Page 23 of Savage Devil
He’s shaking his head. “Dammit. Why can’t you lis— Fuck. Put Aaron on the phone.”
More shouting.
She must have given Aaron the phone because now Dom is listening, eyes dark as he runs his hands over his tightly braided hair, his fingers flexing as though he wish he could tear it out. “We’re on our way.” Dominique ends the calls and turns to Roman with rage in his eyes. “Follow me and call your pops on the way. I’ll text Emilio the address so you can pass it along to him.”
“What’s going on?”
His jaw ticks. “Allie thinks she found her rapist, and Aaron is beating the shit out of him as we speak. We need to go.”
That’s all it takes to get Roman moving. We peel out of the school parking lot, taking the corner so fucking fast I have to grab the oh-shit handle, but I don’t tell Roman to slow down. His girl is in trouble and there isn’t a mountain on this planet he wouldn’t try to move for her. He dials his dad’s number, snapping out the situation, and I pass on the address Dominique texted me.
It’s a fifteen-minute drive, but we make it in close to five, and before the car is even off Roman is jumping from the front seat and barreling straight for the front door, Dominique and I close behind. We’re family. And none of us fight alone.
ten
Something is seriously wrong here and it has everything to do with Miguel. “Uhh… we’re going to get back to our movie.” I grab Allie’s arm and half drag her toward the hallway, hoping everyone else will follow. Once we’re alone I’ll ask her what is going on. Her skin is so pale it’s virtually translucent. I’m afraid she might pass out.
All of a sudden Allie digs in her heels and pulls her arm away from me, her spine straightening. “It’s you,” she says, but her voice is so quiet Miguel doesn’t hear her. He’s already gone back to his beer, and a part of me wonders if it isn’t the first one he’s had this evening. “It was you,” she repeats, this time louder and he snaps his head toward her.
“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about,” he tells her, but even I know it’s a lie. He’s not bothering to hide his smile or the heated look in his gaze as he eyes her up and down like a piece of meat. What is wrong with him? He has to know she’s only seventeen.
“What’s going on?” I ask, but Monique looks just as confused as I do.
“Allie?” Aaron questions, stepping closer to her and wrapping one arm protectively around her waist. “What’s wrong?”
Tears are silently spilling down her face as she points at Miguel, her attention still wholly focused on him. “It was you. You were one of the men who…” She chokes on her words. “It was you.” Aaron stiffens beside her and almost in slow motion turns to face Miguel. He tucks Allie behind his back and faces off with my mother’s boyfriend, a furious expression washing over his face. “Kasey, call Roman.”
“Wha—”
“Now. Tell him to call his dad and get here. Now, Kasey,” he snaps.
Kasey pulls out her phone and starts calling, but it goes to voice mail so she tries again. And again.
“You sick sonovabitch,” Aaron growls, taking a step forward.
Miguel doesn’t even try to deny whatever it is they’re accusing him of. He holds one arm out and waves his beer in the other. “Hey, man, you’d tap it too if you had a chance.” My stomach rolls at his words. Is he…with Allie? No. No way. No freaking way.
Aaron launches himself at Miguel, and the two crash to the ground.
“Oh, my God,” Monique gasps beside me.
I take a step forward but have no clue what to do. Do I intervene? Aaron is on top of Miguel, fists flying as he lands a right hook to his jaw before Miguel lands one of his own and manages to throw Aaron off him. I push the rest of the girls back as both men climb to their feet. Aaron’s chest is heaving but he doesn’t look to be in rough shape. Meanwhile, blood is running from Miguel’s nose and the corner of his mouth. Yet he’s smiling, eyes bloodshot and a manic expression on his face. He spits blood onto the floor and waves at Aaron as if to say come on. Aaron lunges forward again. The two begin rolling across the ground and it’s all I can do to track their movements. One second Miguel is on top and the next, Aaron is. Limbs are flying everywhere, fists crashing into whatever body part they can find. A plant is knocked over spreading dirt across the tiles and it mixes with their blood, leaving smears of murk in horrific streaks or brown and red.
Aaron seems to have the advantage despite Miguel being the bigger of the two. He’s younger and in better shape, and he makes good use of what advantage that affords him. The two manage to separate, but only for a few seconds before the front door crashes open and all eyes turn toward it. Allie visibly relaxes beside me when she catches sight of Roman—Dominque and Emilio right behind him.
A jolt of fear spears through me. Emilio is here. He can’t be here. Not right now. Not like this.
Roman assesses the scene in a matter of seconds before he throws himself forward into the fight, fists flying as he tackles Miguel back to the ground.
Miguel has zero time to react before Roman is pummeling his face into the tile floor, a murderous look in his eyes.
A gasp on the stairs has me looking up to find my mom standing at the top of the staircase, Luis clutched in her arms as she watches the scene below. “What are you doing? Get off of him!” she shouts, and I rush to intercept her as she runs down the steps and heads right for Roman and Miguel. I pull Luis from her arms, my focus completely on my son’s safety, just as Emilio steps up to my mother and says in a low voice, “He has this beating coming to him for what he did to our friend.”
My mom tries to shove past him but Emilio sidesteps her, blocking her path. She pushes against his shoulders, but he refuses to move. “You can’t do this. You have no right—”
“He raped a seventeen-year-old girl,” Dominique adds, his expression stony. He hasn’t moved since coming in, and despite his words being for my mother, his gaze is glued to the fight in front of us, almost like he’s waiting for something.
“Miguel would never do that. Whatever you think you know is a lie. He—”
