Page 120 of Ricochet

“What?” Adelia pushed against his back, pinned to the doorframe.

“Adelia, baby,”Colin called. “Come here.”

“She’s not going anywhere.” Deacon’s weight shifted as his stance changed. “Are you, Adelia?”

“Get off me!” But pushing against him was like lifting a mountain, and the man didn’t budge. She gave up and awkwardly remained stuck.

Deacon torso shifted, and his arms lifted, and Adelia could move but didn’t because of two quiet clicks that screamed in her ears. She’dknow those sounds anywhere. They’d been drilled into her repeatedly, a life lesson from Tex. He made sure she would always be ready for guns to fire. Not daring to breathe, she refused to tremble at Deacon’s shooter’s stance, knowing that Colin had a weapon pointed her way.

“Don’t listen to anything he says,” Deacon whispered.

“Let her go,” Colin commanded.

“To you? Fat fucking chance.”

Deaconwas protecting her from Colin?

But neither man backed down. How was this possible?

“You don’t know who this guy is, Adelia.” Colin stepped forward. “He’s not your friend.”

“And you are?” Deacon ordered. “Whose detail were you on? What about Javier?”

“You know my brother?” she asked.

“Ask him,” Deacon snapped.

“What is Javier doing?”

“Don’t.” Colin angled closer. “Listen to anything hesays.”

“Gloria Astor,” Deacon answered. “Colin and Javier. The two people you trust most are running the show.”

That couldn’t be true. She was an asset. Colin had said as much. But they weren’t actively working with her? Were they the ones sent to stop her? “Who told you where I was?”

“Your Pops is worried about you,” Deacon tacked on.

“Have you talked to him?” She inched closer to Deaconas Colin’s face pinched. “Did he…”

“Ask me to help?” Deacon finished.

“Don’t listen to that bastard,” Colin growled. “Nothing he says is true.”

“How close are you with Gloria Astor?” she shouted.

His jaw ticked, snarling at Deacon. “You are a dead man.”

“Obviously not.”

“You can’t kill him for telling me the truth!” She dropped her head, squeezing her eyes shut. When she opened them, thebulge at the back of Deacon’s back caught her eye, and she moved before logic could prevail, pulling his shirt up and grabbing a Glock’s grip.

“Don’t do that.” Deacon lowered his weapon as though he feared her more than Colin. “No good will come from whatever you’re thinking.”

“I want to leave. That’s it.” She backed from him, and Deacon put a hand in the air but didn’t holster his sidearm.“Drop it.”

“We need to talk.”

“No.”

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