“You cost a lot of men a lot of debt.”
He leaned forward. His elbows rested on his knees. He smelled like salt and cigarettes and power that never learned to whisper.
“You know,” he said, “I was supposed to get shot four months ago. Back of the head. Strip club in Southwood. But you?”
He chuckled.
“You bought me time.”
His hand reached out. Slow. Gentle. It brushed a strand of hair from my face. I didn’t flinch. I didn’t blink. He leaned in close.
“That’s the thing about whores who think they’re saints,” he whispered. “You always get used.”
I let him touch me. I wanted his fingerprints on my skin. He would see them. And Wolfe wouldn't carve. He wouldruin.
The shark sat back. He picked up a cigarette. Lit it. Took one long drag. Blew the smoke toward the ceiling like the air above me didn’t matter.
“Guess it was a stroke of luck I grabbed you when I did,” he said.
He gestured to the TV. The image was looping now. The Lawlor building crumbling again and again like the footage refused to end.
He turned to me.
“So,” he said, voice almost bored, “what are we gonna do about the money you owe me?”
He stood. Stepped in front of me. The smoke curled around his head. His shirt clung to his back. He reached down. Took my chin in his fingers.
“You gonna work it off? Is that it?”
He smiled.
“Or maybe we cut our losses. Make a new video. Send it to your boyfriend. Let him hear what it sounds like when someone else ruins you.”
I stared into his eyes. And smiled. I didn't need to fight him. I just needed him to breathe. So Wolfe would know where to strike.
I heard it. Outside. Distant. A crack. Not thunder. Gunfire.
Another.
Closer.
The shark didn’t hear it.
Not yet. But I did.
Because I washisleash.
And he was coming to drag me back.
36
WOLFE
Darkness wasn’t quiet.
It cracked. Hissed. Hummed like bones remembering how to scream. I opened my eyes into black. But I didn’t see the dark. Ifeltit. It pressed against my ribs. Tasted like concrete and fire. Buzzed in my teeth like the aftershock of a scream I hadn’t heard yet.
Something was on my chest. Heavy. Sharp. Dust choked the air. My lungs seized. Coughed. Pain followed. Real. Immediate. Alive. I tried to move. My right hand shifted. The left didn’t.
