‘No trying to escape now,’ he admonishes from the wide, sliding door that’s open a foot or so. ‘You’re still marrying Marcus.’
I raise my chin in defiance. ‘You can’t make me.’
Andy’s nasty smile makes me cold all over. ‘I have a surprise for you.’
He practically skips to the nearest plane.
I realize the small door in the side is open. He pulls out a large bundle, someone tied up and unconscious.
‘Lu! What have you done to her, you sick son of a bitch?’
‘Just drugged,’ Andy says with a grimace. ‘I told you, I don’t let my dick make my decisions. She is cute, though, in a plebeian kind of way.’
‘Her family are going to kill you for this,’ I say.
‘The Garretts don’t scare me. I have bigger friends than them.’
He drops her next to me, and she hits the concrete with a thud. I wince.
‘So, do as you’re told,’ he says slowly, ‘and I don’t give your bestie to the cartel. I don’t care who her family is. They’ll never know what happened to her. As I said, they’re fucking animals. She would definitely beg for death before they finally offed her.’
I stare at him, seething, as I sink to my knees to see if my friend is okay. She groans a little, and I breathe out a sigh of relief.
‘Oh, shit,’ she grumbles, groaning. ‘I did not drink enough last night to feel like this right now.’
Her eyes crack open, and she blinks, her brow furrowing.
‘Daisybear, what are you doing in my room?’
‘We aren’t in your room,’ I say.
Blake
The firefighters finally locate the source of the smoke that’s filled the club in a small vent by the bar. When they pry off the cover, they find a smoke bomb stuck inside the shaft with duct tape.
‘You kids think this shit is funny?’ one of them asks, ripping off his helmet in the alleyway while another removes the still-smoking incendiary and drops it into a bucket a few feet away.
My eyes narrow.
‘This wasn’t us,’ I snarl, but I’m glad that this seems to be just a dumb prank, and not another full-blown attack on us.
I’ll check the cameras back inside, figure out who did this, and go from there.
I glance around out at the street. The entrance to the alleyway has been taped off, and there’s a large crowd of party goers who attended tonight still spectating on the other side.
‘Sorry, people,’ I say loudly. ‘Looks like the party’s over for tonight.’
The reply is a myriad of groans and complaints, but I just shrug, and they begin to slink off now that the smoke bomb is neutralized, there’s no more drama, and they know they aren’t getting back in.
I check my phone. It’s past two. Despite having to clear everyone out early on our opening night, the relaunch didn’t go too badly. We were packed the whole time and everyone looked like they were having fun, which means they were spending money.
I reply to Daisy, who messaged us earlier to say that she was safe in the bunker, to tell her that she can come back upstairs now, and to meet us by the bar.
The last of the firefighters leave once all the smoke is cleared and I join the others who are already back inside.
Shade paces the dance floor. When he sees me approaching, his eyes cast toward the cellar door. He’s a wreck.
I mean, I guess I can’t blame him. He did just find out before the smoke alarms went off that his brother is a murderer who let his best friend be taken away to a hellhole for a decade. He should probably talk to the cops in the morning…maybe a therapist, too.
