“Earth to Lex?” Rodney snaps his fingers in front of my face before shoving an ID into my hand. “How’s this?”
It looks and feels legit, and my scowl is pretty accurate.
“You failed to tell me how much,” I say, putting pressure on the card between my thumb and forefinger. Rodney is a sneaky fuck, and I intended to stop him from printing shit before I got the price. I was too busy lost in thoughts of Selena to notice the sound of the printer firing up. This is what I mean. Less complicated.
“I told you, but you were staring off in la la land,” he says with a dry laugh. I missed some of the shit he’d said, sure, but I would have noticed that. “It’s one grand for you.”
My mouth falls open.Sneaky fuck.“Since when has it ever been near that price?”
“Since New York switched their ID format and you became desperate enough to pay for it.” A gross smile crosses his face. Oh, fuck him. Even someone like her wouldn’t have that kind of money on hand. But he’s right. Desperation always costs extra. That’s the way the game is played.
“We don’t have that, Rodney, and you know it,” I say as I stand.
He meets my stance but hardly reaches my chest. He brushes a hand through his balding hair. “You have something I could take as payment.” His hungry gaze drops to Selena.
Her eyes widen as mine narrow. I fucking knew those words would come out of his mouth. As soon as I saw him drooling over her, I knew he’d try to order her off the menu. He knows we have to work off the cost somehow, and he sure as shit wouldn’t want to fuckme.
I’m torn. I don’t want to give her away like that, even for a quick fuck, but I alsoneedthat fucking ID. There’s no way around this. I’m not going back to prison. Giving her away for my freedom seems like a small sacrifice. It’s one I have to make.
I cut my gaze and sit on the couch with a harsh exhale. Selena’s eyes fill with betrayal. I can’t look at her, but I feel the desperation as she fights against his grasp when he reaches for her. He finally gets his hands around her wrists and drags her to her feet, pinning them behind her.
“Fuck you, Lex!” she screams. Hatred radiates from her with the heat of a thousand suns.
I deserve it.
He puts his palm around her mouth, muffling her screams, and I drop my head to my hands. Does he have to do it right here? Does he have to dangle her fear and desperation in front of me?
“Shh, honey, I’ll be quick,” he whispers in her ear as his free hand works down his jeans. Once he gets the denim past his ass, he works down hers. My eyes leap to the pale skin of her ass as he pushes her against the wall and pins his weight into her. I swear I see the haze of a bruise on her skin, but it might have been the light from the computer screen.
I force myself to look away from her ass, and my eyes rise to her eyes. They’re swollen and red with fear, the glaze of her tears coating them. I shake my head, trying to keep my hand away from my pistol.
I have to let it happen.
It needs to happen.
There is no freedom without it.
This has never bothered me before. In fact, I like glimpsing fear on the face of a beautiful girl. I always have. But this is bugging me. Really gnawing at my nerves. The burn beneath my skin is a foreign feeling for me, and I don’t like it.
My muscles twitch and I struggle to keep them still. Her muffled screams wiggle between my ears and gnaw at me like sharp little rabbit teeth. I reach back for my pistol, but I can’t bring myself to grab the grip. It would be too loud and messy, and the cops keep their eyes on this shady complex. They practically live on the premises at this point. Instead, I leap up while he’s too busy prodding between her legs with his tiny dick and panting like he might come before he even gets inside her.
That’d be convenient, actually.
I wrap my arm around his neck, and he releases Selena the moment I grab him, his hard dick softening as I choke him. His hands claw at my wrists, and he flails against me. It’s eerily similar to how she struggled against him. My lips purse as I keep a steadfast grasp on his neck, refusing to let him get half a breath.
Selena pulls up her pants, her chest heaving as she runs for the door.
“Don’t you dare, rabbit. There’d be another one just like him waiting for you.” My words come out strained as I struggle against the weight of a man fighting to live.
She stops, her hand on the doorknob. She has to know that darkness just veils monsters—monsters like me and definitely like him.
I get sick of the struggle. I release Rodney enough to get a grip on his head and snap his neck. The familiar crack rides up my spine, and I lower his body to the ground, wiping at the blood on my arms from him clawing at me. I look at Selena. Her eyes are full of deserved mistrust. I put something up for sale that didn’t belong to me. She snatches open the door and bolts from the apartment. With a shake of my head, I grab the ID off the floor and follow her.
“Rabbit!” I call after her as she races to the car. I quicken my pace to catch up with her. When I’m close enough to grab her, I slam her against the car, turning her to face me. Forcing her to look into my eyes.
“Fuck you,” she cries. Her body trembles, and fear courses through her. She’s still trapped in that moment with him, even away from the apartment. Her hard glare bites at me. I deserve to be bitten like that, but her words still piss me off. I’ll meet her bite with a stronger one, and she knows me enough to know that.
I lean into her, putting a hand to her delicate throat. The whites of her eyes are all I can see in the dark parking lot. She saw what I’d done in one swift motion, and here I am, with my hand around her fragile little neck. “Don’t be so fucking mouthy, rabbit,” I say. I feel the throb of her heartbeat beneath my fingers. Nervous sweat coats her skin.