by Sophia Gray
“I’ll take the work,” I told Peyton darkly. He nodded his approval, and I could see his white teeth grinning in the dark.
“Good man,” he replied. “What’s been new with you?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “Not a fucking trace, that’s for sure. I think I got a little rusty when I was locked up for so goddamn long.”
Peyton shook his head. “You’re gonna be fine,” he told me mildly. “You do what I tell you, and you’ll come out smelling like a goddamn rose.”
His metaphor made my sister’s angelic face flash into my mind again. I could still see her now: light green eyes, like mine only sweeter, medium brown curly hair, and curved pink lips. She’d been the most beautiful girl in the world, and she never got to experience any of it. Violent rage coursed through my body.
Peyton watched me with amusement. I glared at him in silence.
“Thanks,” I finally said. Even though he knew about Rose, I didn’t want to bring her up again. Sometimes I couldn’t even believe that I deserved to say her name.
I nodded at my friend and went inside the club for a drink. Finding work meant something to celebrate, even if it meant working with those scumbags from Iron Angels. Flagging the bartender, I ordered a whiskey, neat. He brought me two, and I tossed them back one after the other, feeling the liquor burn my throat with a familiar warmth. I paid him without speaking and walked back outside.
Peyton was gone. I figured he’d be in touch when it came time for me to find out more about my assignment, but I couldn’t lie. I was still bummed. It was a lot for a man to be locked up for ten years with no real life, and I hadn’t felt like I’d entirely come back yet.
I’d been bouncing around from one odd job to the other, and nothing stuck. But Torque McIntyre, private investigator? Admittedly, I liked the sound of it. I pictured myself in the future with some sleek office and a string of honeys I could call up for a one-night stand whenever I wanted it. Women couldn’t keep themselves away from me now; if I had a dollar for every bitch I’d fucked since getting out of prison, I’d have enough to retire. But that was all it was to me—sex.
A black car with tinted windows pulled up, and some man rolled out of the back seat. He grunted at me. “Yo, McIntyre!”
I walked towards the sound of my last name being called in the air. “What the fuck, man?” I hissed. “These people don’t fuckin’ know me!”
“Sorry,” he replied in a dry tone. “I got a message from someone. You better watch your back if you wanna stay alive in this city.”
I frowned. “What the fuck you talkin’ about, man?” I stepped back from the car. “I didn’t fuck nobody, not in this town.”
The man sneered and got in my face. “You better listen, jackoff,” he said through his teeth. “Unless you want my friend to go skin up your little girlfriend, you better keep your fuckin’ head down!”
“Who?” I squinted. “I don’t have no fuckin’ lady!”
The man laughed, exposing pearly white teeth and some gold caps in the back of his mouth. “That fuckin little tight brunette girl,” he told me. “With those big eyes. You watch out for her. Her pussy smells so good I could whiff it from across the street.”
I set my mouth in a thin line. “You don’t have anything to worry about,” I said, backing away from the car with my hands up in the air. “You’ll never see us again.”
The man laughed again, this time turning it into a harsh cough. “That’s fuckin’ right,” he replied, laughing. “We don’t see you alive again, you hear?” He started hooting and laughing and doubling up. From inside the car, I heard other men jeering and laughing as I backed away.
Fuck all of y’all, I thought as I stormed away from the club. Fuck you for making me have to protect her, too.
Chapter Five
Lily
“Lily, there’s someone here to see you,” Anne called over her shoulder. She frowned at me when I walked closer. “He looks like a convict. Do you want me to call the cops?”
My heart sunk when I realiTorque that she couldn’t be talking about anyone other than Torque. At least, I hoped that she couldn’t be. I hated to think of running into more than one man who looked like him. Torque was scary enough; thinking about him and his body double made me shiver.
I swallowed hard. “No,” I told her, trying to sound normal. “That’s completely unnecessary.”
Anne rolled her eyes. “Then please tell your boyfriend to stop coming to Dawning Center, okay?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry,” I said, sounding as apologetic as possible. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
Anne’s eyes flashed. “Lily, I don’t really care. We’re busy, and we need you here, okay?”
I felt a blush color my whole face. “Right, I know. I’m sorry. He’ll be gone soon.”
I scanned the parking lot but didn’t see him on any of the security monitors. Just when I was beginning to think he’d left, I saw Mr. Simpson walking towards me, grinning.
“Lily!” he called, smiling. “And how are you this lovely December evening?”
“I’m fine, Mr. Simpson,” I replied politely. “And how are you?”
He raised a hand in the air to correct me. “Mark. And I’m fine, just a little lonely. Can I interest you in a ride home?
I shook my head. “I have a car, Mark,” I told him, feeling awkward. “And no, thank you.”
He smiled. “Darn.”
“I’m sorry,” I said as I looked into his face. “I have to leave; a friend is waiting for me.”
“Next time!” Mark called, and I shuddered. He was so cute; what was wrong with him? Was it that he looked too old? Or that I wasn’t ready to be a stepmother? I should have been totally attracted to him, but I wasn’t. There was just something so… nonthreatening about him. He wasn’t like Torque, not at all.
Stop thinking about that lughead. He doesn’t mean anything to you, and he’s probably dangerous, I berated myself.
Mark had barely disappeared inside when Torque came up out of nowhere. He glared at me. “We need to talk,” he said in short.
I frowned. “I’m still working. Can it wait?”
Torque shook his head. He opened his piercing green eyes wide and stared at me. “It can’t.”
“I haven’t done anything, if that’s what you mean,” I managed to squeak out in a small voice.
“I know.” He huffed. “Who was that douchebag talking to you?”
“Torque!” I hissed, looking around. Mark was nowhere in sight; I heard the faint laughter and squeals of kids coming from inside the center. “That’s really rude, Torque. He has these two adorable kids who he’s really great with. His wife died a few years ago, and I think he’s just lonely. He’s a really nice guy, and he just likes talking to me.”
“Nice guys finish last,” Torque said, sneering. “Come with me.”
“I can’t. I’m still working!” Even though Torque was being an asshole about Mark, it still made me giggle. Thinking about Torque walking into the center and being covered with cute toddlers was the most difficult thing that I’d tried to imagine in my life. I had no idea how he’d act around kids, and I had a feeling that I didn’t want to find out.
I snorted when I imagined Mark standing next to Torque; like me, I doubted Mark would stand taller than Torque’s massive shoulders. Still, I couldn’t help but feel flattered that someone like Torque would be jealous just because he saw me talking to Mark. I wasn’t even used to one guy talking to me; the idea of two guys fighting over me—no matter how horribly unmatched they’d be—was, admittedly, really flattering.
I looked down with a trace of self-consciousness; I was wearing my favorite lavender sweater, and I knew it made my boobs look big. But Torque wasn’t even looking. Men, I thought with irritation. They only want you when someone else does, too.
Torque looked from me to the center and then back. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me out to the car. I started screaming, and he immediately clapped his hand over my
mouth, effectively silencing me. Behind his thick fingers, the only sounds I could muster sounded about as strong as a bunch of baby kittens.
He dragged me across the parking lot and threw me into the back seat of his car. Leaning over me, his huge frame blocked out all of the daylight. A single drop of sweat dripped down my back. Is he going to rape me? I wondered, feeling scared.
I held my breath and watched as he reached down, expecting to see him rip my pants down or tear my shoes away, but he merely grabbed both of my ankles and shoved them on the back seat. I let out a long shaky breath when I realiTorque he wasn’t going to touch me, but whatever sense of relief I’d had quickly turned back to panic after he got in the driver’s seat of the car and pulled away with a roar.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my voice shaky. Torque sped out of the parking lot and tore onto the freeway, accelerating and passing most of the cars. Looking out of the side windows made me dizzy, and Torque reached back and shoved my head back down.
“Don’t ask questions,” he said, growling. “And keep your fucking head down!”
I curled up in the fetal position and wrapped my skinny arms around my skinny legs. Torque flew over a speed bump, and I fell out of the seat and landed on the floorboards of the car. Whimpering, I rubbed my temple and felt the beginning of a goose egg. Tears came to my eyes, and I wanted to cry. What the fuck was going on, and why was Torque tormenting me like this?
The ride seemed to take an eternity, but eventually, Torque slowed the car down and turned off the ignition. “Wait!” he commanded, opening his door for a few seconds.
I screwed my eyes closed and kept my head buried in my hands. Finally, Torque opened the door of the back seat and picked me up with one hand. He carried me like I was a rag doll. I was terrified to open my eyes and see myself in a deserted park, or worse, in a deserted park with a bunch of guys who looked exactly like Torque. I wondered what Anne would think of me just running out of my job. Miserably, I thought that I’d probably be fired by the time I could explain what had happened.
I opened my eyes and was startled to see that we’d pulled into my apartment complex. “What’s going on?”
Torque eyed me and set me down on the ground. I had to crane my neck to look up into his face. “Keep moving,” he ordered. We walked up the stairs together, and with a shaking hand, I pushed the key into the lock for the second day in a row with Torque behind me.
“What’s going on?” I demanded again once we were inside. “What the fuck is happening, Torque?”
He sat down on my couch and reclined back, putting his hands behind his head. He was so big that he practically took up all of the sitting room, but I perched my butt on the end. Torque smirked at me, but he didn’t move, and anger boiled under my skin.
“You can’t just fucking kidnap me, Torque! This isn’t a game! I could lose my job!”
“Relax,” Torque said in a commanding voice. I swallowed. My mouth was uncomfortably dry, and I looked down at the floor. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said after a beat. “I had to get you somewhere safe.”
“I was safe at work,” I said with annoyance. “And what’s happening? What is going on to make you think that I suddenly need all of this help? I don’t fucking know what to do with you, Torque.”
“I don’t know what to do with you, either,” he spat out. “I don’t want to be here. But you’re in danger, Lily. If you don’t listen to me…” He trailed off and shuddered. For the first time, a real tremor of fear went through me. If Big Bad Torque was scared, I couldn’t imagine just how bad something could actually be.
“Torque, you can’t just go around ripping me off the streets,” I told him in a low voice. “If I lose my job, I’d have to move somewhere even worse than here.”
He gave me an odd look. “You won’t be alone any time soon.” A chill ran down my spine.
“What are you talking about?” I frowned. “Torque, what’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you,” he replied gruffly. “But you need protection. I’m not letting you out of my sight until this whole thing blows over.”
“Torque,” I said, taking a deep breath. Sometimes, when a kid at Dawning Center freaked out, it helped if I could count to ten before dealing with them. On the better kids, it helped a lot. But with the kids who would have paint all over the wall before you could even get to them… well, let’s just say I felt like Torque was one of those kids. “You can’t just show up here and tell me that you’re going to keep an eye on me, okay? That’s really fucking weird.”
He shook his head. “This isn’t a game, Lily.” He grunted in my direction. I watched as his jaw clenched and one of the muscles tensed in his neck. “If you don’t listen to me, you’re dead. And I can’t bear the idea of having another death on my watch.”
Even though I would have bet money that he was just bluffing, his words sent a shock of fear through my body. “That’s ridiculous,” I said flatly. “I don’t believe you.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” he said, grumbling. “Do you think I want to stay here like this?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said in exasperation. “You could want to rob me and rape me or something. Or kill me and use my apartment as a base of operations for… whatever it is that you do.”
Torque threw his head back and gave a full-throated laugh. The booming sound shook the paper-thin walls of my apartment, and I cringed. This guy was crazier than I thought. He stretched, and I admired the sleeves of tattoos that trailed up and down his arms. “Don’t be ridiculous. Lily, how long have you lived in Detroit?”
“My whole life,” I admitted. “And I know it’s bad, but I can’t imagine things getting worse than they already are.”
“They will if you don’t listen to me. And I have to protect you, okay? Can you try to get that through your little skull?”
I shook my head. “Okay, can’t I, like, check in with you once a day or something? Surely you aren’t thinking of staying here.” I looked around in dismay. My tiny, one-bedroom apartment already felt cramped, and I didn’t take up very much space. Torque dominated the living room with his hulking form.
“That’s not possible,” he informed me. “And you have to stay here. I can’t bring you anywhere else, do you understand?”
I gaped at him. “Torque, are you crazy? I have two finals next week! If I can’t go to class and take them, I’ll fail the semester.”
He set his mouth in a thin line. “I didn’t go to college, and I turned out fine,” he said with sarcasm. Against my will, I burst out laughing. Torque almost looked wounded.
“I’m sorry,” I said gently. “But this is really important, Torque. That’s, like, thousands of dollars lost if I can’t take the finals. I really need to go to class, okay?”
“I’ll escort you. We’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but nothing came out. I took another deep breath and tried my Dawning Center trick again, but even counting to ten couldn’t calm me down.
“Can you at least tell me what’s going on?”
Torque shook his head. “No can do, lady. Sorry. Them’s the rules.”
I sniffed. He didn’t look sorry. “Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “So, you’re just going to camp out in my house without telling me why? And I expect you think that I’ll be feeding you, too.”
Torque looked offended. “I’m not into kale, or whatever shit you probably eat,” he shot at me. “I’ll get my own grub.”
I shook my head. “Please. I’ll cook for you, at least some of the time.”
He frowned. “Remember what I said about the kale—I don’t fucking like that.”
I grinned. Despite his hulking size and intimidating tone, he could sometimes sound like a little kid. I giggled thinking about fussy Torque and the face that he’d make if I served him kale anyway. With a shudder, I realiTorque that it would probably wind up painting the walls.
“No kale,” I prom
ised. “But can’t you please tell me anything relating to what this is about?” I moved closer to him on the couch and tried to take one of his massive hands in both of mine. Sparks shot between our skin, and he yanked back quickly as if I’d burned him.
“I really can’t. Sorry. Is it going to be that much of a problem for you?”
“Well, come on,” I said, shrugging. “Wouldn’t it bother you to have a new roommate who you knew nothing about?” Torque opened his mouth, but I saw him hesitate. “Come on. Tell me.”
“I’ve been there,” he said darkly. He looked up at me, and I was, as always, caught off guard by his beautiful green eyes. They were so dark that they almost looked like pieces of jade. I frowned as I tried to contemplate what he meant. College students were mostly paired up in doubles, except he said that he hadn’t gone to college. That only left…