Falling in Deeper (Wicked Lovers Series Book 11)

by Shayla Black

  And she did—so very much. Not just because the imperative to live beat strong in her chest and raced fast through her veins. She wanted more from life. To laugh and cry and love. She wanted to see Stone, tell him she forgave him. And she hoped he understood. She wanted to see if they could have something real if she gave him her all. Could he ever love her, as he’d claimed? She ached to touch him, yearned to share tomorrow with him. And someday, god willing, she wanted to have another baby.

  As Emma sat on the other bed, she stared raptly, ready to watch the live rape and murder as if it were a pay-per-view event. Corey came at Lily with the shears. He snipped them a few times in her face, laughing when she shrank back involuntarily. Then she forced herself to stop reacting, start planning.

  The nightstand with the rest of those gleaming sharp implements was maybe three steps away. Still far but her best bet. She’d have to find some vulnerable spot on Corey’s body and hit him before they got her to the bed. The juvenile hadn’t arrived yet. Kev and his considerable muscle would only be gone a few minutes. She couldn’t assume that Stone or anyone else could find her here, no matter how hard they might try.

  It was now or never.

  Lily swallowed as Corey cut through the zip tie securing her left ankle to the chair. He made quick work of the restraint holding her left wrist, then tossed the shears to Dan, who did the same on her right side. Together, they hoisted her to her feet.

  Corey wrenched her arm behind her back, until she gasped and stood on her tiptoes to prevent him from dislocating her shoulder or breaking her arm. “Don’t try anything.”

  Or what? He already meant to rape and kill her. Frankly, he couldn’t threaten her with much worse. She might as well risk it all.

  Squeezing her eyes shut and saying a prayer, she pretended to lose her balance and toppled forward. Corey automatically reached out to catch her. Before he could shove her back to her feet, Lily bit the fleshy inside of his biceps and clamped down with her teeth as hard as she possibly could. Almost instantly, she tasted his coppery blood.

  He snapped his arm back to dislodge her hold and glanced at the red indentations of his wound. “Bitch.”

  But she wasn’t listening to him. She was lunging for the nightstand, trying not to stumble. She barely managed to snatch up Kev’s big serrated blade. Lily knew she only had a fraction of a second to whirl to her left and hopefully plant this blade in Corey’s belly. But she’d fallen too far forward and couldn’t quite get her balance quick enough to turn and defend herself. Instead, when she arced the blade through the air, she missed Corey altogether.

  On her right, Dan leapt onto the bed and came at her in a full tackle. Lily screamed and managed to sidestep him at the last instant, gratified when he fell between the two beds and hit his knee on the base of the nightstand with a thud. In feinting, she ran right into Emma, who shrieked and tried to scramble away.

  Corey latched onto Lily’s left wrist and started tugging. This time, she was ready, twisting around to slash the blade down at him. She sliced through his forearm. A deep wound opened. Blood welled quickly and flowed from the gash.

  “What the fuck?” he roared and released her to clap his hand over the wound, glaring at her as if she had done the unthinkable. “Oh, that’s it, bitch. If Kev doesn’t get here in the next two minutes he’s going to miss your last gasp.”

  Lily didn’t doubt that he meant every word.

  When he lunged for her again, she went for the weak link, rolling onto the bed and scrambling behind Emma. The woman looked over her shoulder left and right, screeching wildly, as she tried to see the threat to her safety. Dan jumped for Lily again too, and she knew she didn’t have time to be polite or gentle. Emma certainly hadn’t been either of those with her. Neither would these men. So Lily grabbed the woman’s long ponytail and tugged hard, exposing her throat. In the next breath, she put the blade, still wet and red with Corey’s blood, against it. A drop fell onto Emma’s breast and rolled into her pink tank top.

  Corey and Dan both froze.

  “Leave her out of this. She has nothing to do with this shit,” Corey grated out.

  “I’m still breastfeeding!” Emma shrieked.

  Lily ignored her. “I had nothing to do with any of this shit, either. Just because you don’t want to pay for your sins doesn’t mean I will. Will you make your wife pay, you selfish bastard? Then mourn her loss and blame me for wielding the blade? Yeah, you’re the kind of coward who would, without admitting that I wouldn’t have been here to slice her throat open if you hadn’t plotted your ridiculous revenge in the first place.”

  “Step away from my wife and I won’t kill you.” Corey tried to barter.

  Obviously he thought she was stupid. “Not happening. Emma and I are going to back out of the room and leave. If you make a move in my direction, I’ll slice her in half.”

  Lily wasn’t sure she could actually do it, but she had to at least threaten and bluff. And if the worst happened, she would have to try. She would also have to hope that Kev wasn’t on his way back up and that his juvie friend didn’t show. With luck, maybe some law-abiding citizen would see her fleeing for her life and offer aid.

  Neither man said anything right away, just looked at her with wary, worried eyes. Finally Dan stepped forward. “I’ll take her place. Let my sister go, and you can take me hostage.”

  “So you can fight back and try to manhandle or overpower me? No. Stand up, bitch.” Lily gave Emma a taste of her own medicine.

  With a high-pitched whine, the blonde rose to her feet on shaking legs. “Don’t hurt me.”

  Lily scoffed. “If I had pleaded for your mercy ten minutes ago, you would have laughed. Luckily for you, I’m not bitter or bloodthirsty. I’m also not stupid enough to love a man capable of cold-blooded rape and murder or psycho enough to encourage him. As far as I’m concerned, you get what’s coming to you. But I don’t have any interest in hurting you unless you force me. Now, we’re walking . . .”

  As Lily sidestepped toward the door, she dragged Emma and kept her back to the wall. Her hostage served as a buffer between her and the two men watching her every move.

  They neared the door. Emma stumbled, her feet tripping over each other. On purpose?

  Lily caught the woman with her free hand. “Be careful. This knife is awfully sharp and you wouldn’t want me to cut you by accident, would you?”

  “No. No. No,” Emma panted, her heart beating so hard it was a wonder everyone in the room couldn’t hear it.

  As Lily tugged her near the door, she reached for the dead bolt and unfastened it; then she grabbed the handle to the door with shaking fingers. A nervous sweat sprang up all over her body. Anxiety stung her veins. Her heartbeat gonged in her head. Freedom was so, so close.

  Before she could open the door, she heard car doors slam in the motel’s parking lot. One man shouted, the sound primal and disruptive. Another yelled back an obscenity that made her jaw drop. Seconds later, someone fired a gun.

  Everyone in the motel room froze, even Lily.

  “Wait. Don’t . . .” Corey instructed, even pleading a little. “I don’t know who’s shooting out there but that’s no one I know. Dan, look out the window, will you?”

  Lily thought about objecting but decided if Emma’s brother was peering outside at whatever mayhem was going on in the parking lot, he wasn’t paying attention to her. Still, she kept sharp in case this was some sort of trick.

  Dan rubbed at his knee where he’d hit it as he climbed back over the bed, sending his sister a concerned glance. She whimpered. Boy, for a woman who’d been so eager to see her sexually assaulted and ripped to shreds, Emma sure had turned mousy and squeamish at the first sign that she was in danger.

  “Go on,” Lily ordered Dan when he edged too close to his sister. She drew the knife tighter against the woman’s throat.

  Corey stepped into the
space between the beds and glanced out as Dan drew the drape aside and scowled. “Five guys out there fighting. Oh, that looked like a hell of a punch.”

  “Who are they? Can you tell why they’re fighting?” Corey demanded.

  “I don’t know.” Dan shook his head, leaning closer to the dirty glass. “They aren’t punks wearing colors or anything.”

  “Who has the gun?” Corey asked.

  Dan cocked his head and frowned as if trying to decipher the scene in the parking lot. He drew in a breath as if he meant to answer.

  Something struck the window. With a loud thump, it cracked the pane. The sound of shattering glass filled the room. The shards fell. Then Dan crumbled, falling on the bed nearest the window.

  With a bullet hole right between his shockingly pale eyes.

  Emma screamed. “Dan. Dan! Oh my god . . .”

  But Dan didn’t answer. He was never going to. He was dead.

  “Jesus!” Corey blinked. “What the fuck?” Then he turned an evil glare Lily’s way. “You did this. Somehow. What did you do?”

  “Me?” Lily’s heart lurched. She had no idea who was out there, firing. That shot couldn’t have been an accident. Someone must have been waiting. A sniper? Friend or foe?

  At this point, did it matter? Corey absolutely meant to kill her. The men in the parking lot might or might not. Lily would take those odds.

  When Corey charged toward her, she lowered the knife and shoved Emma in his direction. His wife stumbled into him, and he was forced to catch her. Lily didn’t stay to watch what happened next. She wrenched the door open, the fight-or-flight response searing her veins with adrenaline. Sunlight rushed in, golden warmth and blue skies wrapping around her as she darted out of the terrible little motel room with a cry.

  Over the second story railing, she spotted familiar faces in the parking lot. Hunter Edgington and Jack Cole both crouched behind the open doors of Stone’s big black pickup, weapons visible through the windows. Police sirens suddenly wailed, splitting the sleepy air of small-town peace, coming closer with each second. Logan Edgington darted to the edge of the parking lot to meet them.

  Axel sprinted across the expanse of blacktop toward her. “Sweet Pea!”

  As he disappeared under the overhang where the stairs originated near the first-floor rooms, she ran—toward freedom, a familiar face she knew represented safety.

  But she wanted the one who made her ache for love and devotion and forever. She wanted Stone. Where was he?

  She heard pounding footsteps ascending the stairs in a full-out run, just about to hit the second floor. Axel couldn’t have reached her that quickly. Had he called out to her because he’d been trying to warn her that the violent juvenile had arrived? Or that Kev was coming for her?

  Knife in hand, Lily crouched in a fighting stance, ready to defend herself to the death. She’d just outwitted two men willing to do her in. By god, she’d take on another. She’d never be a victim again. She intended to do whatever necessary to protect herself, see justice done, and put every one of those fucking bastards in the ground or in prison.

  Instead, a nearly shaved head emerged, followed by a beloved face, then the broadest shoulders and a wide chest she’d cradled her head against during some of the best nights of her life. Tight abs rippling beneath it, his gray T-shirt popped into view. He held a gun in one hand, sprinting, his legs pumping wildly to reach her. “Baby!”

  Relief swelled inside her.

  “Stone,” she sobbed his name as she dropped the knife. It clattered to the ground as she ran down the stairs, arms outstretched, to meet him halfway.

  She threw herself into his embrace, crashing into the solid cradle of his chest, against his thumping heart. Tears streamed down her face, stemming from her heart and wrenching her insides out.

  “I’ve got you,” he vowed. “I always will. I love you.”

  He’d come for her. And she swore to god that she’d never let anything or anyone tear them apart again.

  “Fucking bitch!” Corey roared from the upper level above and behind her. “You’re going to die!”

  She’d barely heard the words and processed them by the time Stone had raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

  Her heart lurched as she gasped and whirled to meet the threat. But Corey was already crumpling to the concrete walkway above, his gun clattering to the ground with him. Then he lay unmoving, his blood splattered wide around his still body.

  “Fuck you,” Stone quipped. “Who’s the bitch now?”

  Chapter Twenty

  BOUQUET of flowers in hand, Lily pushed open the wrought iron gate to the cemetery. God, she couldn’t believe she was here, finally about to see the graves of all her loved ones for the first time.

  The Southern California sky winked blue and hot, but the gentle breeze carrying the air inland from the ocean made it somewhat bearable.

  She’d once belonged in this city but no more. Not that she missed the sticky-hot humidity of the Texas summers, but after weeks of talking to both Bankhead and the feds about the drug-trafficking case pending against Canton, as well as the LA County District Attorney about the various murders and assorted crimes he’d committed, Lily figured he’d be going down for a long time. She’d needed to consent to testify—for Erin, her family, even for Regina in a weird way. Her daughter may not be here to realize that her mom had decided to do the right thing, but somehow Lily hoped the girl watched from above with pride.

  Most especially, she needed to agree to testify for Stone.

  Last night, she’d spoken to Sean on the phone. He’d explained the FBI investigation taking place and her role in it. He’d apologized for helping to orchestrate the plot to strong-arm her testimony. Thorpe had hopped on the phone next and followed suit. And since Dominion’s owner and resident badass never apologized gracefully to anyone for anything, especially in such a heartfelt voice, Lily realized they were simply men who had made a mistake. Her heart welled because they’d made her feel like an important part of the club and the tight-knit community of its members.

  When she’d first learned of their “perfidy,” she’d been so furious at them for making decisions that affected the rest of her life without consulting her. But now that One-Mile had executed Dan from the roof of the church across from that skeevy motel, Corey was dead, his mom extradited from Canada, Emma and Kev behind bars, baby Isabel in CPS custody, and Canton potentially in for a lifelong prison sentence, Lily understood that with the past obstructing her future, she’d been going nowhere, doing nothing, committing herself to no one.

  Everything had changed now that she’d made peace with her bleak teenage years. She couldn’t change them or wash them away. She could only accept them, embrace them, and understand they were a part of who she’d become.

  Her phone, which she’d tucked into the pocket of her polka-dot shirtwaist dress, buzzed. Axel had texted her a link, ostensibly to a story from a major news website. She clicked it and had to repress tears. It seemed as if she cried all the time now. After years of being unable to express her sorrow, now she overflowed. And god, she felt so much better.

  The article popped up on her browser. More of Canton’s victims were coming forward. More people he’d beaten, raped, swindled—all too terrified to say anything in the past. A tremulous smile wobbled across Lily’s mouth. Once she’d been brave enough to tell the truth, others had followed suit—some with video evidence. The DA was taking all of their statements and compiling one big, long list of Canton’s crimes. Gory details had been splashed across the news in every medium. He’d been denied bail by the judge because he’d been deemed both dangerous and a flight risk.

  Subsequently, he had declined to run for governor of California.

  Lily had been just about ready to click her phone off when it vibrated, low and rhythmic, indicating she had a call. She glanced at the display that popped up
and smiled. “Hi, Axel.”

  “Hi, Sweet Pea. And yes, I’ll probably always call you that.”

  She laughed. “Thorpe and Sean do, too. I kind of like it now that y’all know my real name.” The nickname that used to be a means of hiding had now become a sweet endearment.

  “Sorry I’ve been out of pocket but I’ve been wondering how you are. It’s good to finally talk to you,” he said.

  Lily smiled at the sound of his voice. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. You’ve got a wedding to plan.”

  “I’m up to my eyeballs in lace and tuxedos but it’s good.” He paused. “How does it feel to be you again?”

  Interesting. Since Lily had come back to her old neighborhood over the past few weeks, she’d encountered so many people she’d known as a kid. Some were scraping by, trying to raise their own kids. Some were behind bars. Others had become drug addicts. A handful were already dead and buried. In some ways, Lily felt fortunate to have stepped out of the shadow of this awful barrio with its mediocre schools and parents too involved in their own jobs, addictions, or hookups to care about their kids. She’d seen a whole new way of life since leaving here. She’d experienced a whole new sort of family—the kind she chose.

  “Let’s say I’m not moving back. But I ran into Rick Mensell, my first boyfriend.”

  “The guy who knocked you up and walked out?” Axel growled.

  “Yeah,” she said sadly. “I actually think that kind of messed him up. He married right out of high school because his girlfriend at the time got pregnant. She had a miscarriage. They divorced. He never had more kids. He says he got a vasectomy at twenty-five because he didn’t think he could go through the pain of losing a child again.”