Page 28 of Corrupted By the Shadow King (Hope Runs Deep #3)
Nikki
“ N ikki, hold up,” Erin calls out in the parking garage.
I had a night from hell and barely got any sleep, but I didn’t want to call in because we are already short-staffed, and I needed to get out of the apartment.
The walls were closing in on me. “Is everything okay? Kevin said that you had a fight with Alex,” she asks.
I squeeze my eyes shut, willing the tears away, and breathe in and out slowly.
My emotions are all over the place. One minute, I think I’m going to be all right, and the next, I’m breaking down, and it feels like the world is ending.
I’ve never felt heartbreak like this before.
It fucking sucks. I’m raw and torn open and wish I could fall into a hole and disappear. Maybe then the pain would stop.
But it’s not only the pain. I’m embarrassed and ashamed.
How did I not know? Why didn’t I ask questions?
Why did I ignore the voice within me that screamed at me to wake the fuck up and run away?
What if…? My sister would tell me, “What if my grandma wore combat boots?” It is something stupid and unexpected, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
I can sit here and ask all the “what if” questions, but that will not change anything about what happened.
I cannot travel through time and change the past, although I wish I could right now.
Maybe then all of this would hurt less. But something tells me, he burned his name into my heart before he even woke up and met my gaze.
“Nikki?” Erin says my name softly as she reaches out to grab my arm, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts.
“Sorry. Yeah. I just found out that he wasn’t who I thought he was.”
“Are you so sure about that?”
I purse my lips and draw in a deep breath, sniffling as my breath hitches.
I don’t want to cry, but I don’t think I can stop the torrent that is coming.
“Yeah.” I want to say more, but I can’t.
Honestly, I don’t know if I fully believe that.
I don’t think everything he said or did was a lie.
It couldn’t have been. It felt too real, but it also doesn’t change who he is.
El Lobo. The leader of a fucking cartel.
I’ve heard stories about him. He’s supposed to be vindictive and unrelenting.
He doesn’t forgive and would rather shoot first and ask questions later. He is scary and a monster.
And not the man who acted so gentle with me. He isn’t the man who held me as I slept or made love to me to the point I wanted to cry.
“Oh, honey.” She pulls me into her arms, and the tears come.
I barely hear anything going on around me, but tires squealing to a stop right beside us makes me look up, and suddenly, I’m staring down the barrel of a gun. FUCK! I’m scared and don’t know what to do.
“Both of you get in the van now.”
I look past the man wearing a ski mask and black clothes to the van. It is unassuming and white. A normal delivery truck that comes onto the hospital campus a million times a day. “Wh-what are you doing?”
“Get in the fucking van now,” he demands, pressing the gun against Erin’s temple. Something about his voice is familiar, but I can’t think due to the fear. “I’d hate for something bad to happen to your friend here.”
“I’ll get in!” I rush. “But leave her alone.”
Laughing, he shakes his head, never taking his eyes off either of us. “That’s not how this works. The deal is for both of you. Get in the fucking van!” Both? Me and Erin? And then it dawns on me. “Kevin?”
The gun shifts from Erin to me, pressing into my cheek to the point of pain. “Get in the fucking van, Nikki. I don’t have a problem with shooting her or you. Get the fuck in.”
Erin and I move together and step into the back of the van. Before the door closes, we are stripped of our bags and phones, and then, we are shut in darkness.