Page 49

We said goodbye and got off the phone, and I spent the rest of the ride trying to think about all the shit I needed to do, but my brain kept chucking thoughts of Lauren at me.

How she’d felt riding my face. The evil little grin that took over her expression whenever she had a particularly diabolical thought.

How happy she’d be when she found out Velvet was no longer at risk.

I was entering my neighborhood when I hit a red light.

Did I even need to go home, or could I go see what Lauren was up to?

I’d been careful not to get blood on me, so it wasn’t like I needed to change.

But she’d mentioned that her filming schedule was all over the place in a previous sexting session, so I didn’t want to just drop in unannounced. Plus, she might not even be home.

The light was still red, so I tugged off a glove and unlocked my phone, where it sat in its holder.

I went straight to the tracking software Josh had installed on her cell for me and frowned when the map popped up.

Lauren wasn’t at her apartment across town.

She was at mine. How? She’d never been there before, but she was smart enough that I wasn’t all that surprised she’d figured out where I lived.

Was she planning to surprise me or something? Oh, I liked that thought.

I tugged my glove back on, slapped my visor down, and took a sharp left, gunning it down a side street because I was suddenly too impatient to sit in traffic.

My heart pounded as I wove through cars, lane splitting, tailgating, even swerving over the line into oncoming traffic because I had just enough room to pass the idiot slowing me down.

I cut the engine as I approached my apartment, not wanting to alert Lauren of my arrival.

As excited as she probably was to surprise me, I was much more excited to get the drop on her instead.

The thought of sneaking up on her and pouncing before she knew I was there was far too appealing to pass up, and after what she’d revealed about wanting to get hunted down, I thought she’d appreciate the turn of events just as much as I would.

Instead of parking out front, I rolled into a spot half a block away and hoofed it back on foot, careful to stay close to the buildings so she wouldn’t see me coming.

I looked for her on the sidewalk and didn’t see her, so I pulled up the map again.

Oh, shit. She was in my apartment. That sly little vixen.

How the hell had she pulled this off without a key?

I took the stairs up to my place, careful to avoid those that creaked. I even kept my keys cradled in my hand so they wouldn’t jiggle as I slid the one to my door into the lock. A heartbeat late, I was turning the knob, slowly pushing the door open, stepping inside, and—

Searing pain stabbed into my lower back.

I spun on instinct, knocking the weapon away, grabbing my assailant by the throat and slamming them against the wall beside the door.

My fist was two inches from Lauren’s face before I realized it was her, and I barely swung wide in time to keep from knocking her out.

Instead, I punched through the drywall half an inch away, my knuckles screaming in pain.

“Fuck!” I roared, pulling free and releasing my hold on her.

She sank to the ground, gasping, hands clutching her throat.

I kicked the door shut and dropped to my knees. “Lauren, shit, are you okay?”

I reached for her, but she lashed out at me and half fell trying to get away.

“What are you doing?” I said, following after her. “Let me see your neck. You could be hurt.” Goddamn it, I’d grabbed her so hard .

“Don’t,” she wheezed, scrambling backward, one hand holding her throat. “I’ll scream.”

I went still. “What? It was an accident, Lo. I didn’t know it was you who’d...” I trailed off, belatedly realizing that she’d attacked me .

My gaze dropped to the discarded taser on my floor. That she’d just shoved into my back.

What the fuck?

I lifted my eyes to see her sandwiched in the corner as far away from me as she could get. “Listen, I know this is still new and we haven’t really dug into all our shared fantasies, but I feel like I should tell you, getting jolted with electricity? Not one of my turn-ons .”

“Are you cracking jokes right now?” she rasped, eyes flashing.

“No?” I said, growing increasingly confused about what was going on here.

“My dad,” she said, and it felt like she’d dumped a bucket of ice over my head.

Oh, she’d attacked me for real .

I schooled my face, wondering how much she knew. “What about him?”

“He goes missing, and suddenly you show back up?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing,” I said, which was the truth. Or at least part of it.

“So it’s just a coincidence then?” she demanded. “You had nothing to do with his disappearance?”

No more lies , she’d said, and I’d stupidly agreed. Fuck.

“Lauren...”

“I knew it,” she said, drawing her knees to her chest like she was trying to protect herself from me. Like she was scared. I shuffled forward, and she put her hands up to ward me off. “Don’t come any closer.”

Her voice was coming back, gaining volume, and despite the fear on her face, I was relieved. Maybe I hadn’t hurt her too badly after all. I wasn’t about to take any chances, though.

I whipped my phone out. “I’m calling Aly to come look at you.”

She lunged forward and slapped it out of my hand.

“I’m trying to help you, Lauren.”

“Bullshit. You were going to call your father for backup, weren’t you?”

I opened my mouth to tell her that wasn’t something I would ever do, but she tried to scramble past me toward the taser, and nope, not getting jolted again, thank you very much.

I reached out and grabbed her, pulling her off-balance , and with a twist, I had her seated on my lap.

She flailed, trying to get away, but I wrapped my arms around her and held on tight, letting her tire herself out.

As soon as she calmed down and we got this Tommy discussion out of the way, we were going to talk about how easy it was to restrain her.

Aly took self-defense classes somewhere downtown.

Maybe I could ask her about bringing Lauren along to teach her the basics.

Better yet, I’d just never let Lauren out of my sight again, would follow her around the city like her own private security detail.

“Are you done?” I asked.

Instead of cursing me or screaming, she burst into tears.

Oh, shit.

I loosened my arms, and suddenly the woman I’d been holding morphed into a wildcat, all tooth and claw.

There was a slap to my face, nails dragging down my arm, a foot in my gut, and then she was standing several feet away again, her expression contorted with anger even as tears streaked down her face.

Maybe she didn’t need self-defense lessons after all.

“You killed him, didn’t you?” she said.

I slowly got to my feet. “Lauren, wait. I—”

“My sister said that’s what you do! That you and your family are Lorenzo’s cleanup crew!”

I fought back a snarl. Fucking Kristen Marchetti.

She’d been an asshole in high school, the epitome of a mean girl, and from everything I’d heard, she was still an asshole today.

Her goddamn husband must have been saying shit to her that he shouldn’t have, and somehow, she’d passed it on to Lauren.

I hadn’t seen this coming, couldn’t have anticipated it.

The sisters weren’t even close. How the hell had this happened?

“Go ahead,” Lauren snapped. “Break your word to me. Lie to my face, Junior .”

Hearing her use that name again felt like another slap, and my temper flared. “Is that how little you think of me? That I would kill a man and then go after his daughter?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You said it yourself. I have no idea what you’ve done in your life, what you’re capable of. You’ve already stalked me. You’ve already hurt people who made my life difficult.”

“Which is why it’s stupid of you to think that I’d suddenly become the one to make your life difficult!”

“The only stupid thing I’ve done lately is believe I could trust you!” she spat.

“You can trust me!”

“Then prove it,” she said, voice shaking. “Tell me you had nothing to do with my father’s disappearance.”

I clamped my jaw shut, chest heaving, realizing I’d walked right into this one and had no way out.

Tears continued to stream down her face while she waited for me to answer, and the sight wrecked me .

I hated that she was in pain, hated that I was the one hurting her.

I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms and beg for forgiveness, but I could tell she wouldn’t let me.

Hell, she shouldn’t let me. She was right; I’d been lying to her all this time.

“You can’t say it, can you?” Her voice broke on the last word.

“Lauren, you don’t understand. Let me just explain.”

She stumbled back, hand rising to cover her mouth. “Oh my god. You killed him.”

“Yes!” I roared, losing the battle with my temper. “Is that what you want to hear? I killed that old bastard and then decided to spit on his grave by fucking his daughter.”

A sob wracked her body, horror filling her eyes.

My stomach dropped. What had I just done? All these weeks I’d been worried the explosion was coming, and now it was happening at the worst possible time, with the worst possible person.

“Lauren, wait,” I said, stepping toward her.

She leaped sideways. “Stay away from me!”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” she cried. “Why would you think I’d ever believe you after that?”

I took a step back, and then another, putting space between us, trying to make it clear I wasn’t a threat. She was right. How could I ask her to hear me out now?

Because you love her , I realized. And if you don’t say something, you might lose her forever.

“I didn’t kill him,” I said.

She took a step toward the door, snatching her purse from the floor and clutching it to her chest like a shield. “You just told me you did.”

I dragged in a breath, cursing myself for potentially ruining the only good thing in my life. “I know, and I’m sorry. I was angry that you thought I could have done something like that.”

She took another step, bending to scoop up her taser, immediately flicking it back on. “How do I know that’s the truth? How do I know you’re not just lying to me again to get me to drop my guard?”

I held my hands up to show I was unarmed and retreated even farther. “Because I’m about to let you walk out of that door without trying to stop you.”

She brandished the taser at me. “Don’t try to follow me.”

“I won’t,” I told her. “I know you don’t want to trust me right now, and I don’t blame you for that, Lo, but I would never hurt you. Never. ”

She pointed to her neck. “You just hurt me. You’re hurting me even more, right now.” She dashed the tears away from her cheeks, but they continued to fall.

Fuck, she was right. “Lo, I need you to keep what you learned today to yourself. My father might do worse if he finds out you know what we do for Lorenzo.”

The blood drained from her face, turning her tan skin ashen as she reached for the door.

Panic swirled in my gut. She was leaving, and after how I’d handled this situation, she’d probably never want to see me again.

“I’m sorry, Lauren,” I repeated. “Just...” I raked my hands through my hair, fighting back the urge to grab her, trap her here until she agreed to hear me out.

But I’d already done one unforgivable thing today, and I didn’t know if she and I could survive another.

“Don’t,” she interrupted, gripping the doorknob. “I don’t want to hear anything else you have to say. Ever. ”

“Lauren, please. Give me another chance.”

She laughed, an ugly, humorless sound. “I’ve already given you more chances than you deserve. I’m not letting the man who killed my father feed me any more lies.”

With a tug, she had the door open.

And then she walked out of my life.