He storms toward the front lobby, doing a double take when he glances over his shoulder and catches me. “Hey, man. Sorry that went so late, but Mercy and Hadyn really came through. I can’t thank you enough. It’s finally over.”
“Glad to hear it.” I stop two feet from the door that’s just swished shut again. “What’s she doing now? Everything okay?”
“She was chatting with Judge Nicholson.” He glances at his watch and begins walking backward. “I’m late to pick up Emma. We’re still on for dinner tomorrow, right? Meeting you there? She’ll be more fun now that all this stress is behind us and we can focus on the wedding.”
My phone vibrates, likely with a response from Kane, but I finish my conversation with Bryce first.
“Sure.” Something in my gut stirs as that word falls from my lips, and panic rips through me.
The next few seconds fall like a deluge of pellets in a hailstorm, cracking through everything I’ve built with Mercy, until we’re once again stuck in the past.
I yank open the door to an empty courtroom. The possibility of her being in the judge’s chambers strikes, only to be obliterated when I check my phone.
And at the precise moment my eyes glimpse the text I never wanted to see again, a deafening bang resounds as an explosion detonates from within.
Chaos, white oak, and screams.
Mercy: 86
MERCY
FOUR DAYS AGO
“Ialready accepted. I’m not backing out.” My stubborn streak is burning bright in the corner of the penthouse game room.
Bryce Wakeford’s lawyer had to withdraw due to a personal matter. And the case is in four days. So, I agreed to step in.
“You didn’t run it by me first, so the answer is no.” Ryker’s jaw is locked.
He’s in full alpha-beast mode, and I’m not having it.
“You should take a second and ask yourself how well this caveman bit has worked for you in the past. I didn’t ask your permission,Master, because you and Axel were the ones who had suggested it in the first place.”
He grits his teeth before he blasts a husky whisper-shout at me in an effort to spare Remy his ire. “That was before the goddamn picture was sent here.”
I relax into the chair, drape my arm over the back, and cross my legs, a bored expression on my face, as if his argument were mere drivel. “And I told you that I’m not going to hole myselfup here in fear. I’m over it. The holidays are coming soon, and I promised Emma I’d help with her wedding plans.”
Something cracked inside me the day that bloodstained portrait arrived. But it wasn’t the same shattering that I’d been enduring the years prior. It was the veneer of false armor I’d been clad in. I knew that whether I was here or erased, that floor would haunt me unless I finally refused to let it have power over me. Maybe that’s reckless, considering the daunting things we’re facing. But I wasn’t living when I was Alice. I was existing, trudging through each day for Remy, yet dead inside. So, I have no desire to let that fear consume me again.
I’ve tasted the champagne, the dancing, the forbidden fantasy of being pinned to a bed by Ryker Noire and railed into oblivion. The remembrance of him looming over me—sweaty, feral, inked, and chiseled—will forever be synonymous with my depiction of freedom. For the first time in what seems like an entire lifetime, I feel empowered, in control, and loved. I won’t lie down in the gore of yesterday or revisit that self-imposed coffin.
But my refusal to retreat into hiding isn’t as liberating for everyone else.
Ty’s face droops with a sigh, his conflict evident. He and his crew are here tonight. Rena is still gallivanting around the Underground with one of the other couples from their family and Jax. Wells—Ivy’s husband—is battling this out with Ryker, Axel, Ty, and me. We’re all hunkered down at a poker table. Liam and Celeste—another couple Ty and Rena live with—are playing blackjack on the other side of the room with Maddox and Cash. Remy is vrooming his Hot Wheels at their feet, perfectly content, while Ivy crawls around on the floor with him and her baby girl.
Outside of this vexing conversation, it’s a party. Although, based on the groans from Cash, I’d say the house isn’t winning tonight.
“Mercy, after everything you’ve endured, your strength is inspiring—”
“You’re waffling, Ty.” Ryker casts a warning glare at him. “I can see it. So, before you encourage her, tell her what you’d do in this situation. If you were me or if some madman were goading Rena, what would the plan be?”
Ty grunts, chewing the inside of his cheek and clearly sweating over being boxed in by both of us. That is likely worsened by the fact that I expressed my unhappiness regarding him permitting Ryker to send me money and thus following it to find me, despite how elated I am now. That irritation is based on principle. And he felt it. I also thanked him profusely for the years he’d hidden and protected me, so we’re good. Though at present, I’m in favor of his guilt prevailing so he takes my side.
His cognac eyes dart between Ryker and me. “I think we all know what I’d do, but in my experience, lockdown can backfire.” He inhales and exhales before adding, “Short of a house arrest bracelet.”
“What in the ever-loving hell is that suggestion?” I snap.
“Not a suggestion.” He throws up surrendering hands while he backpedals, and Ryker and Axel chuckle at his discomfort. “But I would advise wearing a tracker if you’re going to leave the resort. Maybe even if you aren’t. There are no guarantees here.” That is mildly accusatory, probably based on the security breach that happened before I got here, which I’m about to point out, but he continues, “And our research shows that whoever this is, he’s …”
