Page 76 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

16

Laine

The Queen Always Wins

“Hold the fuck up, Riggs! Slow your roll, motherfucker.”

I thought Kane was big and scary, but this dude – camo pants, guns strapped to his hips and thighs, and bulging biceps stretching his shirt –hasto be at least seven feet tall.

Seven whole sandwiches tall!

“Nuh-uh. No way.” He lifts a hand and points back to the door. “You come in here with her, you bring a fuckin’ war to my place. My loyalties ain’t with you, Goldilocks. Bish know you’re running with his girl? ‘Cause if he doesn’t, it’s kinda my responsibility to represent.”

He pulls the gun from his thigh and aims it right at Ang’s chest.

“Oh, shit.” Stunned, I cry out and work to push Ang away from danger, but he simply loops his fingers with mine and holds me still.

And smiles.

“You’re fucking smiling?” I slam my fist into his ribs. “You’re smiling at the Hulk with a gun?”

“Relax. Spence, cool your shit. And don’t call me Riggs.”

“Get her out of here, then go stand in front of Bish’s gun.” His dark eyes come to me. “I’m disappointed in you, little girl. I thought you were cool, but you jump bros? What the fuck is it with chicks jumping bros? It’s a damn epidemic.”

“Umm…”

“Spence! Put your fuckin’ gun down,” Ang growls. “It was funny, now it’s not. This isn’t Jess. This is Laine.”

“You change your name, girl? Because Bish will still find you.”

“Twins!” Ang drags me forward and pushes the gun aside.He pushes the gun aside!“Spence, you already met Jess. Jess is Bish’s girl. This is Laine, her twin sister. This one’s mine.”

His?

Spence lifts a scarred brow. “Yours?”

“Well, I mean…” He clears his throat. “I meant my friend. Laine, my friend. This is Spence. Spence, this is Laine. Don’t touch her.”

The man stops mid step and grins. “You’re twins?”

I’m fucking shaking.“Yes, sir. Identical.”

Circling us, circlingme, he re-holsters that gun and scratches his jaw. “You sure are. Fuck me sideways and call me Betsy Ballbuster, there’re two of ‘em?”

“Kane isn’t coping so well,” Ang laughs. “He’s got two in his house now.”

“Both?” Spence’s brow lifts. “So you’re still Bish’s girl?” He reaches for his thigh again.

“No!” Ang turns with Spence’s circling, continually putting himself between me and this man. “Kane only gets one, he onlywantsthe one. He’s just confused by the fact there’s two of them. I grew up with them.”

“You grew up with Jess?” He says her name like they’re friends from way back.Who the hell is my sister associating with?“You grew up with two mini blondes that look exactly the same?”

“Yeah, then Kane turns up and snatches one away from us. Next thing we know, she can handle guns and is on first name basis with thugs.”

This man – scary beyond comprehension, but handsome in a way my terrified mind struggles to process – flashes a boyish grin and stops circling. “That’s my boy; teaches his girl to look after herself. I didn’t expect anything less.”

“Right. Now Laine wants to learn.”

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