The last guy to enter turns and locks the door.What the hell?“Hey…”
“We’re here to see Ethan,” the guy in the front says to me.
I frown. “He’s not here.” The truth is, I haven’t seen him for the past three days, but that’s not uncommon since he’s been avoiding me lately. He sent me one text on Friday that said he was staying at a friend’s house for the weekend. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have allowed Grave to stay over.
“Ethan,” he calls out, making a move to walk past the desk.
I step in front of him. “He’s not here.” He shoves me out of the way. “Hey!”
“Ethan?” He stalks back to the office and kicks the door open.
“I’m calling the cops,” I announce, lifting my cell, but another guy snatches it from my hand.
“No need,” he says simply before he throws it to the floor, stomping on it and crushing my screen. “We won’t be here long.”
The first guy returns and swings the crowbar, smashing it into one of the floral cooler’s glass doors.
“Stop!” I scream and run over to him.
Someone grabs my hair and yanks me back. I cry out as my scalp burns.
The first guy who entered comes to stand in front of me. He grips my face, cramming my cheeks into my teeth. My hands hit his chest, trying to shove him away. “Where is he?” he demands. His nearly black eyes glare down at me, his thin lips in a flat line and his dark brows pulled together.
“I don’t know,” I growl.What has my brother done?
He lets go of my face, and the guy releases my hair. I take a shaky step back from them. They turn and bust another glass door.
“Stop!” I shout.
I spot my phone on the floor and run over to it. Before I can do anything, a guy grabs me and throws me into a glass door. I bounce off it and land face-first on the floor. I hold my side, groaning from the impact. “How much?” I ask, trying not to cry. My worst fears have come to life. My brother is in deep trouble.
The one with the crowbar squats down next to me. He slides the claw-like end across my cheek, pushing my hair away from my face. I hold my breath as he brushes the cold metal against my skin, hoping he doesn’t cut me with it. “You can’t afford it, honey.” Then he stands and kicks me in the side.
My breath gets caught in my lungs from the pain, and my teeth grind.
I immediately curl into a fetal position to shield my body from another blow.
“Tell him we’ll be back.”
More glass shatters before the door dings, notifying me of their exit. Breathing heavily, I push up onto my hands and knees and look around. Tears sting my eyes as I survey the remains of my mother’s flower shop. Even my vases that were on the shelfare now broken on the floor next to me. My hands tremble as I reach for them, the glass cutting me in the process.
I push myself up, grab my busted phone, and sprint to my car. After I drive home, I rush into our house and go straight to Ethan’s room. I’m not an idiot. I know my brother isn’t a saint. He’s been caught stealing before. And last month, I found a gun under his bed. When I questioned him, he said he was holding it for a friend. I didn’t believe that for a second.
I rip open his drawers and start throwing things around, not knowing what I’m looking for, but needing to find something. Anything to tell me how much he owes these guys and why.
With a sense of urgency, I yank open his closet. I pull clothes off his hangers and ransack his shelves. A hat falls and another key card falls out of it. I reach down and pick it up. Flipping it over, I see a skull with a tilted crown on top. Blood drips down over it.Kingdomis written across the bottom in black letters. I grip it in my hand and storm out of the door.
I pull upto the hotel and casino and jump out of my car before the man can even open my door.
“Will you be staying the night in the hotel, ma’am?” he asks.
“No,” I growl, running up the stairs to the entrance.
“Welcome to Kingdom. How may I help you?” one of the ladies standing behind the front desk asks.
I walk over to her, then open my mouth, but pause, not sure what to say. Instead of talking, I fish the hotel key card out of my pocket and show it to her.
Her gaze travels over my wild hair and the dried blood on my hand, but she smiles. “I will have Antonio show you to your room.”
