“You’re lying.”
I narrow my eyes. “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a fucking liar.”
Her eyes flick over my shoulder and fill with more fear. “Carson.”
Before I can ask how the fuck she knows my brother, Carson replies, “At your service.”
“Oh God. He hired all of you, didn’t he? That’s why you’ve been hanging out at the club.”
She retreats into the bathroom, huddles against the wall, and I walk in after her.
“It was all a setup. I’m so fucking stupid.So fucking stupid.”
I raise my hand to brush her hair off her face, but she flinches as if I’m going to hit her, and I pause.
A woman only reacts like that when she’s been hit before.
“I won’t hurt you.”
She’s sobbing now, and she shakes her head.
“She’s panicked,” Julian says from behind me. “Youwon’t be able to calm her down like this. She doesn’t know any of us. She’s terrified.”
“Lulu.”
She sniffs and swallows, but she won’t look at me.
“Just do it,” she whispers. “If you’re going to hurt me, just do it. You have blood on you. Obviously, you’re going to hurt me.”
Shit.Of course, the blood scares her.
“Baby, I’m not going to hurt you.” Christ, she’s breaking the dead black heart in my chest.
“Someone did,” Mateo says behind me and passes me a water bottle. “Here. Get her to drink this.”
“Have some water and take a breath.” I glance back at the others to find them all crowding into the tiny bathroom. “Jesus, get out of here. No wonder she’s terrified.”
The three of them back out, and it’s just the two of us now. I want to scoop her to me and kiss her head. I want to soothe her and reassure her that absolutely nothing can hurt her.
But there’s no way she’ll let me right now.
“Hey, this will feel good on your throat. Take a drink.”
She’s shaking, and her eyes are on mine as she takes a sip, then another, and wipes a drop off her mouth with the back of her hand before passing it back to me.
“That’s my girl. I promise you, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She frowns and presses her lips together. Christ, she’s so full of life, so full of fire and flirtation at the club, and now she’s been reduced to this?
When I find out who’s responsible for this, they’re going to lose their head—right after I’m finished removing their limbs and internal organs.
“I don’t believe you,” she whispers.
“That’s okay. It doesn’t make it less true.”
After a few minutes, her eyes get heavy, and she scowls at me. “Did you drug me?”
I glance over my shoulder and see Matteo looking in on us. He just nods.
