I grip the key in my palm as I jerk forward. I need to get it into the lock—
I sway to the left when something hits the side of my head, and when I turn around, I see the brick my dad holds up like it’s his trophy.
Stumbling, I try to keep myself upright, but nothing works. My back hits the wood door and before I know it I’m sliding to the floor.
My eyes well up but I will the tears to stay at bay. I can’t show him any weakness.
I gave myself a false sense of security—a security I’ll never have, not while he’s still around.
He crouches in front of me—much the same as Luke did last week—before he grips my bicep. He smirks, one that says he’s got me just where he wants me, and he’d be right, because in this moment, I have no fight left in me. He took that away the night he stole my last piece of innocence.
No matter how many times I’ve tried to tell myself everything is okay—that I’m getting over what he did to me—it’s a lie. Seeing his face only inches away from mine has terror running through my veins like water rushing through a broken dam.
I see his arm lift and I even prepare myself for the pain, but what I don’t do is flinch. I may be terrified right now, but I can control what he sees and I’ll be damned if he sees the terror on my face. He may have the upper hand now, but I won’t let it show.
LUKE
I check my cell discreetly after messaging Lily back but see nothing as I order another drink. I’ve been inside this bar for five days straight trying to make an impact by being my normal broody self. There’s only one person I’ve spoken to in that time—Lily.
Ty sent me an encrypted message asking how things are going but I haven’t answered because I have nothing to tell him. Apart from getting wasted and sitting on my own at the bar, nothing else has happened. Not one person has gone into the back room.
Fuck. Maybe they know someone is watching them?
Just when I’m thinking about heading back to the compound to talk to Ty and tell him my plan isn’t working, the door opens and in walks a new face. Okay, so I’m technically a new face too, but this one has my instincts on high alert. My senses prickle to life as I watch him out of the corner of my eye.
He sits down at the bar and orders a beer but his gaze flits across the room before stopping on the guy I know for sure is the head of this particular operation. My hand moves toward my waistband and closer to my gun as I watch him closely in the mirror that runs behind the length of the bar.
No one else seems to be monitoring him, at least not until he stands up and spins around, looking directly at the head guy. I move my hand at the same time as he does, and by the time he’s pulled his gun out, I’ve shot off three rounds. Not to kill him, but enough to do some serious damage.
I lunge for him at the same time chairs are scraped back and guns drawn, but I don’t stop until I have his weapon in my hand which I then train on him.
The bar is a flurry of activity but my mind is clearer than it has been for a long time. This is what I’m best at—what I’m trained to do—and nothing else calms me the way this does.
A hand clasping my shoulder has me spinning around. I train my gun on the person until I realize it’s the head guy. I don’t say a word as I lower the weapon, and when I catch my gaze in the mirror, I see the deadness behind the blue in my eyes. I need to shake it off; not let that side of me come to the forefront, because if it does, there’s no telling what I’ll do.
“I think we should talk,” the head guy says, his voice rough and scratchy like he smokes two packs of cigs a day.
“About?” I ask before disarming the gun and letting the clip land on the floor with a crash. I walk back to my seat and pick up my drink.
“We could start with who you are and why you took that guy out?”
“He was gonna shoot you.” I shrug and slam my glass down onto the bar before grabbing my jacket. “I made him as soon as he walked in.”
“I saw that,” head guy says, holding his hand out. “Name’s Dex.”
“Luke,” I reply, placing my hand in his and squeezing before letting go.
“Join us for a drink, Luke.”
“Nah.” I push my arms through the sleeves of my jacket. “I was just headin’ out.”
“Another time then.”
I shrug. “Sure.” I walk past the body that’s still bleeding out on the floor and out of the bar, toward the motel where I’m staying.
I have to play this the right way, and now that he’s noticed me I can put everything into action.
LILY