How long had he been looking?
Why now?
Alex’s voice overwhelmed everything, but it was too fast. She couldn’t catch the words, only the sound of his clipped, furious tone. Her skull throbbed. The wall between reality and the real world in her head buckled. She held onto the sight of him, like an anchor, and simultaneously wanted to shove him away. Right now, she was both the girl in the burning house and the woman in the club, and neither version made sense.
He hauled her out a side door into the alley. The cold air made her shiver.
Maybe Erik assumed she was leaving with a customer, and that’s why he wasn’t out here, growling. She usually chargeddouble if she left the club. It was just too dangerous not to when violence against women was rampant in this city’s underground.
A car rolled up, with a rideshare sign glowing in the windshield.
“My bag,” she slurred. “I need my bag.”
“No.” He clutched her harder. “We’re not going back in there. Ever.”
“You don’t understand?—”
“You’re too fucked up to argue. Get in the car.”
She blinked hard, fighting the spin. The alley swam, then cleared enough for her to see him properly. His hair was a mess, dark blond waves shoved back by restless hands. His eyes kept flicking over her shoulder, scanning the shadows.
A tear slid hot down her cheek. “I got released,” she choked out. “You weren’t there. I-I-I… looked for you.”
“Audrey, stop talking.”
She shook her head, which only made her surroundings tilt. “You weren’t there,” she said again, teeth clenched. “I went to your apartment. I waited. You were gone.”
His eyes snapped back to her. “You went to my apartment?”
She nodded, swallowing against the lump in her throat. “Of course I did. I searched for you for over a month. And Skyler?—”
“Skyler,” he repeated, disgust curling his lip.
He’d constantly asked her if she’d made any friends, so Audrey knew he would recall her mentioning any that she had in prison, including Skyler. The answer was usuallyno, but sometimes—like with Skyler—it was ayes. Alex had never been a fan of her encouragement of Audrey’s drug-addicted lifestyle.
“Of course. Of fucking course. Look, I’m sorry?—”
“Sorry?” The word came out of her as a snarl. “Where the fuck have you been?”
All the fear and anguish of the last months crashed into her at once. The couch in Skyler’s filthy apartment. The emptydoorway of his building. Her first night free had been spent in a stranger’s bed instead of in safety.
He’d promised she wouldn’t walk out alone.
Alex exhaled hard, some of the stress around his eyes softening. “It’s a long story.”
“I didn’t want to be found, especially not by you,” she bit out, even as part of her clung to him as a tether. The drugs dulled her senses, but underneath, she was mortified he’d seen her at work.
He ignored that statement, tugging her in the direction of the car. She wavered, barely catching herself against the wall of the warehouse.
“I don’t need your help,” she muttered, fists pressing into her eyes as a tremble ripped through her. “Not anymore.”
“Right,” he said dryly. “That’s why you were getting railed by a stranger, high out of your mind, in a club where half the city could walk in and watch. You look like shit.”
Shame flushed hot across her face. She’d never been smaller. Not standing in front of a jury. Not hearingguilty. Not even in orange and shackles. He raked a hand through his hair, straightened his immaculate coat, and gave her a look like he was trying not to step in something.
“What I do is my business,” she shot back, with her voice cracking. “You disappeared. I had nothing. No one. Not a lot of choices.”
“You’re losing control of this situation,” he said flatly. “There are people who will use that. They’ll let you run until you lead exactly who they want right to you. They’re waiting for you to bring her to them.”
