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Wow. This was a heavy conversation to have with a stranger at a bar. “Yeah, I guess.”

“I’m sorry for this, but I don’t have another choice.”

Then he kissed me. He pressed his lips firmly against mine, and I was too shocked to do anything.

“Charlie Kent. You need to come with us.”

That voice. I knew that voice.

I looked to my left and found the guy with hair as black as pitch focussing his eyes intently on me. He took a step closer to me and I could feel his gaze against the contours of my face like it was a physical thing.

“Have we met before?” I asked.

“No.”

Something buzzed at the back of my skull. Something familiar.

Before I even realised what I was doing, my hand was reaching out, sneaking under his jacket and touching his waist. He winced in pain and grabbed my wrist.

He was wearing black leather gloves. I’d seen those before.

I’d seen him before. But where?

“Shit,” he muttered. “The Boss is not going to be happy about this.”

As if a lightbulb had popped in my brain, my missing afternoon flashed through my mind. The walk home, the guy bumping into me. The gunshot.Everything.

“You were shot,” I said to the guy. Wait. I knew his name. “Byron.”

“Well, fuck. Jimmy, keep an eye on this guy,” Byron said to the bartender. “Make sure he’s here when I get back.”

“You got it,” someone from behind me replied, but I was too dazed to really pay attention. Too caught up on the fact that I’d seen Byron attack someone, that he’d had his hands around my throat and — wait. Why didn’t I have any bruising? How did I lose my memory?

And where were they taking Charlie?

I watched as the two guys led Charlie along the edge of the bar and through a doorway at the back of the room. Whatever was going to happen to him next didn’t look good. The blonde guy was holding Charlie’s arm high up his back, and they were all definitely marching at a brisk pace.

I tried to catch sight of Maya, but she was too busy grinding her ass on someone’s groin to notice my panicked hand gestures. Fuck it. I shouldn’t go after those guys, I knew it was a bad idea, but I wasn’t going to be able to live with myself if I saw Charlie’s face on the news in the morning alongside a headline about murder.

I waited until Jimmy the Bartender’s back was turned and I slipped off my seat and headed to the door the others had disappeared through.

It was quieter back here. Must be the staff area or something. The walls were a deep crimson red, and the carpet was black and soft beneath my shoes. Guess the boss liked his décor fancy.

There were a number of doors along the corridor, but I had a feeling those men hadn’t gone into any of these rooms. I kept on walking and ignoring the sinking feeling in my stomach that was getting heavier the deeper I went into the belly of the building.

I turned a corner and heard some muffled cries and a scuffle of feet. I picked up my pace, following the sounds, foreboding pebbling my skin.

What the fuck was I doing?

Alcohol was definitely helping me make bad choices this evening.

I turned another corner, but there was no one there. God, how big was this place?

It was no use. I was lost and now I couldn’t hear those guys anymore.

Should have just stayed at the bar like a good boy, the voice of self-preservation chided.

Fuck you, I snapped back and pushed the bar on the emergency exit door that I managed to find.