"My stepfather."
The words drop like bombs in the silence. Even the music from the club seems to fade to a low, distant hum.
Cyrus pulls his mask off. I hear Tank's sharp intake of breath through the vents in his gas mask. Jinx gives a lowwhat the fuckwhisper that has an appreciative lilt to it.
Even I'm at a loss for fucking words for once. "You mean Senator Todd Waterson?" I ask when I find my tongue, laughing in utter disbelief at the insanity of what she's asking for. "The golden boy of politics? The family values candidate?Thatstepfather?"
Her jaw tightens. "Yes."
"Why?"
"Does it matter?" She crosses her arms, defensive and defiant. "That's what you do now, isn't it? You kill people?"
"For a price," I confirm, circling her like a predator. She turns to keep me in sight, those green eyes warily tracking my every movement. "Thirty grand doesn't even cover our bar tab,Princess. And you want us to take out the fuckingsenator?"
Her eyes narrow. I wonder if she's calculating just how long it would take to steal more from Daddy Dearest's wallet.
"If thirty thousand isn't enough, I can get more," she says carefully. "It'll just take time?—"
"We don't want your money," Jinx interrupts, standing from his throne. That fancy ass mask is dangling from his fingertips nowand his blue eyes are locked on Ellie like she's the morning sun and he's trying to go blind.
So is Tank. I can feel his eyes burning into her even through the fucking mask, his bass growl a constant sound blending in with the pulse of music from the dance floor.
Ellie's eyes flick to him like she's not sure whose side he's on. Fuck if I know.
"Jinx is right, you know," I say, stopping directly in front of her. Close enough to see the flutter of her pulse in her throat. Close enough to smell that perfume that's trying so hard to cover up the girl underneath. "We don't want your money."
She swallows hard, and I track the way her throat bobs. "What do you want, then?"
I reach out, catch her chin between my thumb and forefinger. Tilt her face up so she has to look at me. Has to see what her betrayal created. Her skin is soft, pampered, nothing like the girl who used to get scraped knees and splinters running wild through the woods.
"Isn't it obvious? We want your fuckingsoul, Princess."
Chapter 13
ELLIE
I stare at Kade,this twisted version of the boy who once drew on my cast when I broke my wrist, and try to process what the fuck is happening.
What he justsaid.
These can't be my boys. My boys nursed wounded birds back to health and stole candy bars to share five ways. They ran a racket, sure, but that was juvenile shit. They didn't run fucking criminal empires from throne rooms overlooking drug-fueled raves.
But the evidence is right here, wearing their faces like Halloween masks.
"Fuck off." I smack his hand away from my chin. "You don't get to taunt me with your dramatic bullshit."
Kade's laugh is sharp enough to draw blood. "Princess, this is nothing more than what we're due. Four years of interest on a debt you never thought you'd have to pay."
I calculate the distance to the door. Twenty feet, maybe less. The guard's built like a brickhouse, but if I'm fast enough?—
My feet are moving before my brain catches up, sneakers squeaking against the concrete floor as I bolt for the exit even though it means abandoning the bag full of cash I dropped when Kade cornered me.
For half a second, I think I might actually make it.
Then the guard steps into my path like a wall of meat and tactical gear and I bounce off him like a pinball hitting a bumper.
My back hits a solid wall of lean muscle.
