I guess they had listened to him about not damaging the selling points. He let go of me andstarted walking towards the front door.
I coughed trying to get breath back in my lungs.
“Give me my guns back,” I finally managed.
He ignored me, his men following behind him.
I coughed again, and my lungs screamed at me in agony.“I need the gunsto get the money,” I said.
He continued walking, almost to the door.
“You can’t expect me to go out there with no weapons!” Pain stabbed at me as the words left my mouth.
When he reached the door, he turned.“You have 24 hours to get me ten grand,” he said.
The door slammed behind him, and I continued laying there. The pain was too great to move or sleep. I had no weapons, and even if I did, I couldn’t have found the strength to use them.
I seriously hoped the former squatter didn’t decide this was the perfect time to reclaim his house.
On the bright side, the spot they’d beat me up in didn’t have vomit or piss on it. Although, since it was pitch black I had no idea if I was inches away from some vile bodily fluids. Another thought occurred to me and I groaned. They’d stolen my duffel, I wouldn’t even be able to use it as a pillow. I’d probably end up rolling over into vomitin my sleep.
I squeezed my hands open and closed, checking for breaks. They screamed back at me, but nothing appeared to be broken. I letmy handsgo still, even though I should check the rest of my body to make sure there was nothing urgent I needed to deal with. Not that I could’ve fixed anything even if I was injured. My first aid kit was in my duffel bag they’d taken. My cell phone was gone too, so I couldn’t even shine a light in this damned pitch black house. At least the cell phone was a burner phone. There was nothing they could blackmail me with.
Buteven if I had aphone, whocould I even call? Piper? Tell her I was squatting in a house, and been beaten up by loan sharks. That’d go over well.
I sighed. Who was I going to ask for the money? I couldn’t just ask Piper for ten grand, or any of my friends from my former life. First, I doubt they’d even give it to me. And second, how could I even explain why I needed the money? And even if they gave it to me, what would I do next week when Ray asked for the next installment?
TherewasRonan… No, he was too loyal to my father.
My friends were out; that left three options. None of which I liked.
I could go back to my father. Tell him I was sorry I had tried to live my own life and go back to doing exactly what he wanted. I frowned. I’d begged him to let me leave, to let me live my own life. To go to medical school. To live alifeon my terms. I told him Ineededit. And when he said no, I’d tried to do it anyway. And look where it left me. If I went back now, I’d never have any control again. Fuck that.
The second option was… I thought of Ray’s hand on my hip and shook my head mentally, not wanting to actuallymovemy head and potentially rub it into nearby vomit.
That left the third option of the terrible options. Sebastian’s smiling face floated intomy head. It was a terrible idea. Not only did his soft smilemake me feelthings I shouldn’t, there was also the issue of my father.Conor cared about me in his own manipulative way, but there was a limit. And when he found out I’d betrayed him to go work for a rivalfamily, it wouldn’t end well.
Well, fuck him. I wasn’t going back to him, and I sure as hell would not be empty handed when Ray arrived.
But the bigger problem was Sebastian’s brother…An image started forming in my head, and the air cleaved from my lungs. I shook my head and the image away, forcing it to go back into its corner where I never dared shed a light on it.
Iforced aside any lingering emotions, and analyzed the situation. The Amato familycould get the information they wanted then turn around and kill me. Or they could start demanding more than just information.
But… Sebastian had promised to protect me if I gave him the information. I gritted my teeth, I’d gone softer than I realized if I actually believed that.
However, maybe I could make it work. I could do their dirty work, while trying not to get offed by my dad or Luca Amato, and maybe earn money beyond the debt. Maybe I could save up enough of a nest egg to fly off toacountryfar away from my problems. Maybe Argentina?
Yeah, I could go to medical school in Argentina, run a clinic, and forget about everything that happened in this city. Also, I bet I could get a new Chanel duffel bag for way cheaper there.
I closed my eyes, letting the images wash over me. The sweetness of the images overpowered the stinging pain of my body. The illusion lulled me to sleep.
Chapter 14
Sunlightsnuckpast the boarded up windows, and through the cracks in the plywood doors. I threw a hand over my face and groaned. I laid there, pain radiating through my entire body. All I wanted to do was sleep, and pretend like yesterday had never happened.
The aching shifted into pulsing, and I threw my hand off my face in frustration. My arm landed in sticky liquid. Oh, for fuck’s sake. I lifted my bare arm into the air and watched the blood on my arm slowly join the pool of liquid on the floor.
Well, at least it was my blood. I watched it drip from my pale arm down to the cheap plywood flooring.Thankfully,I didn’t have to feel guilty about ruining the flooring.That was the least of this house’s issues.
