I sigh, resigned to the fact that Heather is determined not to learn from my past mistakes.
My interactions with Dave have been extremely limited, but from what I observed, the Gamma president isn’t very different from his older brother.
“Fine,” I bite out, thinking that if I don’t antagonize Heather about this, I can keep an eye on her and step in if she gets in trouble. “Go ahead; I’ll catch up in a second. All that tea has gone through me, and I need to use the bathroom after all.”
“See you later, then.” Heather walks out of the bathroom throwing a wink my way, and I walk into the second stall.
I read something once about never using the first stall in a public restroom because it’s the one everyone goes to first, and you’re much more likely to find a cleaner facility if you go to stall number two.
It’s become a habit for me, even though in all honesty the Country Club’s bathroom is spotless, so I doubt it matters which stall I use.
Zara
As I quickly take care of business, I make a decision.
I’m going to tell the guys about Heather’s plan to hook up with Cal’s brother. If anyone can protect our friend, it’s them.
A noise from outside my stall attracts my attention. Someone came in, and footsteps sound on the ceramic tiles of the floor coming toward me.
Rather than a pair of high heels I expected to see, whoever stops in front of my stall is in a pair of black men’s shoes. I try to remember what color Lev’s shoes were, but this could also be Chance, and I didn’t really pay attention to his footwear.
The person outside my stall is forced to take a step back when I open the door.
“Mason?” I gasp, frozen on the threshold. “What are you doing here? This is the women’s bathroom; you might want to go next door.”
His lips curl in a sardonic smile.
Mason Morelli has a tiny mole on the upper right corner of his plump lips. “I’m not here to use the facilities,” he chuckles. “I’m here to see you, Zara.”
My first instinct would be to retreat into the bathroom stall and lock the door, but Mason anticipates my move.
With a quick movement worthy of a hockey player, he grabs me, dragging me out of the stall and backing me against one of the sinks.
His fingers are digging into my biceps, his vise-like grip painful as he crowds my personal space.
“I usually don’t give warnings,” his voice is low and menacing as his hot breath fans over my ear. “If someone poses a problem, I dispose of them quickly and painfully… for them. So I hope you understand how lucky you are right now, and that is the only warning you’re going to get.”
I squirm against his hold, but he’s bigger and stronger than me, and he doesn’t budge. “You’re hurting me.”
His smile widens. “Good. I want you to think about this pain and multiply it by a hundred. Actually, no. Multiply it by a fucking million. That’s how much I’m going to make it hurt if your brother goes to the sheriff about the races. You, your other brother and your boyfriend owe me money, and we have a deal. There are only two ways out of it. You either pay me what you owe me, or you race for me like we agreed.”
“Yes, of course.” I whimper as he tightens his hold on my arms.
“Good. So you’re going to tell your brother to keep his mouth shut with his boss. If he says one word about the races to the sheriff, you’re all going to find out firsthand what happens when you try to fuck over a Morelli. I’ll give you a spoiler alert, Zara. If they find any part of you, it’s usually not fit for an open casket funeral. Got it?”
He squeezes my arms so painfully that an involuntary tear slides down my face. The pain is so intense that all I can do is jerk my head into a nod, not trusting my voice.
“Awesome stuff.” Mason loosens his grip on my arms but doesn’t let me go. “But I want to hear you use your words and confirm that we reached an understanding.”
“Yes,” I utter, struggling to hide the fear in my voice. “I got it.”
Mason doesn’t let me go. “Good. Just remember, one word to Sheriff Pullin and you’re gonna wish that bike got you last night. Yes?”
“Yes, I swear. I’m going to speak to Ares. I didn’t agree with his plan anyway.” Something hits me all of a sudden. “Hold on a second. We talked about the idea of going to the sheriff this morning. The guys and I were the only ones in Lev’s house. How do you know?”
He lets go of my arms, but his hands land on either side of me on the white porcelain of the sink.
His body is effectively trapping me, and I have nowhere to go unless I want to try to overpower him.
