Unexpected | ??

42- The Text

Again? He knew them?

Well, obviously. He wouldn't meet a random group of strangers at an obscure location at night. Not to mention, they knew his name.

"You too," the girl spoke this time. Her flirty tone made my heart wrench. I'm sure if her hair wasn't tucked into a beanie, she'd twirl it as she spoke.

He barely acknowledged her, which made me feel a little better. Just a little.

It was obvious Dean was in no mood to beat around the bush. "Why'd you guys call me here?"

A new voice spoke up this time. "Boss, we need you back. Everything's falling apart. Don's gang is gaining too much power."

Gang?!?! So it was true?

Wait, did he just call Dean his boss?

"I don't care," he spat. "Didn't he tell you I wasn't interested?"

I was confused at who he was referring to until another familiar voice spoke up. "Listen buddy, this isn't only about your life. If they gain power, they'll recruit or kill all of us," Reece spoke, sounding just as authoritative as the others. I was used to his sweet tone, I didn't even know he was capable of talking like this.

"And? I appointed a new leader so I wouldn't have to deal with this."

Leader? Dean wasn't only in a gang, but he was the leader?

Why was it that I was hearing the facts, but it was so hard for me to grasp? Dean was actually in a gang, with Reece, and he was the leader? So almost everything he told me was true?

"Come on Dean, you know he's a terrible leader. We need you! I need you!" the girl spoke again, her voice sounding seductive at the last part. From the looks of it, the other men were unimpressed at her lame attempt to flirt.

I wanted to throw up.

"I don't care. Overthrow him or something," Dean snapped. A small smile came to my face, knowing he wasn't flirting back.

I mentally smacked myself for having the wrong priorities. Here I was, listening to him admit he was a gang leader, and all I could think about was the fact that he wasn't flirting with this girl?

"You know we can't," one of the men spoke, sounding annoyed. "Only you can appoint someone new. It doesn't matter though, because you're the only one who can handle Don."

"Guys, I'm not going back. I have a better life here."

"Come on, better than me?" The girl put her hand on Dean's bicep. He tensed but didn't push her off.

Why wasn't he pushing her off?

He opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted.

A loud bang came from behind me. My ears rang for a moment but then the sound came rushing back. As I turned around to see the source, searing pain ripped through my arm.

"Fuck! Don's men. How did they find us? Do you see what you guys did?" Dean yelled. Ignoring the pain, I watched with wide eyes as they all carried something shiny in their hands.

Guns.

They were loading bullets when more shots fired from behind me. They immediately sprung into action, firing back.

I put my back to the tree trunk, sliding down into a sitting position. The pain was only getting worse and I had a hunch that I was just shot. I couldn't find myself to check though. It would hurt way more if I could see the blood.