Careful not to wake him, I slip from the bed and drop to my knees, crawling across the floor to where my coat lays discarded. My fingers fumble through the pockets until I find the phone. My stomach twists as the screen glares up at me.
Unknown number.
I flick a glance back at Shadow, who is still motionless, before grabbing his T-shirt and slipping silently into the empty hallway. I pull the shirt over my head and stab at the answer button.
“What?” My voice is rough, defensive.
“I’ve been thinking,” comes the drawl on the other end. “We should meet again.”
My pulse spikes. “I don’t have your money yet.”
“That’s not what I asked, Remika.”
“I’m not meeting you,” I hiss, pacing towards the far wall. “I’ll call when I have your money.”
“How are the Chaos Demons?” His tone is light, almost gleeful, and I freeze. A lump forms thick in my throat. “Oh, you think I didn’t do my research?” he taunts. “Because you called me, what was it, alow-rent gangster?” He chuckles, the sound slithering under my skin. “They have plenty of funds.”
“I don’t have access to anything,” I whisper, desperation leaking through. “I just work the bar.”
“And their Enforcer apparently,” he counters smoothly. “Did you enjoy your shopping trip?”
My blood runs cold. “You’re following me?”
“I like to keep an eye on potential assets.”
“Well, if you know the Demons,” I snap, trying to sound braver than I feel, “then you’ll know not to mess with anyone they associate with.”
There’s a pause, then a low chuckle rumbles down the line. Not the nervous kind but amused. “Oh, Remika, you think hiding behind their name makes you untouchable?” His voice drops. “I’m not afraid of biker clubs. Men like them, men likehim, they bleed the same as anyone else.”
My grip tightens on the phone, palms clammy. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. He’ll rip you apart for coming after me.”
“I know enough,” he purrs. “I know your mother owed me twenty grand. I know you’ve got nothing to pay it with. And I know if the Demons catch wind of this, they’ll realise you’re a liability, a debt hanging over their precious Enforcer.”
His words slice clean through my chest, leaving me breathless.
“You leave him out of this,” I whisper fiercely, glancing towards the bedroom door.
“Then pay me,” he says simply. “Twenty thousand. Cash. Until then, Remika, consider me your shadow. Always watching. Always waiting.”
The call ends, but the words echo in my head.Always watching. Always waiting.My hands shake so bad, I nearly drop the phone. There’s no way I can crawl back into bed beside Shadow, not with this panic clawing at my chest.
I pull his shirt tighter around me and rush downstairs, needing air, needing space.
The kitchen lights still on. Sasha leans against the counter, scrolling her phone, a cigarette dangling between her fingers. Her eyes lift, narrowing the second they land on me in Shadow’s shirt.
“Well, well,” she says coolly, her gaze sweeping me head-to-toe. “Thought I heard footsteps. Looks like our Enforcer’s brought another stray pet home.”
I freeze, swallowing hard. “I’m not in the mood, Sasha.”
She smirks, pushing off the counter. “Oh, don’t get pissy. I’m just being honest. You won’t be around long, sweetheart. Shadow gets off on helping the broken ones. Makes him feel better about all the shit he does.”
My stomach twists, but I shake my head, trying to walk past her. “I don’t care what you think.”
“Don’t you?” she calls after me, her voice singsong. “Because I can list them all, you know. The girls who thought they were different. One lasted a month. Another? Two weeks. He took care of them, gave them a warm bed, made them feel special. Did all the things he thinks they wanted—shopping, dinner, good sex.”
I spin back to her, my blood boiling. The man on the phone, the debt, my mother, my stepfather, it all collides inside me. And now this bitch, with her perfect hair and smug face, is rubbing it in that I don’t know him, not really. Not the way she does.
“You think you know him better than me?” My voice cracks, anger burning my throat. “You don’t know shit.”
