Page 11 of Royally Ruined

Something gripped my elbow. I wasn’t used to such contact; I nearly shoved Scotch off me by reflex. Why was she holding me? For comfort, or because she thought I’d leave her behind?

After kicking the alley door open, I burst into the crisp night air. It shredded my lungs and cleared my head. I motioned at the dumpster. “Bucket, in there.” She tossed it, shirt and all, into the big rusted box. My silver Corvette was waiting in the shadows. “Get in the car,” I huffed, settling into the front seat.

She dove into the passenger side and clicked her seat belt shut. “Where are we going?” I revved the engine and pulled us through the alley and onto the street. “Away. We can’t stay here.”

“What hospital is Gina going to? And Darien?”

“One that’s good enough.” I’d been to the Bucket; it was run by some less-than-stellar people, but their skills weren’t in question. Just their ethics. “Thorne and Ox will get them help. Gina looked roughed up—”

“He was choking her!”

“But she should recover. As for Darien, the bullet wound seemed shallow to me. Amazing, considering how close you were to him when the gun went off.”

Scotch’s head swung around so fast I expected to hear her brain sloshing. “I really didn’t shoot him. It’s not the way it looks.”

Turning down a back street, I sighed. “It’s the only way people will see it. Your one hope is that Darien clears it up himself.”Did he really choke that dancer, then try to kill Scotch only to fumble the shot?

After a long pause, she leaned between her knees, hugging herself. “Your brother and that guy, Ox ... The way they looked at me ...” I knew the look she meant. “They think I pulled the trigger.” Covering her mouth, she moaned. “Fuck. The rest of the Deep Shots are going to want me dead if that rumor gets around!”

A small snake of distress slid through my guts. “It won’t happen,” I said firmly. Her hair had been in her face. She pushed it back, burned-caramel eyes glowing in the occasional streetlamp we passed. “Thorne and Ox will stay quiet. There’ll be no evidence.”

“And the gunshot?” she asked. “What will everyone blame that on, the club music?”

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I ignored it. “Yeah. One of those new hot mixes the kids listen to.”

Her teeth were white as peppermints, her relief invigorating me. “I—thanks,” she whispered. “I mean it.” Her fingers caught the ends of her blonde strands, rubbing them over and over.

“It’s Gina who should be saying thanks. You risked your life to save hers.” It was an act I respected. The kind I was intimately familiar with.

Her skin grew a hint paler, and when she spoke, her voice quivered on the corners if you paid attention.

I always paid attention.

“I didn’t think about it until now, but if you hadn’t stolen me out of there ...”

Stolen.Fuck. I loved that word, that idea.

She went on, saying, “I’d be facing down the Deep Shots. They wouldn’t believe that I didn’t shoot him, not like you do.”

Again she reminded me that Ididthink she was telling the truth, and of just how insane that was. The woman had been on top of Darien with the pistol in her hand! Was I nuts, gullible, or something even worse?

I said, “Don’t thank me yet.”

“Too bad, I already am. I’m super thankful that you knew what to do—even if I had to lose a shirt for it,” she added, laughing.

Why’d she need to remind me of that?Helplessly I scanned her from the corner of my eye. Her sitting in my car with her chest bouncing from the occasionally uneven road was a sight that left me shifting in place.

My phone buzzed again. It brought me back to reality. Scanning the number, I put my phone to my ear. “What’s happening?” I asked.

Thorne’s voice crackled at me. “Drop-off is done. I don’t want to talk over the phone. Where can we meet?”

I studied the buildings around me and spotted a Motel 6. “Corner of Fountain and Benjamin. I’ll text you the room number.”

“Was that your brother?” she asked the second I hid my cell phone again.

“He’s coming to meet us.” Guiding my car into the parking lot, I turned toward her. Pointedly I looked over her half-naked state. Catching my eye, she blushed—Ilovedthe rosy color of her long neck. “Stay here.”

Her frown went deep. “Why?”

---