Page 237 of Love Me in the Dark

After placing the order, she clicked off the call, noticing the messages in his text screen that he had left up. She quickly ran through them, her stomach clenching. The code left her mostly in the dark, because most people didn’t talk in code. People with normal jobs didn’t need to do that, they just said what they wanted to say. She put the phone back in the middle console.

“Don’t worry, Kara.” He patted her knee. “It’s fine.” He’d used the same tone and words when their mom died. She’d been ten, and things were not fine. Not then, and not now.

“Did you apply for that job I emailed you?” She tucked her hair behind her ear.

He sighed and changed lanes. “No. Kara. I told you, I have it covered. Everything’s fine. I have some cash for you, too. I know you need some new shit—at least some new shoes; look at those things, they’re beat to hell.” He pulled up to a stoplight and pointed at her feet. The once-white gym shoes were scuffed and worn, the sole on the right foot was being held together by nearly an entire bottle of superglue, but that didn’t change things. She wouldn’t take his money.

“Where’d you get the cash?” she asked pointedly.

He smiled at her, the soft smile he always threw her way when he was about to lie. That little tell had been around her entire life. She wasn’t a sucker for it anymore. Not when he swore he didn’t steal that car so their mom would have a way of getting to work without taking two busses and a train, not when he said he’d borrowed the cash from the guy next door so Kara could get a new bike, and not when he promised her he stopped doing illegal jobs to earn his cash.

“Kara, we’ve been over this.” He pulled his car into the garage behind his apartment building and turned off the ignition.

“Why can’t we go to my place? You’ve never even been to my apartment.”

“Because. It’s not safe for me to be seen there,” he said and popped his door open.

“How can this be the life you want to live, Tommy?” She slammed her door and met him at the garage entrance.

He wrapped a single arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Kara, it’s the only way I know how. Now, no more. Let’s get the pizza and chow down. Devin’s supposed to be here in a couple hours, and I’d rather you be gone before he shows.”

“Devin?” She gave him a half smile. She’d met him once before, briefly. A quick hello as she left Tommy’s apartment, but she’d seen enough. He was cute—no, that wasn’t the word. Hot. Yes, that better described him. Hot.

“He works with me, Kara.” The warning in Tommy’s voice didn’t escape her notice. She didn’t need it anyway. If he worked with Tommy, she wouldn’t go near him.

“Fine.” She shoved her purse strap over her shoulder and walked down the gangway toward the building. She heard Tommy pick up a call on his cell from behind her. She rolled her eyes and headed up the stairs to his apartment.

The door behind her shut. Loud. She paused on the steps to see if Tommy would open the door. Nothing. She looked out the frosted glass, but couldn’t see anything. No shadowed figures, nothing. Her heart started to pound.

“It’s fine. Just the wind,” she promised herself as she turned the knob on the door and slowly pulled it toward her.

Peeking her head out, she looked back down the gangway. No Tommy. She looked the other way, toward the front yard; not a soul. Cars sped down the street, a horn blared from the alley, but nothing from her brother. She stepped down into the small walkway between his building and the next. Her breath caught in her chest, her hand flew to her already trembling lips.

A pool of blood a few feet in front of her, followed by a trail of it going all the way to the alley. She ran, not thinking, to the alley. More blood, but it stopped right at the back gate. Tire marks, black tire marks ran off down the alley.

ALSO BY

OWNED AND PROTECTED

Protecting His Pet

Protecting His Runaway

His Captive Pet

His Captive Kitten

Becoming His Pet

Training His Pet

EVER AFTER

Beast

Tower

Red