Page 39 of Gin & Jewels
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
In a blink, Micky grabbed her throat and pushed her against the wall. “What the fuck do you mean you don’t know? Don’t fucking lie. We know you’ve turned on us.”
I tried to get Micky off of her, but he wouldn’t let go. “Let go of my fucking sister, dude.” She struggled against his grasp as I tried to get him off of her. I’d never seen him so pissed. He wanted to kill Cassie for just thethoughtof betraying us.
“Dude, let go of her!” I shouted. He was starting to scare me.
He still didn’t let go. “If you betray us, Cass, I will kill you. I won’t fucking hesitate. And I will hunt down your boyfriend and kill him too. I’m not going to jail.”
“I’m—” She tried to speak, but his hold on her throat prevented it, so I did the only thing I could think of. I kicked Micky between the legs and straight against his balls. He groaned, dropping his hand and doubling over before falling to the floor. Cassie rubbed at her throat and tears pricked her eyes.
“Are you okay?” I asked and pulled her into my arms. I hated seeing her cry even if we didn’t get along.
“Why?”
“We’re suspicious about that guy. We know who he is.”
“I’m suspicious too,” she admitted.
I pulled back and looked into her eyes that matched mine. “You are?”
She started to cry harder, sobs shaking her chest. “He’s friends with a cop and an FBI agent.”
“Fuck,” I groaned. “This isn’t good.”
“You …” She sniffed. “You have to believe that I wouldn’t turn you in.”
“I know, Little Dove.” I hugged her tighter.
Micky groaned on the ground. “Dude, you fucking kicked me in the balls.”
“You were choking my sister.”
“I wouldn’t have hurt her.”
“Youwerehurting me,” Cassie cried.
“It’s okay,” I consoled. “We’ll figure this out.”
“I just want to take a shower and go to bed,” she admitted. “This birthday has been a rollercoaster.”
Aw, fuck, I’d forgotten it was her birthday. “Take a shower, and when you get out, I have a surprise for you.”
“You do?”
“Of course. It’s your birthday.” I smiled. I let go of her, and she grabbed her pajamas and headed to her bathroom. Micky started to stand. “If you touch her again,Iwill kill you.”
He got to his feet. “She knows more, Keith.”
“And I’ll find out, but you don’t need to put your hands on her. That’s not cool.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t like this.”
“Then fucking leave!” I shouted as I made my way to the stairs. “There’s no reason for you to be here if you don’t want to be.”
“We haven’t sold the jewelry.”
“I don’t think we should now that we have heat from the cops on us.” He was silent as he followed me to the kitchen. I grabbed chocolate ice cream from the freezer.
