His free hand cupped my cheek, and I barely refrained from crying. Two long decades of detaching from my emotions to avoid being hurt, and I still felt like the dam was close to bursting.
Once James let go of me, I did what I do best: I fled. Tearing myself away, I left the office and beelined for the front door.
“Ryder!” It was Dani. I stopped, keeping my back turned so she couldn’t see the agony on my face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Though the way my voice cracked begged to differ.
“Why don’t you come back tonight after we close and have a drink with me? I’ll make sure it’s just us.”
Her offer reminded me of Raleigh. Not to mention I’d drank what alcohol I had at home anyway. I cleared my throat. “That sounds great actually. Text me when it’s clear?”
“I will.”
With that, I left the building, the bitter weather reflecting my state of mind. It also afforded me the solitude I needed, because the tears didn’t wait for me to reach my car before they started flowing down my cheeks.
I cried more than I ever had in those few hours I waited for Dani to text me. I’d put my heart on the line, and again it came back to bite me in the ass. I sat on the couch, watching some stupid show playing in the background. Carlos wasn’t a big fan of the tears—that made two of us—and kept leaping at my face to lick them away. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t help a little bit.
I grew restless, pacing around the house until I decided to get the dog involved—someone should benefit from my jitters. We walked around the block three times until hefinally gave up, throwing himself down to the pavement and refusing to budge. It was dark by the time I got him back to the house.
I was pleasantly surprised when my phone chimed during dinner. I’d expected to have to wait several more hours, but James had decided to close early, and Dani was finishing up with her closing duties. Carlos commenced his husky screaming as I left, and I prayed my neighbors wouldn’t murder me tomorrow.
I let myself into the building with my key, where I found Dani behind the bar mixing a couple of drinks.
“You sure that’s strong enough for what I need?” I joked, noting the bottle of sweet liqueur in her hand.
“Trust me,” she said with a wink. “Pick a table, I’ll bring them over.”
I slid into one of the booths. I was surprised when she sat down next to me instead of across from me. She pushed one of the cocktails over.
“Thanks for this,” I said. “Drinking at home alone after—” I gestured toward James’s office. “—all that didn’t seem like a very good idea.”
“It’s not a problem. I thought you could use a friend. One whowon’ttry to sleep with you.”
I cringed. “James told you about Luke?”
“No. Luke came in here bragging. James threw him out, which is why we closed early.”
I groaned, bringing my glass to my lips. “This is a nightmare.”
“You want to talk about it?”
For the next hour, I talked Dani’s ear off about everything: Hannah, Luke, James—I even divulged the stuff about him being hunted.
“Did you know?” I asked her as she brought me a second drink. I downed it in record speed.
“Know what?”
“That James was being hunted.” I twisted, sitting so my back was against the wall and I could rest my head against it. Whatever Dani mixed was strong—my head was spinning.
“I had an idea,” she said. She looked across the bar, eyes semi-vacant as she pulled a necklace out of her shirt.Wait, why does my throat feel funny?“We almost had him too.”
“What?” I coughed against the tightness in my throat. Myvision started to blur, but not before I noticed the silver cross dangling from the end of Dani’s necklace.
What. The. Fuck?
I tried to speak again, but my tongue felt like rubber. If I could stand, I could jump over the back of the seat and run out the front door. Dani was small—I could outrun her. I placed a hand on the back of the booth, and the other on the table. I pushed… just to wobble in place and fall right back down.
Damn it. She’d drugged me.
