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and bent to
kiss her again.
    My brain registered the scraping sound again
an instant before something slammed into my side with enough force
to knock us both to the ground. Rosie yelped and tried to scramble
out of the way, but she couldn’t get far with her legs tangled in
the unwieldy dress. Pain exploded in my shoulder as it slammed into
the sun-hardened dirt. I lifted my head in time to see Judd Sheedy
pull back his arm. Instinct took over. His fist hurled toward my
face, but I rolled out of the way and it slammed into the ground
instead. Dark splotches of blood from his broken knuckles stained
the soil, but the injury didn’t seem to slow him down. He lunged at
me again. I fell backward, and all the air in my lungs erupted in
one breath as my back hit the ground and his full weight crashed
into my chest.
    “You little shit. I’ll kill you.” Judd thrust
his bloody fist into my ribs.
    I pressed my forearm into his throat, trying
to force him off. The smell of alcohol oozed from every part of
him, and his eyes refused to focus. Rosie shrieked again, though I
had no idea if she was worried for her brother or for me. I braced
myself for another wild punch, but before he made contact, his head
snapped back and his weight was lifted off of me.
    “Easy now, Prince,” Jimmy Boy said. He set
Judd on his feet and used his bulk to keep the thrashing drunk
trapped against the trailer.
    “Get the fuck off me, Reilly. I’m going to
kill him, and you’ll be next if you don’t let me go.”
    Jimmy Boy laughed, although there was no way
he found any of this funny. “All right. You’ve made your point, and
Shay’s learned his lesson.” He glared at me over his shoulder.
“Haven’t you?”
    “Sure,” I said. I got up and held out a hand
to Rosie. She stared at it for a second, but then let me pull her
back to her feet. “Are you okay?”
    Rosie bobbed her head but pulled her hands
away and wrapped her arms around herself protectively.
    “I’m going to let you go now,” Jimmy Boy
said. “But no more scrapping, you hear? I can’t imagine Pop’ll look
kindly on you fighting at your sister’s wedding.”
    “Fuck you,” Judd said and spat in my
brother’s face.
    Jimmy Boy’s mouth clenched into a hard line.
He moved with more speed than I would’ve thought him capable.
Grabbing Judd by the throat, he lifted him an inch off the ground
and held him against the trailer. Judd sputtered and clawed in vain
at Jimmy Boy’s hand.
    “I’m trying to be polite, Prince, but you’re
pushing me to my limits. Now take your sister back to the party and
go find a place to sleep it off. Yeah?”
    “Let’s go, Judd,” Rosie said. She put her
hand on Jimmy Boy’s shoulder, and he opened his fist. Judd crumpled
to his knees, gagging as air rushed back into his lungs.
    Jimmy Boy stepped back to give Rosie room to
drag her brother back to his feet. When they’d disappeared around
the side of the trailer, Jimmy Boy turned to me, and for a second,
I thought I might have to fight him next. Instead, he shook his
head as if I were a disappointing child.
    “Listen, I know I promised—”
    “Whatever you have to say, save it for Pop.
There’s no way he’s not going to hear about this. And when he does,
you’re gonna wish I’d let Judd kill you.”

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    “WAIT RIGHT HERE,” Judd said. He glared at
me, though the greenish tint to his skin and his puffy eyes made
him considerably less threatening than he meant to be. A purple
bruise roped around his throat, and his hand was bandaged.
    “Right here, Prince?” I asked, pointing to my
feet. “So here isn’t okay?” I slid several inches across the thick
Oriental rug that carpeted the Sheedy’s foyer.
    Judd pursed his lips, and his nostrils
flared. “Real funny, smartass. Stay here in the hall.”
    “What’s a matter, Prince? Not feeling so good
this morning?” I knew goading him would only get me in more
trouble, but since I’d been summoned by Pop this