“Sorry,” Caine said with a shrug as he paused in draining the bag of blood that she’d refused, “but I skipped lunch.”
“T-that’s okay,” Cloe mumbled, not really sure what to say as she swiftly turned her attention straight ahead at the bastard glaring at her, but that was definitely better than watching a man slurp down some O positive, she decided, trying not to cringe or gag.
“We need to get inside,” Danni announced once Caine had managed to drain the bag.
With a nod, Caine tossed the empty bag back to Chris who caught it with a flick of his hand and shoved it into the front of the black backpack sitting between him and the seriously pissed off man who wouldn’t stop glaring at her. At this point she seriously had to wonder what that was about. She opened her mouth to ask him what his problem was, but a slight growl and a flash of silver eyes had her rethinking that decision and deciding that perhaps getting out of the van and away from the perpetually angry bastard was for the best. Of course, that didn’t mean that she was planning on going along with their plans to lock her up.
With a feigned sigh of resignation, she nodded and said, “Fine. Let’s go inside,” making sure to sound putout.
“Let’s do it,” Chris said, gesturing for Caine to unlock the door and climb out.
She forced herself to sit there, waiting for her turn to jump out when all she wanted to do was to shove her way to freedom and make a run for it, but she knew better. They’d just grab her and carry her ass inside and she wasn’t having that. Trying to hide her excitement, she waited and watched as Christofer stepped out of the van, looking somber as he stood there, hands in his pockets as he stared down at the pavement while he waited for everyone else to climb down. If he hadn’t come close to killing her, she’d probably feel bad for him, but-
Okay, fine. She did feel bad for him. He’d just lost his sister, someone that Cloe knew that he loved very much. She still didn’t know all the details, mostly because he’d refused to talk to anyone right now and no one else would say anything except that it had been unexpected. Cloe certainly hadn’t expected the feisty old woman who’d made her laugh to pass on so soon. She’d been so full of life, so kind and sweet. She hadn’t even known Marta that long and she was going to miss her terribly. She couldn’t even begin to fathom what Christofer was going through right now.
“Let’s go, princess,” Chris said, gesturing rather impatiently for her to step out.
“That’s not my name,” she said evenly as she carefully climbed out of the van, keeping her eyes downcast to hide the red glow as well as to hide her intentions.
“Aw, but you’re such a dainty little princess,” Chris said mockingly, petting her head condescendingly as she stepped out of the van. He reminded her of an older boy in foster care she used to know named Brian, who used to love nothing more than to torment her when none of the adults were around.
So, of course she felt obligated to handle the overbearing bastard the same way that she used to handle Brian when the jerk used to pin her down and let his spit hang a mere inch away from her face before he sucked it back up and did it again.
She went for his balls.
“Mother f**ker!” Chris growled, cupping his balls as he dropped unsteadily to his knees even as he glared at her, not that she was waiting around to watch his reaction.
She wasn’t.
She tried to make a run for it as soon as she’d managed to take him by surprise. By take him by surprise she of course meant that she’d taken advantage when his phone started chiming and he’d rushed to answer it. As soon as he had the phone in his hands, she’d turned around and brought her knee up, sending his balls up through his throat. Startled that it had actually worked, she’d decided to press her luck. Unfortunately for her, she’d barely managed to turn around when she found herself picked up.
“Let me-Hey!”she started to demand her freedom only to squeal at the end when Ephraim, the bastard that interfered with her escape attempt, tossed her a good ten feet over pavement that she seriously did not want to land ass first on, to the brooding bastard standing off to the side.
She opened her mouth to demand that Christofer put her down, but could only gasp as she struggled to catch her breath. She grabbed onto his shoulders and buried her face against his chest, in no way admitting defeat. She just needed a minute or two while she struggled to catch her breath and calm her racing heart before she made another run for it.
“My balls,” Chris croaked.
“Quit your bitching,” Kale, who seemed to love to glare, said with a touch of an Irish brogue that she refused to find sexy. “You should have seen that coming,” he snapped, stepping up to the side, blocking off one of her escape routes as he shot her a look that practically dared her to try something.
“I expected it,” Chris managed to get out as he sucked in a breath.
“It really shows,” Caine said dryly as he moved to block her other side while Danni moved past him, obviously intent on blocking her from the back.
“I got distracted,” Chris snarled, holding onto his father’s arm while the two of them took the position in front of her to complete the trap. As soon as they were in position, Chris bent back over, gasping for air and keeping a tight hold on his father’s arm.
Meanwhile, people came and went, walking past them as though they weren’t there. It was a little unnerving that that no one seemed concerned about a woman being tossed about or kidnapped. They did however seem putout with the fact that their group wouldn’t move and they were forced to alter their path and walk around them.
“You got distracted,” Kale mimicked with obvious disgust.
“Izzy texted me and-”
The name Izzy was barely out of Chris’ mouth when the scowling jackass to her right and Ephraim were both on Chris, trying to tear the cellphone out of his hand.
“Let go, you bastard!” Kale snapped, trying to wrestle the phone out of Chris’ hand while his father simply reached down, pinched the back of Chris’ hand, which earned a yelp from Chris before he was forced to release the phone. Ephraim pressed his finger to the screen seconds before he typed something.
“She’s fine, you insensitive bastards!” Chris snapped, shaking off his hand as he got to his feet with a glare aimed at the men focused on his phone and stumbled past her to take up Kale’s abandoned spot.
Both men sighed heavily with obvious relief as Ephraim tossed the phone back to Chris. “Just a reminder to pick up some fudge from that shop that she likes,” Ephraim muttered, rubbing his hands down his face.
“Which I would have told you if you hadn’t attacked me, you betraying bastard!” Chris practically snarled as he continued to shake off his hand with a wince as he shifted his legs.
“I thought you told her not to text you unless it’s an emergency,” Ephraim grumbled as he gestured for Christofer, who was still oddly quiet throughout this whole exchange, to precede them inside the large, and obviously, upscale building.
“I did,” Chris gritted out, keeping stride with Christofer as they headed inside.
“She’s pregnant,” Danni said dryly. “To her, fudge is an emergency.”
Ephraim chuckled as he pulled up the rear alongside Kale, who was once again glaring at her. How did she know this? Because while everyone else was chatting away and Christofer was voluntarily walking them to their doom, she was struggling to get free. She kicked, shoved, pinched and squirmed, but nothing worked. He’d barely even grunted when she’d kneed him in the chest when she’d tried to climb over his shoulder to take a chance with a pavement dive.