talon to be there.
He had to have known this was something that could happen…
“Let me go!” Gia screeched.
I turned and pushed her out of the garage.
“We can’t do anything,” I said.
“I love him,” Gia said. “They’re beating him up. Because of you. You did this. I’ll never forgive you!”
My heart cracked.
Gia was panicking.
She started to shake.
I looked back and saw Noah, Easton, and Xavier beating the hell out of Talon.
Xavier took a second to back off.
He took a deep breath and looked right at me.
I mouthed to him please stop…
Xavier then pointed to Gia. “You’re with a Troc?”
“It’s not your business,” Gia called out. “Leave him alone. Leave me alone.”
“You showed up,” Xavier said.
Easton grabbed Noah and pulled him away from Talon.
Talon jumped up to his hands and knees and stayed there.
“We’re done here,” I said.
“Stay the fuck away from the Trocs,” Xavier said.
Again, he was talking to Gia.
Xavier looked down at Talon. “You listen too, you fucking Troc. Do you hear me?”
“Oh, I hear you,” Talon said. “Should we keep going?”
“You keep fooling around with my sister and we will,” Xavier said.
Gia gasped louder than I did.
“What…” Gia asked.
“Don’t give me that shit,” Xavier said. “You think I don’t know? I know everything. So whatever fucking plans you two have had, I’ve known all along. Now get this fucking Troc out of my shop.”
My heart slammed inside my chest faster than I ever felt it in my life.
Easton helped Talon up and then he threw him out of the garage.
Talon hit the ground, ass first, and just sat there.
Then it was Noah, Easton, and Xavier standing in the open garage.
“This isn’t over yet, Winter,” Easton said.
“We’ll see you soon,” Noah said. “Next time, you better be alone.”
The garage door shut.
I felt like I was going to throw up.
I looked at Gia. “He knows…”
“He knows,” she said.
“Xavier is your brother?” Talon asked from the ground.
Gia looked down at Talon and fell to her knees and hugged him.
Gia started to cry and Talon looked up at me.
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to apologize or not.
I paid him to be there. And he was a Troc.
Talon hugged Gia tight. “I’m fine, darling. I knew that was coming. They would never really hurt me. That was just a message. A warning. I’m fine…”
Talon’s face didn’t look fine.
I turned, touched my stomach and covered my mouth.
How much crazier could this thing get?
Chapter 9
The alone
I walked out of the beach house across the deck and stayed silent so I could see Talon and Gia together. He had his arm around her, hugging her tight. I saw her right hand clutched tight to the back of his shirt.
They were really together. And they probably did love each other.
It was still a tough thing to swallow. Which was nothing but pure jealousy and the stupid fact that I was brought up to believe that Bumps were better than Trocs. And that meant as a Troc, Talon should have been easy to obtain, use, boss around, and toss aside.
Talon turned his head and looked back at me.
I had a towel and a bag with some ice.
I lifted the items and shrugged my shoulders.
Talon smiled.
He then made a move and eased Gia away from him.
They both stood up.
Gia tucked her hands into the sleeves of her hoodie and kept to herself.
I swallowed hard and walked the towel and ice to Talon.
He flexed his jaw.
“Is it broken?” I asked.
“No,” Talon said. “Don’t give them that much credit. They weren’t out to really hurt me. That was just a warning.”
“That’s some warning,” I said.
“Happens all the time.”
“What?” Gia asked.
Talon smiled. He put the bag of ice to his left eye and sighed. “You have no idea how much that happens. We’re always fighting. Trocs and Bumps. It’s just part of life. We know not to go too far either. If a Troc were to really hurt or kill a Bump, the uproar would be really bad. And the same for the Bumps. If they hurt one of us bad enough, the fight would be endless. So we all walk the line.”
“Talon, I’m so sorry about tonight,” I said.
“Winter…”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I wanted you there to throw them off balance. I had this vision of them backing down. Realizing I was badass enough to get involved with the Trocs to protect myself. But they were…”
“They were Bumps,” Talon said.
I looked over at Gia.
She turned her head.
Then she started to walk away.
I moved down a step and Talon touched my arm. “Let her go, darling. She’s trying to take it all in.”
I set my sights back on Talon. “She’s my best friend… and if we have to fight each other to make this right then that’s what we’re going to do.”
Talon grinned. “Will you fight each other in nothing but your bra and panties?”
I hurried after Gia and grabbed her shoulder.
When I spun her around, I fully expected her to take a swing.
Instead of that, she let out this grunting sound.
“I want to hurt you,” she said.
“Then do it,” I said. “We have to work this out. I can’t get through whatever comes next without you or Talon.”