Horror surged through my veins when I realized I was just standing there with the tips of my fingers lightly pressed to my stomach, instead of doing any of the things I was supposed to. Like subduing the guy I could still hear talking.
But that unwelcome reality I’d been trying andfailingto keep from my mind all day was now all I could think about, and I suddenly didn’t know what to do because I was spiraling over the meaning of two inconsequential, yetmonumentalpink lines. And panicking over the fact that I was spiraling at all during a situation I was normally completely calm and collected in.
That Ineededto be completely calm and collected in.
Force it back.
Turning on Davis, I noted just how close he’d gotten to me, and offered something that might have resembled a smile as I sidestepped him. A move he seemed to track. “You know, we never went on that date,” I said, letting the words trail to make them sound like an offer.
He let out a hesitant sound and dipped his head to look excited yet uncertain. “Yeah, uh...you sure you’d be up for it? Especially after...well, you know...”
“Yep,” I said definitively. “He already stopped it once. I’m not letting him stop it again.”
With a more genuinely excited look, Davis said, “Then let’s go.”
Given the warning chill racing down my spine, I doubted he planned to let us go anywhere, but I just nodded toward the couch and said, “I’m going to change first. Make yourself comfortable.” But as soon as I took a step toward my room, I remembered what that warning chill was from, and turned for my kitchen instead.
I could hear my dad and brothers mocking me for being weak. My own voice joined in because I’d always prided myself on being able to handle every situation without help from anyone, but my splintered thoughts were far too frantic to do what needed to be done.
Clearly...I’d nearly forgotten an entire person within just a handful of seconds.
“Want something to drink while you wait?”
“Water’s fine,” Davis called back, before quickly adding, “But only if you’re getting something.”
Keeping my steps silent as I listened to Davis’ response, I beelined toward my back door, where Gray would be waiting. I could almost feel his anxiety amplifying my own, and I couldn’t even fault him for it.
If the roles had been reversed, if I would’ve watched him walk into his apartment with a mafia member who had managed to fool us, I realized I would’ve felt the same.
I would’ve wanted eyes on him. I would’ve wanted to be his backup.
And, suddenly, I understood why he always pushed to be with me—to never let me go into fights alone. Funny how it’d takenthis. And he didn’t even know there was another person hiding in here. He didn’t even know that I’d failed so completely because I couldn’t get my mind to settle—because I couldn’t keep my thoughts off of?—
Stop!
I reached for the deadbolt and had just grazed the metal of the lock when I was yanked backward by my hair, snapping my head up and forcing a shocked gasp from me that morphed into an enraged grunt when my back slammed against Davis’ chest.
In an instant, all my racing, panicked thoughts fell blissfully silent as I found myself in his arms, staring at my ceiling, with his hand now gripping my jaw instead of my hair.
If it’d been any other day, I would’ve heard him coming up on me. If it’d been any other day, I would’ve been able to fight him before I’d found myself like this. Even still, I knew more than enough ways to get out of this hold and overtake him. But the distinctive sting of a blade nicking the side of my neck as I’d been forced backward was enough to make me pause. Wait. Evaluate.
Beat myself up as my dad’s voice infiltrated this moment.
“Tell me what you did wrong. You let him sneak up on you. If your enemy sneaks up on you, you’re dead.”
But I was clear-headed now, and I refused to die today.
“You were so close too,” Davis mumbled into my ear, his usual, awkward excitement replaced with something sure, amused, and sinister. “What gave me away?”
“You first,” I said tightly. “Tell me what you wanted with me.”
“Want,” he corrected. “Just know that you’re going to be well taken care of. Or maybe it’s the other way around.” I heard the smile in his voice before I felt the curl of his lips against my ear. “After all these months of studying you, I plan on being one of those you take care of.”
Even if we hadn’t known about the club and what they trafficked, we’d dealt with enough people like this that I would’ve known what he’d been talking about. Disgust and rage curled through me and left a bad taste in my mouth as too many memories flooded my mind of men who thought they were allowed to touch me just because I was there. Because I was a woman in a man’s world.
And these particular men wantedmore. Not just from me, but from Lainey, Chloe, and Wren too.
“If that’s your plan, then you should be careful with that blade,” I said in a dull tone, and felt his chest pitch with a silent laugh.
