She ran away.
FUCK!
“Where is she?” I snarled at my brother, who was watching me like I’d just started foaming at the mouth.
“Gone,” he said flatly, which only made it worse.
“Where?” I ground out through my teeth.
Greta was gone too, both of them vanishing into thin air while I slept. I’d say it was karma, considering how many women’s beds I’d walked out of, but I’d always been decent enough to give advance notice. Like a polite thanks for the fuck, I’ll see you around.
Not sneaking out of bed in the middle of the damn night and disappearing without even a note.
“Ryder…”
“What did you do?” I snapped, ignoring this strange helplessness clawing at my chest.
“Nothing.”
I took a moment, realising he was telling the truth. “Roman, that cunt! He promised?—”
“Roman didn’t do anything,” Elena interrupted, hesitating in the doorway. She glanced at Hen, then back to me.
“Elle?” Hendrix asked, his tone much softer than mine would’ve been. “What have you done?”
“I gave Violet some money,” she said quietly, her hands twisting together. “Then drove them both to the station.”
“Why would you do that?”
She flinched at the edge in my voice, but to her credit, she didn’t look away. Her chin lifted, steady despite the tremor in her hands.
“Because that’s whatshewanted,” she said softly. “And if anyone should understand what that means, it’s you.”
Chapter 46
Violet
Three Months Later
Everything was okay. Totally fine. My life wasnoton fire.
“What do you mean I’m fired?” I asked, following Roy through the club like some starved dog. “Ineedthis job. I have bills to pay. Rent?—”
“I can’t have people physically fighting over you,” he said over his shoulder. “It’s bad for business.”
“No one’s fighting over me.” This was the longest job I’d managed to hold in months, cash in hand, no questions asked. Roy didn’t care who I was, only that I showed up and kept the glasses full. The money was decent, the work degrading, but the hours worked. 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., all while mum slept.
Perfect. Until it wasn’t.
“I’ll take a pay cut,” I said, desperate. A few men were giving me extra attention, but that meant better tips. Surely, they weren’t fightingoverme? “I’ll wear more clothes, or?—”
“More clothes?” Roy grunted, spinning around so fast I nearly crashed into him.
The tray wobbled in my hands, empty glasses rattling as Icaught myself just in time. His eyes dragged down my outfit, a smirk tugging at his mouth.
“I want you to wearless,that’s the point.”
I stared at him. “I don’t understand.”
