A large, burly man with fists of steel and menacing eyes stares me down.
I partially hide behind Hero, wanting to run right the hell out of this place.
“Who’s the girl?” The unknown man gestures to me curiously.
I see the muscle in Hero’s jaw jump. Is he jealous? Angry? There’s something there…something for me.
“No worries, Diego. She’s with me.”
Diego pauses, his gaze running up and down my body once more before he raps his knuckles against the wood doorframe.
A second later, a deep voice vibrates through me. “Send him in.”
Him? I blink. What does that mean? I don’t even get a chance to ask Hero what he’s talking about because the door opens and I’m ushered inside, pushed forward by the weight of Hero’s body, his fingers digging painfully into my arms. When my eyes land on the man in front of me, the man sitting behind a huge desk, a cigarette hanging from his lips, I know I’m in trouble.
I don’t even need to feel it in my bones, not when he pushes from the desk with a gun pointed right at me.
“Damon,” Hero grits out.
My heart flutters.
This is Damon. The man from the warehouse finally has a name, and he looks like he’s ready to kill me.
Chapter Seventeen
Hero
There are very few moments in my life where I’ve been afraid, actually afraid, and this—this is one of them. Elyse trembles in my grasp, her tiny body rattling against mine, making me want to protect her. But I can’t. I couldn’t even if I tried.
“Hero.” Damon’s voice is slightly unhinged. He looks pissed, irate even. “I thought I told you to get rid of her or I would. This doesn’t look like she’s been gotten rid of, does it?”
I clench my jaw so tightly, I’m afraid I’m going to break a fucking tooth. If it weren’t for Damon being a close friend of mine, a friend who helped me and my mother when I was on the inside, I’d knock the fucker out cold. But because of all he’s done, I’m loyal to him to a fault. But am I loyal enough to give Elyse to him?
“I’m aware of what you asked of me, and I know for a fact you fucking heard me when I said I wasn’t going to get rid of her.”
“She’s a liability, Hero. Look at her…” Damon snarls, moving from behind the desk.
Elyse shudders against my chest, her face pressing against my body.
“She’s shaking like a fucking leaf, and why? Because I’m holding a gun?” The laughter that erupts from him is humorless. “She’s literally on the verge of spilling the beans. If she was asked about us, what do you think she’d say?”
I hold Elyse to my chest, feeling every tremble of her body.
She’s afraid, scared fucking shitless, but even I know she’s loyal to me and would never call the cops or do something to compromise me. “I didn’t come here so you could parent me. I came here because I want to know who you have on her.” My eyes pierce his, and I swear to god if he lies to me, I’m going to turn his own gun against him. Friend or not. Loyal or not. A liar is a fucking liar.
“Have on her?” Damon takes a drag of his cigarette, his eyes darkening. “She’s not worth the trouble. You fucking told me you’d take care of her, so I didn’t put anyone on her. It’s a waste of my time to get involved, but that doesn’t mean I want to lose my best man or compromise my business.”
I nod, a different kind of fear and anger taking root inside me. If it’s not Damon, then it’s someone else—and that terrifies me. If Elyse is being followed, that confirms she needs me.
“But since we have her here, why don’t we just get it done with?” Damon takes a step forward, the gun pointed directly at Elyse.
She shifts in my arms to face forward. I can no longer see her face, but I can imagine the terror in her eyes.
“I told you no. I have other ways of dealing with this.” I swallow hard.
Damon doesn’t seem to care about my response. His eyes remain trained on Elyse. “Do you even know him? Know he did seven years for murder…murder in cold blood, strangling the fuck out of the bastard.”
Elyse nods her head.
I feel shame coating me from the inside out. I should’ve just left her at the fucking house. Then again, look at how far that got me before.
“Do you know how many women he’s fucked? Not some pussy ass making love bullshit, but fucked, hard, screaming as they fall apart on his cock. Do you know how many?”
I cringe. When Damon takes another step toward her, the gun still pointed directly at her, his finger on the trigger, I know I have to do something. If Damon shoots me, so be it. I can’t let anything happen to Elyse—not when I’m trying to protect her, not when the entire reason I pushed her away was so she wouldn’t have to see this.