We’ve said enough to our new roommate. She doesn’t seem like she’s up for a little girl talk. I’m not either.
I sink to the ground and sit by Nat, our shoulders touching. I speak softly. Not only because I don’t want Ava to hear, but I’ve run out of energy after thinking of what all I’ve thrown away.
“Why the lie?”
I feel her shrug, moving my shoulder as she does it, but I keep looking ahead at the blank wall in front of me.
“We don’t know her. It could be a trap.”
“You really think they would do that?”
Another shrug. “I don’t know anything. All I know is that we’re here, and we need to survive. Sometimes, most times, that comes at a price.”
I turn to her, face scrunched in confusion at her words. She rolls her head on the brick wall behind her to turn my way.
“They took us. They could have killed us, but they didn’t. They want us alive. Not sure for how long or why. We need to survive till we do. We need to know what they want.”
“How are we going to find that out?”
She lets out a breath and looks forward again, closing her eyes as if she’s about to sleep. “They always tell you. It’s no fun for them if we don’t know what to fear. And if their words don’t do it, they’ll pit our relationships against us. Both new and old. Making us fear for the other.”
“How do you know all this?”
She shrugs but says nothing more.
“What about the soup?” she calls out to Ava.
There’s a pause before she answers. “Not drugged, but it tastes like piss.”
Nat opens her eyes and looks at me, then moves to the tray, pulling it closer to us. There’s no spoon. Guess we’re meant to use the bread to scoop it up. Instead, Nat leans down and smells it, then tilts to the side and gags a bit.
“Told ya,” Ava says as she hears Nat. “But it’s kept me alive all this time.”
The hollowness in her voice brings a pit to my stomach. Will I be like that? Will I still be here in two months? Will Ava? Will Nat?
“Right,” Nat says as she squares her shoulders and pinches her nose. Then she leans close and sips at the soup. She keeps gagging but doesn’t let any of it come up. I guess forcing it down once is enough for her, as she leaves the rest for me and sits back on the wall.
“Your turn,” she says, and it brings a surprised smirk to my lips. One that has her lips twitching in return. Who knew we could find humor in this?
“It wasn’t a lie.” Her voice is soft again. Quiet, but not out of fear of Ava hearing. Just softly as if she’s afraid to tell the truth.
I just stare at her, and she takes a second before she looks at me. “You really are Peaches.HisPeaches.”
I blink back the wave of emotion that her words bring. I lean over and rest my head on her legs as she runs her hands through my hair.
And then I let the tears fall. Not sobs. Just tears. Tears that I’m lost. That I’m forgotten.
But also tears that she’s right, and I never got to tell Kooper that I claimed him, too, just as much as he claimed me.
Chapter 35—Kooper
Two weeks. It’s been over two weeks. Sixteen days, thirteen hours, and ten minutes of pure hell, to be exact.
I’ve lost her. Every single favor the club has, personal or not, has been called in. Operation Hell Hound has been put on hold, as we’re using all resources to track down Ruby. Mad Max has called in his father-in-law, the ex-CIA operative, but evenhecan’t seem to find anything out. We even contacted the mafia for help.
Nothing.
What’s worse is that her dad still has no clue who she is. Maybe that’s a good thing. It spares him this feeling of helplessness. Something I’ve never had before. The guys with old ladies keep telling me they know what I’m dealing with. That I just need to have faith.
