It suddenly clicks how she’s able to read me so easily. “You were a Doll, weren’t you?” I ask.
Her gaze drifts away for a second, like she’s reaching in her mind for a memory. Then she nods once, eyes locking with mine. “Best and worst thing that ever happened to me.”
Keane slides the gear into park and kills the engine, he and Miller stepping out first. They scan the empty lot with quiet, predatory focus before moving around to open mine and Bailey’s doors.
I climb out on shaky legs, sucking in a lungful of fresh air. Then we move together across the gravel lot as a unit, the Kings advancing to meet us in perfect formation.
They’re like a walking warning sign made of testosterone and bad decisions, every one of them a blazing red flag. Ford’s the first to speak, flashing a smile that’s all teeth and no soul.
“Well, well. If it isn’t the one that got away,” he drawls.
But he’s not looking at me.
He’s looking at Bailey.
She frowns back at him, stopping a few paces away and folding her arms across her chest. “Still a dickhead, I see.”
“My brother keeping you satisfied?” Ford asks, lazily running his tongue along his upper teeth. “Or do you need a reminder of what it’s like to fuck someone who actually knows what they’re doing?” He lewdly reaches down to grab his junk, winking at her.
Keane and Miller both stiffen, their expressions darkening instantly, but Bailey stops them with a single shake of her head.
“Cut the shit, Christian,” she says coolly. “You owe us big for today.”
As much as I hate Ford right now, I can’t ignore the sharp stab of jealousy that twists through my chest at the realization that he and Bailey clearly have a history.
Or the quiet, crushing sense of inadequacy that follows when I inevitably measure myself against her.
Wes breaks ranks and steps toward me, grey eyes wide and searching. I immediately flinch back, ducking behind Miller’s broad shoulder.
He doesn’t get to look at me like that. Not after what he did the last time I saw him.
Bailey straightens her spine and squares off with the Kings, her chin lifted. “I trust you idiots can take it from here?”
Raf jerks a nod, folding his arms to mirror her stance.
Bailey turns back to me and reaches for my hand, squeezing it tightly. “Good luck, Ava,” she murmurs, leaning in close and dropping her voice lower. “And don’t let them break you.”
I’m hit with a flood of emotion as I stare back at her, feeling an odd sort of sisterhood humming between us. I want to thank her, to beg her not to leave…
Instead, I just nod and squeeze her hand back.
She releases me and steps away, giving me one final nod before starting back toward the Jeep. Miller and Keane fall into step behind her, and I watch numbly while the three of them climb in, Miller holding the door for Bailey while Keane slides in behind the wheel. He fires up the engine, rolls down the window, and sticks his hand out to flip the Kings off before peeling out of the lot.
And just like that, they’re gone.
I’m left standing there, too close to my old life and the monsters that owned me. The sun is too bright, the world too sharp.
I don’t move, but the Kings do. They close in around me like sharks scenting blood, and the truth settles over me like a lead weight.
That although I just escaped one prison, I’ve only traded it for another.
CHAPTER 8
RAF
Baileyand the guys don’t even wait for a goodbye. As soon as the last of their trio slides into the Jeep, the engine snarls and they peel out, leaving nothing behind but the stench of gasoline and a dusting of gravel on my boots.Good riddance.I don’t need more witnesses to whatever the fuck is about to happen here.
Ava stands between us and the now-empty spot where the Jeep was, my eyes moving over her from head to toe. She looks good. A little frazzled, a little pissed off and scared, but healthy. Physically unharmed. The tension that’s been riding the base of my spine all morning loosens by a fraction.
