Page 10 of Royally Ruined

“What happened to her?” my brother asked, hesitating.

“Hehappened.” Scotch nodded at Darien. “I’m not leaving her side until I know she’s okay.”

This was no good. Scotch didn’t understand how much danger she was in—wewere in—if we stayed here. And I couldn’t let her go with Thorne to the Bucket; what if Darien started telling people there that she’d attacked him? This was spiraling out of control fast.

“Scotch,” Gina moaned.

“Gina! I’m getting you to a hospital right now.”

“Hospital?” she whispered, trying to sit up. Scotch held her still, and Gina stared at the blood on her friend’s hands. “Oh ... fuck, you’re hurt.”

“No, it’s not my blood.” Scotch flinched as she said it.

“You mean you killed him? For me?”

“No—no! I just ... the gun went off.”

Gina’s eyes widened. She studied the room, our faces, and understanding clicked in. “Scotch, you have to get out of here.”

“Don’t worry about me! Let’s get you moving.”

“Youneed to run. I’ll be fine—I—” Gina was cut off by her own hacking; she forced on a half smile. “Didn’t you hear them? They’re taking me to a doctor. So get out of here before this guy’s friends find you.”

Rubbing the back of my head, I waved Ox closer. “Take her and go with Thorne.”

Always one to follow orders, the hulk of a guy scooped up Gina. Scotch scrambled to her feet; Ox eyed her up and down. With blood on her shirt and hands, she didn’t look like the innocent girl she claimed to be.

A tingle rolled down my tongue. My mouth was numb, it always got that way when I sensed things were spinning out of my control. I wrapped my arm around Thorne and pulled him close. “Tell no one what you saw in here.” My glare shot to Ox; he jerked up straight, clutching Gina. “Same goes for you. No one speaks about this until I say so.”

Ox gave a faithful nod. It was my brother who looked unsure.

Thorne backed toward the curtains. “Korvo better make sure no one sees us. Dammit, this isnothow tonight was supposed to go. Why couldn’t I be getting wasted with Kain and Dad instead of dealing with this?” He ducked out with Ox close behind. I strained to hear any sudden shouts of distress. None came. Good, Korvo was doing his job.

“Will they be all right?” Scotch asked. Her voice cracked on theightsound, and she cleared her throat, gathering herself. She’d noticed she was coming apart at the seams and was ready to hide it.

“I don’t know.” Scanning the small room, I grabbed the bottle of champagne. The cork came out in my teeth. “Hold your hands out.”

Obediently she flipped her palms up for me. I poured the fizzing liquid on her skin, removing the rusty red stains. Then I tipped the rest onto the hard floor. “Wipe your hands on your shirt, then give it to me.”

Her jaw dropped. “Come again?”

“I need to get rid of all the blood.”

Scotch’s eyebrows moved lower. “You do know the cops have something called luminol that finds wiped-up blood.”

It was a struggle to keep the disgust from my voice. “The cops aren’t coming here.”Not if I have any say about it.

She glanced at the smear of crimson on the tiles where Darien had been. “You’re right. It’d only make things worse.” She hooked her fingers under her shirt. “Am I ... really going to be okay?”

Champagne puddled at my feet; time was running out. “I don’t make promises lightly.”

Without a hint of shame she yanked her top off. In spite of how perilous this situation was, I was transfixed by the vision of her soft curves. Why did she waitress instead of stripping? She could have made a fortune.

When she handed her shirt to me, I mopped up the mess, then stuffed it into the champagne bucket and offered it to her. “Hang onto this.” She cradled it like a football. “Now follow me, keep your head low. And whatever you do, donotlook at anyone. If you do that, you’ll be fine.”

The lines across her forehead grew deeper. “Fine for now, you mean,” she said.

Clenching my jaw, I swung out of the curtain and took a hard left. There was a small stairwell along the back wall. It wove down to the dressing-room hallway—a secret exit for the girls if they needed one. It also gave us access to the alley.

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