Page 6 of Protect

“You boys will love dinner,” Coach promises. “Hope, get down here!”

Footsteps hurry down the hall and she walks past me. I’ve seen her at school, walking around with her head down. There have been occasional rumors about how easy she gives herself, but I’ve never been one to believe them. She whispers a hello as she rubs her arm and heads straight to the kitchen.

Coach pops open a beer and continues his talk with Knox about football, where he should focus on, and how far we all three can make it if we stick together.

Hope peeks around the corner, her raven-black hair shielding her eyes from me as she whispers, “Dinner is ready.”

“I’ll bring it in,” Coach decides. “Sit down, Hope.” He nudges her to the table.

She tucks her hair behind her ear and sits next to the head of the table. I take the seat beside her as I take her in. Sizing up her curves, her delicate face. She’s beautiful in an unassuming way.She glances at me, looks at my piercings, then away. When she rubs her knees, I notice the bruise on her arm.

She catches me staring at it and leans towards me. “Can you—”

“My little girl certainly knows how to cook when she’s focused and behaved,” Coach interrupts. “A rarity. Maybe you three coming over will inspire her to remember her manners.”

She sinks between her shoulders and nods.

I grab my plate and fill it up with mashed potatoes, sausage, and some broccoli. And as Hope remains frozen beside me, I fill up her plate too.

“Here you go,” I say and a small smile curls on her lips.

My heart beats faster as I can’t tear my eyes away from her.

“Thank you,” she says and takes a bite of her broccoli.

“Hope, leave the boys alone. They have a future to focus on,” her father says sharply, making Hope flinch beside me.

She keeps her lips sealed, the faint smile from earlier fading into nothing, and her hair falls forward.

“Hope looks pitiful, but don’t buy it. She’ll destroy her life if she keeps this up. She’ll fuck you, trap you, and use you as her meal ticket in the future if you let her,” Coach says and my brows draw tight.

But there’s nothing I can say, nothing, as this isn’t my place.

“It’s fine, Coach.” I cut into my sausage.

“What can I say? She got it from her mother,” Coach sighs with a quick shake of his head and focuses back on Knox.

As I chew on my meat, I bend slightly to my left and whisper. “My dad can be an ass too.”

That comment earns a slight laugh from her.

When Dimitri shuts the door to Jared’s private room, I realize I’m looming over him in bed. He stares up at me, then cringes away.

He reaches for the call-nurse button, but I drop it to the floor. “You don’t want an audience for this.”

“I… I already told you—”

“Not everything, apparently,” Dimitri snarls. “Not based on thenewvideo we saw. So, you’re going to fill us in completely.”

Jared looks between us. “I already told you everything.”

“You didn’t, but you will.” I grab a pillow from under his head and press it down on his face. His heart monitor goes wild, beeping loudly until Dimitri turns the alarm off. When his breathing starts to slow and weaken, I remove the pillow, then punch him, hard. His cheek splits under my hand. “And I’m going to enjoy getting every word out of you, especially if it costs you some teeth.”

“I’d recommend talking,” Dimitri says before he puts his foot on Jared’s already damaged body.

Jared moans. His whines, his pleas are music to my ears. Dimitri and I take turns working him over. I’m more focused on the kill, but Dimitri’s obviously enjoying the torture as much as I am.

“I’ll tell you!” Jared finally yells. “I’ll tell you everything. Just stop. Please, stop. It’s a website! It has to be signed into on my computer and…” He’s panting, wheezing. Definitely my fault because I broke a rib with a punch while smothering him. His eyes are bloodshot and huge. “It’s in the sticky notes. All you have to do is open the program and they all pop up. Everything’s there. It’s there. It’s all I have.”