“Did you report back to step-daddy after we were together? Did you get off on making a fool of me? Did you get off on waving your rich-girl ass in my face and leading me around by the dick? The stupid fuck from the wrong side of the tracks?”
She’d pressed herself against the wall, hands flat at her sides, eyes still wide, still locked on me. Mouth still fucking closed tight.
I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, but all of a sudden, the answer to those questions became everything. I needed something, anything. I needed to make sense of it all. I needed her to tell me the truth.
“You played a long game, sweetheart. You were good, too. You sure as fuck had me fooled. Two years we were together. Two years I confided in you, trusted you, believed you . . .” I closed the gap between us, crouched low, so we were eye level. “But it was all a lie, right, Lulu?” I growled, hating how much I wanted her to deny it, to give me an explanation that I could get my damned head around. “’Cause if you loved me like you said you did, you wouldn’t have framed me for arson, right? How can you love someone then destroy their life?”
She turned away, but I grabbed her chin and made her look at me. “You played it coy, made me work for it. Those first six months, you had me fooled, thinking you were some shy, innocent little thing. Only letting me kiss you, not letting me even touch your pussy. Shit, you only let me fuck you after a full twelve months. Playing like we were hiding from your stepfather, like we were some big secret. Never staying over, always taking off after I got you off.” I shook my head at my own stupidity. “All that time you were plotting, scheming.” I slammed my hips into hers. “Fucking say it,” I hissed. “Fucking tell me the truth. Tell me why you chose me, why it was me you decided to fucking destroy?” The last come out as a roar. “Tell me!”
Her full lips quivered, then her eyelids slid shut, locking me out. Refusing to give me anything. To put me out of my damned misery.
I cupped her face in my hand, my fingers digging into her cheeks, my face so close, our noses touched. “After what I came from . . . when you walked into my world . . . shit, I actually felt warm. I’ve never felt warm, Lulu. I was desperate for a little bit of affection, so desperate, I allowed myself to be blinded by what you really are. I’d been cold for so damn long. That ice in my veins, freezing my heart, started to melt.” I slid my nose along hers, my breathing rough, blood pounding through my ears. “Ironic, isn’t it? When I was fucking a goddamn ice princess.” She flinched and I shoved away, walking to the door.
I yanked it open and turned back to her, waiting, hoping that she’d tell me what I needed to hear. Fucking anything.
She kept her eyes screwed shut, refusing to even look at me.
I shook my head and walked out, slamming the door behind me.
I’d come to terms with the fact that the woman I’d been in love with three years ago was nothing but a figment of my imagination. I didn’t know why I was trying to get her to prove me wrong.
I wasn’t.
She was as cold as me.
Lulu
I had no idea how long I’d been in this room, but it felt like a week. The silence was getting to me. Any minute, Hunter could come back through that door and fire his accusations, his pain and anger, at me.
Tell me why you chose me, why it was me you decided to fucking destroy?
His words had echoed through my mind all night and all day. His anger toward me was so thick it was suffocating. And all I could do was sit and wait for his next move. Surely, they couldn’t keep me here much longer? I needed to get Josh and get the hell out of this city. I needed to find somewhere safe, somewhere far away from Pierce, from Hunter, from the memories and the pain.
The lock rattled and nerves bombarded my belly as the door swung open. Ruby walked in with a bottle of water and a burrito.
She held them up. “Dinner.”
I slumped against the wall. My emotions were already all over the place. One more confrontation with Hunter like last night and I didn’t think I could keep it together. “Thanks.”
I took them from her and sat on the edge of the bed. At least they hadn’t decided to torture me into talking through starvation.
She dumped a bag on the bed. “I bought you a change of clothes. Thought you might like a shower?”
I was desperate for one. I felt disgusting. “Thanks.”
“I’ll take you when you’ve finished eating.”
Ruby waited while I ate my lunch, then led me to a door own the hall.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
“Out on a job. But don’t get any ideas.” She held up a Taser. “I will use this if I have to.”
“Right.” I didn’t doubt her for a second. The idea of getting a hit by God only knew how many volts of electricity wasn’t something I’d like to experience. Didn’t mean I wouldn’t try to get past her. I had to do something. This could be my only shot to escape.
“What do they actually do here?” I asked, stalling, mind racing, trying to come up with a plan.
She glanced at me, a small grin curving her lips. “A bit of this, and a bit of that.”
“P.I work, right?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, and . . . other stuff.”
Ruby didn’t need to elaborate. I knew exactly what Hunter was capable of. Van and Neco, too. They were hard, and they were ruthless. I’d seen Hunter in action when he’d worked for Pierce, had just experienced it for myself.
Ruby motioned me forward. “This way.”
We walked through a large room. It had been set up like a gym, with treadmills and weights. I thought about using one of those weights as a weapon, but quickly changed my mind. Something like that could do a lot of damage and the idea of hurting Ruby that bad didn’t sit well with me. She was only doing her job, after all. We entered a small locker room with “Women” written on the door.
“Since I’m the only woman here, this bathroom is all mine.” She motioned to a shower stall across the room and handed me the bag. “Hopefully they fit.”
I was still contemplating my escape plan, when she held up the Taser and shook her head. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t. I may be small, but I can kick ass.”
For some reason, I believed her. She backed to the door, opened it, and slid out, shutting me in. I heard the lock slide into place.
“Shit.”
Might as well take a damn shower. By the time I’d finished, I’d decided the only thing for it was to rush her. Come at her with everything I had. I was bigger than her, definitely outweighed her. If I could just knock her down, I could lock her in and give myself a decent head start.
I quickly dried off and pulled the clothes Ruby had given me out of the bag, yanking off the tags. Panties but no bra. I put my own back on, tugging the plain blue T-shirt over the top, and dragged on the black tights. I’d squeezed the moisture out of my hair, but I could feel it dripping down my back, soaking through the fabric, making me shiver.
You can do this.
I slid back on my shoes and went to the door. “I’m done,” I called out.
I heard footsteps approach, so I moved to the side. If I knocked her off balance when she opened up, maybe I could shove her into the bathroom and lock her in the gym? My nerves shot higher. God, I hoped so.
The sound of the lock disengaging came next.
The door opened and I charged. But instead of colliding with Ruby’s small frame, I collided with something hot and hard and unyielding. My arms were instantly caught in a tight grip, and I was shoved back several steps. The sound of the door slamming and the lock sliding into place came before I was pushed back against the wall.
“Nice try. But you aren’t going anywhere,” Hunter said, hard eyes staring down at me.
“Where’s Ruby?”
“Gone.”
“Gone where?”
“I’d be more worried about myself if I were you,” he said. “You seem kind of anxious to leave us?”
“You know I am, asshole
.” The insult flew from my mouth, borne of anger and frustration, not just from having my escape plan foiled, but from the way my body was reacting to Hunter standing in front of me. That’s all it took.
“You’re right. I am an asshole. The asshole that right now gets to decide when you eat, when you piss, when and if you get to leave.”
“You can’t hold me here forever.” I shoved at his chest, doing my best to jerk my arms free.
He didn’t let go.
I needed him to not touch me, because I knew what happened next, what always happened when he touched me, what was already happening. The pulse between my thighs grew more intense. I fought harder.
He chuckled, making me heat up even more.
Self-preservation kicked in, and before I knew what I was doing, I’d leaned in and sunk my teeth down on his hard-muscled chest, the only place I could reach.
He growled, spun me around, and shoved into the wall, my face pressed against the cool tile. “Oh, I know that. And I can’t wait until you’re nothing but a bad memory again, when you’re someone else’s problem, believe me.”
“Then just let me the hell go.”
He didn’t. He pressed closer. A shiver slid through me before I could stop it, my body tingling from head to toe.
“I don’t think you want that,” he said, voice harsh. “Do you now, Lulu?”
His hands went to my hips, fingers digging in. I gasped. “Please.”
“Please what?”
My mouth opened and closed. I knew what I should say, but I couldn’t make myself say it. I couldn’t form the words.
“You may have been playing me back then, using me, but there was one thing you couldn’t fake,” he rasped against my ear. “You used to beg me to fuck you. You remember that?”
The hard ridge of his cock brushed my ass. I whimpered. I ached for him, despite the way he taunted me. I wanted him still.
“You were so damn wild for me, I used to have to hold you down. You loved it as much as me.”
I had. I’d been living in my fantasy world, where it was safe. When I was there, with Hunter, the monster couldn’t hurt me, couldn’t touch me. Nothing scared me. I’d let Hunter do anything he wanted to me. Loved all of it. I had been wild. I’d been wild for him.
My back arched before I could stop myself, my ass pressing against his hard cock.
He hissed. “Fuck, you’re wet for me now, aren’t you?”
I shook my head furiously, even as I squeezed my thighs together to ease the deep, relentless ache.
He made a tutting sound. “You can’t lie to me, not about this. Never about this.”
I gasped. “Don’t.”
He ground his cock against me again, a growl tearing from his throat. “You don’t want this?” he said, anger making his voice deeper, rougher. “Neither do I. I want you out of my fucking head.”
I felt him slip a finger under the elastic of my tights and start to slide them down, taking my panties with them. “Tell me no,” he rasped. “Tell me no, and I’ll walk away.”
I couldn’t do it. A sob exploded past my lips. “This is wrong.” I shook my head. “Jesus, Hunter.”
He made a rough, angry, animalistic sound that vibrated through his chest. “Not the right words. Say no,” he barked. “Say fucking no, and I’ll stop.”
God, I couldn’t say it. I didn’t want to.
The silence stretched out between us. Charged, electric.
Then he laughed, cruel and dark, and I tried to jerk away, but he shoved my tights all the way down. His hand slid between my thighs, rough fingers delving between my slick folds. I cried out at the contact. How could this feel so good while my heart was being torn to shreds?
“You can’t say no to me, can you, Lulu?” he said, lips brushing my ear. “You’ve never been able to say no to me.”
I felt his hand working behind me, the sound of foil tearing, and then the head of his cock was at my opening.
“Last chance.”
I gasped for breath, clawing at the tile wall, and still the word wouldn’t come. How could I want this? How . . .
My thoughts shattered when he thrust up inside me. I was forced onto my tiptoes as he slammed into me repeatedly from behind. My heated cheek was pressed against the tiles, lips parted as I cried out. The sounds coming from me were full of anguished need, hunger, and despair.
One of his arms banded around my hips, jerking me back, lifting my ass higher, forcing himself deeper with each angry, jarring thrust. He felt huge inside me, hitting that spot that had me seeing stars.
“This is the only thing between us that was honest. Real. Pure animal need.” He slammed into me again. “You wanted me as much as I wanted you.”
I whimpered. “Hunter . . .” Then I screamed, my orgasm hitting before I knew it was on me, hard and fast. I clamped down on him over and over again, my body trembling, my cries echoing off the bathroom walls.
My breath caught in my throat, my eyes squeezing shut when his large, rough hands started sliding from my hips up my sides then back, when I felt his eyes burning into me, watching me as I blew apart. The touch was rough, God, possessive. I couldn’t take it.
Then Hunter grunted, fingers digging into my flesh. He planted himself deep. I felt him pulse inside me. He growled and jerked me back with each grinding twist of his hips.
We didn’t move for several seconds. His panted breaths brushed the side of my throat and I squeezed my eyes closed at the intimacy of it.
Finally, he pulled out, spinning me to face him. My legs nearly gave out, and he caught me around the waist, holding me upright.
His eyes burned into mine, and what I saw made my heart bang harder in my chest. He looked almost vulnerable. But then his lips curled, and that hatred broke through. “Like I said, you can’t lie to me, not about this. You may have fucked me so you could set me up, but I know you loved every damn second of it.”
I flinched at his words, but I didn’t miss the way his features had shifted. There it was again, that hint of vulnerability. I realized that, for some reason, he needed this from me. I couldn’t tell him he was wrong, that I’d been with him because I’d loved him then, that I still loved him now. That none of it had been a lie. But I could give him this. I at least owed him this.
I forced myself to hold his hostile stare. My knees started to shake. “You’re right. I’ve never wanted another man the way I did you.”
His nostrils flared as he sucked in a harsh breath. He saw it, the truth in my eyes. I knew he did. But he said nothing, gave nothing more away. Instead, he pushed away, tossed the condom in the trash, did up his jeans, and walked to the door.
“Let’s go.”
My face heated as I tugged up my pants and moved toward him. He opened the door, but when I started to walk through, his hand went to my belly and he stopped me.
I stared up at him.
“That,” He motioned to the wall he’d just had me against. “Is never happening again.”
He knew my weakness. Him. And he was going to use it to punish me the only way he knew how.
I dipped my chin and walked back to my prison.
Somehow, I managed not to cry.
Hunter
“What time’s the meet?” Jude asked, arms crossed over his massive chest. “You think he’ll show?”
“If he wants her, he will.” I rubbed a hand across my chest. “And from what I hear, he does. Badly.”
Something didn’t feel right, but I ignored it, ignored that weird tingle between my shoulder blades, that niggling sense of wrongness, and buried it down as deep as it would go. I didn’t trust my instincts for shit right then. Not when my emotions were all over the place.
A vision of her upturned ass, curvy body pressed against the bathroom wall as I thrust into her, filled my head.
She’d given me no resistance.
I’ve never wanted another man the way I did you.
“You should stay here,” Van said, cutting through my thoughts.
“You’re too close.”
“Not happening. Pierce is mine.”
“Let Zeke take him out of commission. We’ll hand him over to whoever puts their hand up first. Pierce has a lot of enemies. Let someone else clean up the mess. Your hands stay clean, and that fucker gets put in the ground. Win, win.”
My brother played the part of the businessman well, covered the ink and the scars with his suits when he needed to. But under it all, he was ruthless, a street thug—just like me, like most of us here. He wouldn’t lose sleep over his part in Pierce’s death. None of us would. We weren’t average guys, and we didn’t do an average job. That would never change, no matter how you dressed it up.
Zeke rubbed a hand over his beard then dipped his chin, black eyes locked on me, telling me he was on board with the plan.
I shook my head. “I want him first.”
Van cursed, jaw going tight.
“When I’m done with him, we’ll put out the call.”
Neco stood, shoulder propped against the wall. “There gonna be anything left to hand over?”
“I don’t like this,” Van rounded his desk and got in my space. “I just got you back. This isn’t the time to take risks.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Taking Lulu was a huge fucking risk. You’re not thinking clearly. And why the hell does Pierce want her?”
I shrugged. “Don’t care.” Liar.
“She’s getting off easy, clean and clear. More than she deserves,” Neco growled.
The air in the room shifted, the temperature dropping several degrees. “You think she’s in serious danger from Pierce?” Jude’s rough voice rumbled across the room, eyes hard as stone.
At least once our lives, we’d all picked up someone we loved off the floor, cleaned off the blood—or in some cases, a hell of a lot worse. So I understood his concerns.
“He won’t get the chance,” I said. “She’s bait, nothing more. We get to the drop, Pierce sees her, shows himself. Zeke takes him down. We take him for a ride and a nice little chat. Hand him over. She’s at her aunt’s by nightfall.”
And then I’d walk away. I had to try and let her go. Let the rage go, before it ate me up. I’d said and done some shit in that cabin, here at the office, I wasn’t proud of. Lashing out, trying to hurt her like she hurt me. Being around her was fucking toxic.
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