No.
Maverick’s expression is a horrified one as he glances at Chase and his open jeans, then addresses me.
“I didn’t know. Honestly, if I had any idea—” He throws a murderous look at the man he killed. “I just found out. One of the wives told me after he worked her over… I had to do something.”
“Don’t even think about it.” Chase answers for both of us, I guess. Hey, with the handcuffs, it’s like we’re a package deal. “If you hadn’t shown up when you had, who knows what would have happened.”
I know. Deep down in my gut, I know exactly what would have happened. Darryl would’ve sat there, jerking his cock while he got off on Chase fucking me, and as soon as Chase was done, he would’ve come up with some bullshit story about giving away the bride or something. I have no doubt in my mind that he would’ve shoved Chase aside, taking his place.
He would’ve fucked me, and stuck in East Jersey, there wouldn’t be a damn thing I could do about it.
But Maverick?
He shot the bastard.
Hekilledhim.
And now we’re in his house, with his dead body, and a prison town full of convicts who might not take too kindly to him being dead.
“Oh, no.” It’s not the hole in his forehead or the blood and brains everywhere that has me shaky. Nope. It’s the promise that being raped by Darryl might not have been the worst thing these bastards could do to me. “What do we do?” It’s barely a whisper. “What do wedo?”
Chase wraps his hand around my sleeve, tethering me to him even more effectively than the chain. “You’re okay. I promise, baby… you’re okay.”
I want to believe him so badly, it hurts. But then I glance down at Darryl again, and I moan in fear.
“Hey, kid? You okay?”
That’s Maverick. Like his voice is a million miles away, I hear him call my name, but I can’t answer him.
He snaps, “Xandra!”
I shake my head.
Maverick looks dead in my eyes. “We have to go.”
Go. Yes. That’s a good idea. Darryl can’t stop us, and as far as any of the other brutes in East Jersey know, I’m Chase’s “wife” now. There’s nothing keeping me in the prison town as long as I’m with him.
Chase tightens his hold on me. “Will they come after us? If we run, will we be safe?”
Good question.
“East Jersey respects strength. There’s no loyalty here. Half these guys will want to take Darryl’s place. The other half will just think it’s a shame that I took him out before they got thechance. Some of his cronies might want to retaliate, though, but we’ll be long gone before they can.”
Here’s hoping that he’s right.
CHAPTER 19
“Come on,” I mutter, wiggling my wrist back and forth, trying to will the bone smaller so that I can slip out of the cuff. I’m tugging on Chase’s connected hand every time I yank mine, but he’s standing beside me, silent as a grave. “Come on, almost out...fuck! They’re just too damn tight.”
“Don’t worry, kid. We’ll find a way to get those things off later.”
Maverick is marching ahead, peeking at his compass. He doesn’t have to look behind him to know that I’m desperately trying to remove the handcuffs or to call back unhelpful comments that only ramp my anger and anxiety.
Get them off later? I want these fuckers off menow.
Do you know how much of a bitch it is to bolt while attached to the one guy you’d avoid if you could? It’s even worse that Chase is so much taller and faster than me. As hard as I try, I’m only slowing him down since he has to match my pace to keep from overpowering me and sending us both to the ground.
We ran for almost an hour. The three of us made it out of East Jersey without any issues, but just because Maverick believed that none of the members of the prison town would want to avenge Darryl, that didn’t mean someone wouldn’t likethe idea of eliminating Chase and Maverick to get their hands on another wife.