Call me kitten (boyxboy love) ✓

62. For real

I couldn't breathe. For some unfathomable reason, I had been under the delusion that Keith had disappeared at the same time as his report, but of course he hadn't.

"No, I'm not," Ash spat, glaring with hostility at Keith. "Let go of me."

Desperately, I prayed inwardly that Ash wouldn't do anything stupid, but I also knew in my bones that he would never back down.

"Whatever," Keith hissed. "But I know you had something to do with me having to withdraw my report."

"What the hell are you talking about," Ash growled, frowning. "I didn't do shit to make you do anything."

Something shiny flashed and Keith put a knife to Ash's throat. I cried out and the sudden panic cut into me. What the hell was I supposed to do? Keith was bigger than me, hell it felt like everyone was bigger than me right now and I didn't have squat to show for it. I could call the police, but what would it matter now, anything could happen before they got here, Ash could be bleeding on the ground. Ash narrowed his eyes at Keith, but I could see it clearly. He was scared now.

"Stop lying," Keith said, pressing the knife harder against Ash's throat.

Just then I heard quick footsteps coming up behind me and before I could even turn around to see who it was, Brady came up, along with two other men, and grabbed Keith hard around the neck.

What the hell is going on?

Ash just stared at Brady, as if he couldn't quite believe his eyes. What was Brady doing here?

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Brady said calmly to Keith, who wriggled trying to get free. "Drop the knife."

"Stay out of this," Keith threatened, continuing his futile struggle to free himself. "You have no fucking business in this."

Brady smiled coldly and suddenly yanked Keith so hard he almost lost his balance. The knife fell to the wet asphalt in front of Ash, and I drew a painful breath. Ash clutched his neck, and I could see a thin strip of blood just below his chin. The anger bubbling up inside me had me forcing myself not to throw myself at Keith. Instead, I ran up to Ash and pried his chin up so I could see how serious the wound was. But it was only a scratch and Ash hardly seemed to notice I was there.

"I think I do," Brady said to Keith, who now seemed to have realized that he couldn't win this. "Because I'm the one who crumbled your little report, you see."

So, I had been right in my, according to Ash, naive fantasies. Brady had a heart somewhere after all, or at least some kind of sense of what was right or wrong. But that didn't explain why he was here. Had he come to talk to Ash and just spotted us in the alley? But why would he want to talk to Ash in the company of those other two men? I glanced at them. If Simon had been here, he would have said they were cops in plain clothes. Which I realized they probably were. Colleagues of Brady's.

"Who the hell are you?" Keith growled, not seeming to realize his own best interests.

"You don't have to concern yourself with that," Brady said, still as calmly, holding Keith like he was a rag doll. "What you should concern yourself with is behaving in an exemplary manner for a fair amount of time to come, as you are now under surveillance. We know all about you, Keith. And if you do anything we deem inappropriate, we'll take you in faster than you can even blink. Do you understand?"

With a shove, Brady let go of Keith, who quickly began to back away. Before he turned the corner out of the alley, he glared back.

"I'm gonna report you!" he shouted angrily and was gone.