From Ashes of Scandal to His Embrace novel Chapter 23

Laurinda crouched in front of Jared, grabbed a fistful of his hair, and yanked his head back until he had no choice but to stare at her. Her voice was cold, sharp enough to cut through bone.

“What did Fabian offer you? What’s worth you crawling at his feet and coming after me?”

Jared glared at her, pure hatred burning in his eyes. “Nothing. I just hate you, Laurinda. Why do you get to walk around like you’re better than everyone?”

He looked like he wanted to tear her apart, but the truth was, he didn’t stand a chance. He couldn’t figure her out, couldn’t read her moves. Laurinda fought like she didn’t care about anything, always knowing exactly where to hit so it hurt the most.

“Come on, Laurinda. If you’ve got the guts, just kill me. This has nothing to do with Fabian. I just want to take you down for my brother.”

Laurinda gave him a slow, almost mocking smile. “Well, aren’t you tough. If you’re not going to play along, I hope you don’t regret it. I’m only giving you one shot. Miss it, and you don’t get another.”

She finally let go, shaking her hand in disgust when she saw the sticky hair gel on her fingers. She wiped it off on Jared’s uniform, stood, and walked to the end of the alley. Pulling out her phone, she made a call.

A few minutes later, a police car rolled up to the curb. An older cop stepped out, spotted Laurinda with half her face buried in her puffy coat, and let out a weary sigh. “Kinsey’s going to freak when he finds out you’ve been in another fight.”

“He’s off in Cabinda for some conference. No need to bother him. Just process these guys by the book. That pile of crap on the ground is more than enough to charge them.”

The officer looked at her like he didn’t know whether to scold her or laugh. He just sighed again. “Come on, get in the car. You need to give a statement at the station. You know, you could go a little easier on people. Aren’t you worried their parents will come after you?”

Laurinda shrugged, not the least bit bothered. “They wanted me dead. I’m supposed to just let that go? And he tried to hurt my friend. Honestly, I was being nice by not breaking anything important.”

The guys being dragged to their feet heard her say it and shivered. None of them thought she was bluffing. In fact, they were pretty sure she could do exactly what she said.

They were kicking themselves now. They should never have messed with Laurinda. No matter what anyone said about her, she was terrifying.

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