Page 102 of I am Dressed in Sin (Death by Daybreak MC 2)
“Dena,” I say, affecting the voice and wisdom of a much older woman. “I want you to go home.” I turn to Grainger and give him a look. “How is she even here? I thought new girls were banned from the property?”
“I brought her here.”
I turn to see Gaz making his way through the crowd. He is most definitely not pleased to see me here; it’s as if we keep ruining one another’s plans. He killed that girl, that poor Rhea Bundy. My brother strangled her, and here he is with a new girl not a week later. I want to kill him. I so very, very badly want to kill this man.
“I was actually just asking Dena about that very fact,” Grainger says, and his smarmy smile turns into a harsh dark line. His eyes flash with rage, and I can see that he, too, would very, very much like to kill Gaz. “She was telling me all about her association with you.” Cade taps his fingers against the light pole beside Dena. She’s still leaning back against it in her short, pink dress, her blond hair shiny and perfect. She hasn’t quite figured out what a dangerous situation she’s in.
Also … Grainger. That fucker. He’d figured out that Dena’s presence was sus long before I did. He wasn’t flirting for any purpose other than milking information out of her.
Gaz is staring at us both with that narrow-eyed look of his.
“What does it matter if I bring a girl in for a party?” my brother asks, staring his sergeant-at-arms down in a way that tells me that he isn’t afraid of Cade Grainger.
But he should be.
“It matters because I said only people affiliated with the club could be on the compound today,” Grainger tells him, glancing down at Dena before looking up at me. This is no coincidence. One glance at Gaz confirms that for me. He smiles, and the expression sends chills down my spine.
Now I know why Beast is back. He followed Gaz here.
“Anything of yours is now mine,” Gaz says, reaching out to touch my hair. Grainger snatches his hand before my brother can touch me, squeezing it so hard that Gaz actually grunts in pain and Dena’s shiny pink lips part in surprise. “It’ll only take one word from me to ruin everything you’ve got going here. Even Beast can’t save you from the truth.”
He yanks his hand from Grainge’s grip—but only because the latter allows it.
“You want the girl?” Gaz asks, gesturing at Dena. “You can have her.”
He takes off as I curse under my breath and shove at my forehead with the heel of my hand.
“We need to get Dena home,” I tell Grainger, but he’s so focused on Gaz that he isn’t paying much attention to me.
“Where is Reba?” Dena asks me, almost conversationally. But there’s an accusation in her voice that says she suspects my involvement in this. “She won’t answer any texts; she hasn’t been at school. Nobody I know has seen her.”
“Maybe she finally acted on the seething hatred she’s had for you for years?” I say, but I’m lying. Reba doesn’t hate anyone except maybe Grainger, Gaz, and Cat. She definitely doesn’t hate Dena. But I sort of do. “Let’s go.” I take her arm, and she tries to pull away from me.
“I came here to party,” she says, but I just laugh, dragging her across the pavement toward the parking lot. I can see Crown from here, talking in a low voice to several other men. He notices me as I approach, pausing his conversation to lift a brow.
“This is Dena. You’ll remember her from the pool party at my house that one afternoon. She needs to get home.” I yank Dena forward, bringing her ear near my lips. “If I ever see you on this compound again, I’ll fucking kill you. If I ever hear about you seeing my brother, Gaz, again, I’ll fucking kill you. Do you understand all of that?”
She balks at me, but there’s an undeniable menace to my words that can’t be denied.
As well as a dollop of social skills, Dena must also have a very good sense of self-preservation.
“I didn’t know he was your brother!” she scoffs as I hand her over to Crown.
Part of me feels bad for intimidating her, but … even though I said I hated her—as well as Chardou and Amiya, Dena’s pretty cronies—I don’t. I’m worried about them. I’d rather not have another soul on my conscience. Stay away from all of this, I urge her silently.
Crown waves the other men away and then glances over at Grainger as he comes up behind me.
“And how, exactly, did she get on the property?” he asks, but Cade’s already cursing and shaking his head.
“Gaz,” he growls out, pacing back and forth for a moment. He lifts his head to stare at Crown, eyes flicking down to Dena.
