Striker: A Dark Bully Romance (Redwood Rebels Book 1) by Rachel Leigh (best historical fiction books of all time .txt) 📗

Tommy holds out his hand for a fist bump. “I’m out. I’ll pick her up tomorrow.”

Refraining from bumping it back, I push it away. “Don’t bother. I’ll bring her to school.”

Cocking a brow, Tommy scowls. “What’s with you lately?”

“Nothing. There’s just no reason for you to drive all the way here when I can just bring her myself.”

“He wants her all to himself. That’s what’s with him.” Zed huffs from the steps.

Sweeping the air with my hand, I brush them off and stalk toward the stairs. I want this plan to work. That’s all I care about. That’s why she’s here. I need her leash short so I can keep an eye on her. Any move that draws attention to us could destroy everything. It also doesn’t help that I don’t trust Zed. Tommy’s harmless, but I could see her falling for his wit and charm and I can’t let that happen. I’ve staked a claim for her—they just don’t know it.

Knocking my knuckle on the bedroom door a couple times, I wait for Marni to open it. When she doesn’t, I knock again. “Open the door,” I grumble.

Pressing my ear to it, I wait for a sound of movement, but there’s nothing but silence. I wriggle the handle, but it’s locked. “Marni!” I shout. “Open this goddamn door.” I knock more aggressively this time, but still nothing. The only sound is the wallop of multiple feet coming up the steps down the hall.

“What’s the problem?” Zed hurries to my side. Nudging me out of the way, he begins tinkering with the handle to no avail.

I pound my fist on the door continuously. “She’s not answering.”

“Jesus, you guys. She’s probably sleeping.” Lars comes toward us. I didn’t even know he was here yet.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, as Zed disappears down the stairs.

“My bitch of a step-sister is losing her damn mind and decided to throw a fucking vase at my head, so I figured I should probably skedaddle before I kill her, or vice versa.”

I chuckle. “Good call.” Reaching into my pocket, I remember that I left my phone downstairs.

“Hey, go get my phone off the couch. I’ve got her location turned on. Even if she’s not in there, she won’t get far.

A minute later, Zed comes back with a screwdriver in his hand. “Move,” he orders us both.

Two minutes later, Lars is back. “Couldn’t find it.”

“I assume the cameras are up if you got that video?” Lars asks, as he pulls out his phone and I know exactly what he’s doing. He’s going to the app to check the footage.

“They’re in there, but I shut them off.”

“Why the hell would you do that?” Zed grumbles. A screw drops to the floor beside him, followed by another.

“Because,” I raise my voice, “I’m not letting you bastards sneak a peek whenever you feel like it.”

Lars is still fucking with his phone when I catch his glower. “So you just figured you’d be the only one who sneaks a peek.” He holds his hand out to show me that the password failed, but I don’t need to see it. I know, because I’m the one who changed it.

Zed springs to his feet and the door handle drops to the ground. Grabbing Lars’ phone out of his hand, rage consumes him. With one glance at the screen, his arm extends up and Lars’ phone slams to the ground. “What the actual fuck, Talon!”

“Dude, that’s my phone.” Lars bends down and picks it up, brushing off the screen, even though no damage was done.

“What kind of game are you playing here?” Zed steps closer, but I give him a push, sending him two steps back where he belongs. “Give me the fucking password, now!”

“Are you forgetting that this is my fucking house!” I shove him again and again, until we are halfway down the hall.

“This is my game!” My teeth grind as my fists clench.

His gaze drops to the balled knuckles at my sides. “You wanna fucking punch me?” He steps up. “Do it. I dare ya.”

“You try and screw this up just because you’ve sprouted an obsession, I’ll do more than punch you.”

“Me.” He laughs. “You’re the one about to drive your own plan into the ground with Josh. You plan to hand her over to another man. Get a grip, jackass. She’s temporary, and once you’re finished with her, she’ll never even look at you again. In which case, I’ll step in. Dry her tears, give her a shoulder to lean on.” He pats his shoulder with a smirk then leans closer and whispers, “I’ll fuck you right out of her system.”

Heat spreads through my entire body as I cock my arm back. Just as I’m about to release it, Lars flees to my side, grabbing hold of my arm and pulling me back a couple feet. “Would you two shut the hell up. She could be in there listening to this shit.”

All eyes shoot to the door. An open circle replaces where the handle once was. Pushing past the guys, I walk over and slouch down to look inside. If she was in there, she would have heard us. She would know that her handle was just taken off. I peek in the hole and see her perfectly made bed. “She’s not in there.” I stand back up. Pushing aside all the anger toward Zed, I realize we have to work together on this one. I point to Lars. “Get the number of those two nitwits she hangs out with—Shay and Wyatt—call them.” I look at Zed. “You’re obviously obsessed with the girl, pull anything from memory and check it out. I’ll go to her dad’s house.”

Lars and Zed stand idly watching me, so I snap my fingers. “Now, damnit!” Then we all break apart and, without any further discussion, we go our own ways. Walking down the steps, I pat myself down, thinking that maybe I grabbed my phone and didn’t realize it. Sure as shit, nothing.

I