Page 5 of Tying the Knot
Neither does Pierce nor Rich as they are marched away, along with the guys in black.
“Wait!” I call out, my hand on my stomach as the Champagne threatens to come back up. “Wait.”
But they keep walking. Everyone ignores me as if I’m not even here.
“Alfie,” I mutter. He went out the front. I hasten after the task force, or whatever the hell they are, running precariously in my heels. I yank the door open and follow them, turning to the left and then right, looking for Alfie.
I see him being shoved into one of the vans that are parked up outside with a sinking heart.
“No!” I scream into the dark. “No, you can’t do this!”
“Ma’am,” a young beta from the taskforce says, coming up behind me. “I’m sorry, but your pack are seriously bad guys. Did you know about any of this?”
“What’sthis?” I spit out, about ready to tear his face off.
“Come with me,” he says and grasps my arm gently, leading me to a car and opening the door. “Get in.”
“No! You can’t do this. I haven’t done anything, and neither have they!” I struggle in his grip, but I trip in these blasted heels and fall against him, my hands splayed out on his broad chest.
He gazes down at me with eyes the colour of autumn leaves, and my breath escapes me. He has no distinguishable scent, which marks him as a beta, but he inhales mine, his eyes blazing with heat before he steadies me with both hands on my arms.
“Ma’am,” he croaks. “Please get in, and we will explain everything back at the station.”
“You’d better have a good explanation,” I snarl, yanking my arms out of his grip. “You’ve got the wrong people, and I will make all of you pay for this. You’re a bunch of fucking arseholes who’ve just ruined my fucking birthday!” I’m angry now. Furious even. Twice in a row, my birthday has been ruined. “Fuckers! You’re all fuckers.”
“Jesus,” a blonde alpha says, sidling up to the beta and glaring down at me. I recognise him as the one who arrested Pierce. “You’re a feisty one, aren’t you? Get her in the car, Dyl. We need to move out.”
I growl when “Dyl” puts his hand on top of my head and pushes down, forcing me to get into the back of the car. He slams the door shut and climbs into the driver's side. “Sit back, Ma’am, and we will go through everything at the station,” he says, setting off.
I hiss. “Stop fucking calling meMa’am, and yeah, you keep saying that, but I demand you tell me right now what the hell is going on.”
“Okay,Ma’am. If you want to do this right here, right now, you’ve been shacked up with one of London’s biggest crime gangs to hit the streets since the fifties. If you really don’t have a fucking clue who you’re sleeping with, know that you’re better off without them.”
My heart stops.
Stunned into silence, all I can hear is my own breath as I wheeze, struggling to take air into my lungs.
ChapterFour
Dylan
I’m an idiot.
A first-class complete, and utter prick.
What was I thinking, saying all of that to her?
I grip the steering wheel tighter and glance at her in the mirror. Her face is pale, and there are unshed tears brimming her glorious emerald eyes. Her skin is pale and flawless. Except for the mating bites on either side of her neck.
Reality crashes back down on me, drenching any desire I had for her. She is gorgeous, but she is taken. Mated to a bunch of criminals who probably treat her like dirt. She has that wounded bird look, the kind that appears to walk on eggshells. Even with her feisty nature, when she had a go at Kaleb and me, it took everything she had. Now she has gone into survival mode, withdrawn and barely hanging on.
“I’m sorry,” I mutter, wishing we knew more about her. The truth is, we don’t. She has been kept hidden from the criminal underworld. Is that part of their plan, and she’s really the mastermind behind all of this, or is she caught up in a world she has no idea exists? I’m convinced it’s the latter, but she won't be left alone until we get her statement and Eli has had a shot at interrogating her.
“What areyousorry for?” she asks coldly, staring out of the window.
“For saying what I did. I could’ve been gentler.”
She snorts with icy amusement. “No shit, Sherlock. Do you always come out and tell the innocent mates that their men are big fat criminals?”
