Heart-On: Turf Wars #2 Bella Jewel (books for 10th graders .txt) 📖

“I could have lost a fuckin’ arm,” Beckett bellows.

“You can function without an arm,” Poppy shrugs.

Oh.

Boy.

She is clever. She’s not going to roll over and just let him take the lead. She’s making sure he knows she’s boss when it comes to making money and she’s not going to have it any other way. The two of them are going to bang heads. What a wild ride it’ll be.

“Not fuckin’ workin’ with her a second longer, boss,” Beckett says to Riggs. “She’s a fuckin’ menace.”

“You don’t get a choice. You’re the only man I trust in there not to fall in love and think with your cock the whole time,” Riggs grins. “Sorry, brother.”

“Trust me,” Beckett growls. “There is no fuckin’ chance any man will fall in love with her. Let alone put their cock near her.”

Poppy grins. “It’s true.”

Oh god.

She’s hilarious.

“Make the money. The quicker you do it, the quicker she’ll leave,” Riggs shrugs.

“She’ll fuckin’ kill me before then.”

Riggs looks to Beckett. “Suck it up, brother.”

Oh boy.

Beckett looks to Poppy. “You’re fuckin’ startin’ a war with me. You won’t win, bitch.”

“Ohhh, them fighting words,” Poppy taunts. “I can’t wait to see what you come up with, big guy.”

Beckett turns and disappears, and then we hear a loud chorus of curses followed by items being slammed and smashed.

“Is he always so moody?” Poppy asks casually.

“Quit stirrin’ him up,” Riggs orders. “You’re here because we’re doin’ you a favor. Do you want the alternative? Because I’ll happily do to you what I do to anyone else who steals from my club.”

Poppy glances at him. “You mean kill me? I doubt you’ll hurt me. Not even you’re that disgusting.”

“Try me,” Riggs warns.

Eve squeezes his thigh in a gentle warning.

We settle into enjoyable silence when the sound of gunshots rings out.

At first, it seems like it’s coming from a distance, but then, suddenly, we realize the gunshots are coming right at us.

Someone is in the parking lot, shooting right at the clubhouse.

Everyone moves quickly, as if our automatic reflexes kick in before we can think too much. You hear gunfire, you bloody move and you do it quickly. Adan has me on my feet in second and we’re running towards shelter. My heart races the entire time and my head spins as I try to process what the hell is going on.

“Get inside!” Riggs barks. “Get inside!”

I don’t run, but I can tell you I’ve never run so fast in my damned life. Adan continues to shield me as we move towards the open doors of the sheds beside the clubhouse. It’s the closest spot and we don’t have time to stop and think about it. We need to get away from the bullets flying, and this is the quickest and safest place to go.

The gunfire continues and the second we’re inside, Riggs slams the door shut and spins, staring at everyone. “Anyone hit?”

“I am,” Remy mutters, his voice tight. “Just a graze. It’s good.”

I look over and see he’s bleeding from his calf. I rush over. I roll up his pants and see it is just a graze, but it’s bleeding quite heavily. “I’ll sort you out. It’s okay.”

“Boys, get the weapons. Someone is fuckin’ attackin’ us,” Riggs orders.

Everyone but Remy, Eve, Poppy and I, disappears. I don’t even get a chance to say anything to Adan or tell him to be careful. That scares me, if he gets hit...

I can’t think about it.

I focus on Remy.

The gunfire ceases after a few minutes, but we don’t know if they’re still out there or not. We don’t even know if the club members have found them, or if they’re safe.

We don’t even know who they are.

“Any idea who that was?” I whisper, my heart still racing.

Remy shakes his head, his face tight. He wants to be out there, and why shouldn’t he? It’s his club, too. He sits tightly, anger very clearly bubbling inside him.

“I didn’t see the car,” Eve says. “It was so dark. It’s right in the middle of town. I don’t understand who would risk shooting at us like that.”

“I think I know who it was,” Poppy says, taking a seat beside Remy and glancing at the blood as I inspect his wound.

We all look at her.

“Well?” Remy grunts. “Who the fuck was it?”

“Oh,” Poppy says. “Oh, it was probably my husband.”

Wait.

What?

Did she just say her husband?

What the hell is going on?

26

“Husband?” I say, staring at Poppy.

She nods. “Yes, husband.”

“How?” I squeak.

“Yeah, I’d like you to explain fuckin’ how,” Riggs growls. “Because someone could have died tonight.”

Thankfully, nobody did. By the time the club members go out there, the shooters were gone and the streets were clear. They didn’t even get to see who they were or what they looked like. For all we know, it could be anyone.

Poppy chews on her lower lip for a moment, then she explains.

“I was kind of forced to marry him. I was in trouble, the only way I could get out of trouble was to agree to marry him, and he’d help me. It turns out that was a terrible idea, and, well, our relationship wasn’t very healthy. So, I did a runner. It’s safe to say he didn’t like that and has been looking for me since. I guess he found me.”

“You fuckin’ think?” Beckett barks. “What the fuck were you thinkin’ keeping something like that from us? We could have been killed.”

“I didn’t know he was going to come here and shoot at you all. God, if anything, I thought he’d come and drag me out. Maybe it wasn’t him...”

“You were pretty sure it was him when we spoke to you,” I say very carefully.

Poppy exhales. “Look, he’s unpredictable. If he were in a rage, sure, he’d probably do something like that.”

“And what might cause him to have a rage?” Riggs growls.

Poppy gives Riggs a careful, nervous grin. “Me taking his money.”

Riggs closes his eyes.

Beckett curses.

“You stole from us and you fuckin’ stole from