* * *
Run.
* * *
I shoved all my belongings into my bag and then hopped out the window. There was a fire escape that led directly to the street, and I’d take my chances going that way instead of through the front doors.
He was probably watching.
I dropped down in the alleyway then turned to the main road. A black car was against the curb, with two scary men standing beside it. They both had tattoos that disappeared down their necks and into their t-shirts. They both wore sunglasses even though it was dark. I didn’t need to recognize their faces to know who they were.
I turned the other way and headed to the next street. Knuckles was the kind of bastard that liked to play with his food before he finally feasted. He wanted to watch me squirm and run until he decided to capture me.
Maybe this was all just a game.
Maybe he was letting me go—for now.
I crossed the street and entered another alleyway, moving as quickly as I could without running. Running would only draw more attention to myself.
I doubled back on my path and cut through different businesses just to make it more difficult to be followed. I found abandoned clothes in a dumpster, so I quickly changed my outfit and pulled a baseball cap over my head. The clothes were baggy, and my hair was tucked underneath the cap. Hopefully, no one would recognize me.
I kept moving, trying to get lost in a city I didn’t know so well. If I found a nice hiding spot and stayed there long enough, they would assume I’d fled the city. Perhaps staying lost within a ten-mile radius might be the smart move.
Now that danger was imminent and my life was at risk, I wanted to run to Conway. I’d never felt safer than when he was watching me. Anytime a man made me uncomfortable, Conway always came across the room and rescued me. He commanded respect from everyone around him, and no one even considered disrespecting me in his presence. The idea of being his muse felt like a missed opportunity.
Maybe I should have said yes.
But if I told him what I was running from, he might not have wanted me anyway. Why would a respectable man such as himself want to get involved in the underworld? He wanted me, but not that much. I wasn’t worth going to war over.
So I kept running.
12
Conway
I’d never met a woman with that much pride.
She took the hard way out rather than compromising her morals.
It annoyed the fuck out of me, but damn, I respected it at the same time.
Made the loss hurt even more.
But I couldn’t let this stubborn woman go out into the cruel world without a single resource. She was too innocent for the shit out there. If I hadn’t been so ticked by her answer, I would have given it to her when I saw her in my office.
I walked in the lobby of the hotel where she was staying and checked with the front desk. “I’m looking for a woman named Sapphire. I’m not sure what name her reservation is under. She’s American. Really quiet.”
The woman wouldn’t have provided that information to me under normal circumstances, but since she recognized me, she was cooperative. “She didn’t check out, and her room is empty. So she took off.”
She already left? Leaving me behind obviously hadn’t hurt her as much as it hurt me. “Any idea where she might be going?”
“No.”
I walked back outside and stopped at the sidewalk. A black car was parked at the curb, and two sketchy men were watching me. They weren’t part of the Skull Kings, but I could tell they were part of something sinister.
Maybe it was a good thing Sapphire had left.
I had twenty thousand Euros in my pocket and a phone for her to use.
If only I’d given it to her.
Now I would never see her again.
13
Sapphire
I sat on the ground with my back against the wall. The overflowing dumpster beside me was the only comfort I had that night. Dressed in these clothes with my face hidden under my cap should keep people away since I looked like a bum.
Actually, I was a bum.
My knees were against my chest, and I closed my eyes as I drifted off. Without a watch or a phone, I had no idea what time it was. But I knew it was sometime after midnight.
If Knuckles knew where I was, he would have found me by now.
I must have thrown him off the scent by changing my clothes and turning back the opposite way.
But I didn’t feel victorious. Just this last weekend, I was the headliner in the Barsetti Lingerie fashion show. Now I was dirt-poor and sleeping beside a garbage can. I had some of the money Conway gave me, but I’d spent most of it on my hotel accommodations and food. I had to make the rest of it last if I was going to afford a train ticket.