Looking back, I know I shouldn’t have felt such elation, but in that moment, in that suffocating, candy-coated nightmare, I buried my face in the fur. For a heartbeat I felt warm, safe, and—
“Happy first anniversary, sweet thing.”
—completely, utterlysick.
A year.
Had it really been that long? My mind reeled, bits of myself rushing to the surface, then breaking apart again.
“One year since I made you mine and I couldn’t be prouder of you. You’ve been such a lovely little thing for me.”He caught my chin, tilting my face up.“What do you say, petal?”
I hesitated for a second too long and Anton’s fingers tightened enough to make my pulse skip.
“Thank you.”
His smile spread like honey.“My pleasure. If you behave, next year, I’ll take you out for dinner.”
My stomach bottomed out.
Nextyear.
I stared at him, struggling to breathe.
A year from now, still here, still in his lap, still his.
Everything about me completely gone.
My personality, my life, my world deconstructed and destroyed.
23
Koby
“One last thing,” Carter says, tapping his fingers against the hardwood desk inScarlett’sback office. “Noretto’s meeting with us next week. Get the warehouse cleaned. I’m not inviting him here, and definitely not my place. I don’t want him anywhere near the girls. And nowhere public.”
The heavy silence that follows says enough.
Even after agreeing to work with him, I’m sure Carter’s still wondering what it’d feel like to put a bullet between Noretto’s eyes. And by the look of him, he’s struggling to remember the reasons why he can’t.
Though, if I were betting on who’d pull the trigger first, my money would be on Broadway. He loathes the idea of siding with Noretto, even if we do get to raze the bastard’s sex-trafficking empire to the ground.
Violet may be healing, but scars don’t vanish. The kind of trauma Noretto made her suffer will never fully go away, andBroadway’s not built to forgive or forget. He’ll remember forever and crave revenge just as long.
“I should probably sit that one out,” he says, eyes focused on the desk. “I get why you agreed to collaborate, but—”
“I know,” Carter cuts in with a sigh, like he’s had this argument in his head a dozen times. “I’d sit it out too if I could. You’ll be at my place with the girls. You, Apollo, and Arthur. I doubt Blaze has the balls to double-cross me, but better safe than sorry.”
He rises to his feet, eyes raking the screens that line the wall, even though we’re about to head out there. Broadway does the same, his features softening when he spots Violet, both hands cradling her big belly. Ryder’s more inconspicuous about checking on Bianca, but he does.
It’s a habit by now, a fucking ritual they share. I wonder if my compulsiveness will rival theirs once the Grey brothers are dead and Leilani isn’t confined to my apartment.
It fucking kills me that she’s always alone.
At the same time, I love knowing she’s waiting for me. Especially now we’re getting to know each other more intimately. A week of sex and pillow talks has deepened our connection at lighting speed. I feel like I’ve known her my whole life.
Oh, and she only hit me twice, soprogress.
Carter leaves first, Broadway at his shoulder, Ryder close behind. Their footsteps fade down the hall while I stay behind, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I bought one for Leilani while shopping for condoms and a morning-after pill, and she’s even more distracting now I can text back and forth with her.
