Page 50 of Ruined

“You’ve got company, boys,” she drawled, sounding careless, but I could see the fear in her eyes. I moved away from the table, my hand going for the gun in my cut on instinct.

Tristan moved from the table. “Who?” he demanded.

“Oh, brother, remember me?” Red asked, stepping in behind Adelaide, his gun pointed at the back of her head. I clenched my jaw in fury, stepping forward before Jesup clamped a hand on my shoulder. He gave a slight shake of his head at me to warn me to keep my cool. Reacting like this would set Tristan off.

And Adelaide didn’t fucking want that.

But right then, she was in danger. I could give less of a fuck about how Adelaide felt about Tristan knowing about us. I wouldnotlet her get hurt just to save Tristan’s feelings. My brother, who I hadn’t had contact with inyearswas not someone to fuck around with. If he was showing his face, he wanted something, and he’d hurt anyone who stood in his path.

Including my fucking woman.

“Let Addy the fuck go,” Tristan ordered, his tone hard. He knew Red was my brother, and he knew about the bad blood between us.

Red’s eyes met mine, the same blue of my own reflected back at me. “Grim doesn’t know, does he, River?”

Fuck.How the fuck did he know? “Shut the fuck up, Red, and let Adelaide go,” I ground through clenched teeth.

He shoved Adelaide onto her knees, the gun held at the back of her head. Her knees hit the concrete floor with a sickening thud. Her pulse was jumping wildly at the base of her neck, her eyes begging me to save her. I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to keep a clear head. Thinking with my rage would only get Adelaide hurt. “You going to suck my dick as good as you sucked River’s, baby girl?” Red taunted, his lips twisted into a sadistic smirk.

“How the fuck do you know?” I glared, ignoring the rage on my president’s face. I would deal with him later. Adelaide was my main priority. I just needed to give one of these dimwits enough time to incapacitate my brother.

I watched Joey move out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t turn to look at him, not wanting to alert Red. He was laser-focused on me, and that was how I needed it to remain.

“Fucking with the garage doors open probably wasn’t your brightest move, brother.” Red smirked. “Especially with how loud she was screaming your name, begging for your cock. I didn’t think you were worthy of all that, but fuck, what the hell do I know, huh?”

I quickly raised my gun, pointing it at him. “Two seconds to let her the fuck go,” I warned. And he knew I would pull the trigger.

Red smirked and kicked her to the ground with his boot to her back. I rushed forward, shoving my gun back in my cut, ignoring Grim’s angry gaze on my back. Joey punched Red in the side of the head, knocking him out cold as I moved toward Adelaide and grabbed her off of the ground, drawing her shaking form into my arms.

“What the fuck, River?!” Tristan finally roared.

I pressed my lips to Adelaide temple, ignoring him. She shook her head, her hands grasping my face, tears shimmering in her pretty, dark eyes. There was so much fear in her eyes. Fear for me. “Go to Joey,” I softly instructed.

She swallowed thickly, her lips trembling. “I’m sorry, River,” she whispered, hot tears sliding down her beautiful face.

I smirked down at her, trying to soothe her by pretending none of this was affecting me. I wasn’t afraid of death, and honestly, if I was going out all because I loved her, then it wasn’t a bad way to go. “I’m not. Now, go,” I gently coaxed.

She moved over to Joey, where he slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side, supporting her. “You fucked my woman?!” Tristan roared when I turned to face him.

“She’s not your fucking woman, Grim. You’ve been treating her like shit ever since she got back,” I snapped at him. “How you could expect her to evenwantto be yours with the fucking way you’ve been treating her is fucking beyond me.”

“I’m a hairsbreadth away from putting a bullet in your skull,” Tristan threatened.

If I was getting a bullet in my skull, he was going to get a fucking wake-up call, and I hoped that Adelaide would choose to go back to Joey. The man had changed in the year she’d been gone, and I knew he would finally love her how she deserved to be loved if he got a second chance with her.

“If you would treat her right, Grim, you wouldn’t ever have to worry about another man like me,” I told him honestly.

He reached for his gun, and I clenched my jaw, my eyes flickering to Adelaide’s panicked ones. “No!” she screamed, shoving Joey off of her before he could get a better hold on her. She roughly crashed against me. I stumbled with the force she knocked into me with, wrapping my arms around her as I steadied us to keep us both from falling to the concrete floor.

“You’ll kill me first,” Adelaide seethed at Tristan as she clung to me, using every bit of her strength to stay with me.

He clenched his jaw, hurt flickering in his eyes. “Why him, Addy?” he asked her, sounding broken. I almost rolled my eyes. How the fuck could he be hurt about this shit when he had been doing nothing but treating her like pure garbage? Like a dog that might bite someone? “The first second that I’m gone, you hook up with the one man that I trusted with you mere hours after I just fucking had you in my damn bed.”

“I’m not the same woman I was a year ago, Tristan,” she told him, her voice apologetic. I knew she still loved him. Still cared about him. She didn’t want to hurt him, and she didn’t want him finding out this way.

I smoothed my hands over her back, holding her with me, giving her the strength that she needed to say what she needed. She couldn’t keep biting back her feelings.

“I don’t give a fuck, Addy!” he roared, thrusting his hands through his hair. Adelaide flinched. I tightened my hold on her, narrowing my eyes at Tristan. “Fucking hell, woman, you know that I fucking love you! Why would you do this?!”

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