Page 104 of Retribution

I wake with a start, my stomach rolling. I’m alone. The clock by the side of the bed says nine-fifteen am. I’ve slept through the night.

I hear voices in the living area outside my door. There’s harsh whispering and a voice I think I know from when I was kidnapped by Sauvage’s guys.

I get up, pee, and then crack the door open to investigate.

Two of Sauvage’s black-clothed guys are standing in the penthouse. One of them has his arms crossed, but they’re wearing matching expressions of what I think is annoyance. They’re not happy, that’s for sure.

‘She’s tired. She’s asleep. Sauvage can’t just send you guys up here and make her work,’ Shade is saying, pacing the room. ‘Where is he, anyway? I want to talk to him.’

‘He ain’t here,’ the other guy says.

‘Look!’ the bigger one snarls. ‘He told us your little girlfriend is making the drug. So, she makes the drug. We have rules here and she needs to be working. Either get her out here, or I’ll go in there and get her.’

‘The hell you will,’ Blake growls, stepping forward.

My eyes widen. If I don’t do something, these guys will tear the room apart.

I quickly open the door. ‘It’s okay. I’m awake.’

Shade’s eyes narrow at me. None of them look pleased. ‘You don’t need to go with these guys,’ Mav says, his voice reverberating through the room.

‘I made a deal,’ I say brightly. ‘I was going to go to the lab and start the next batch this morning anyway. I just overslept.’

I slip on my boots and, as I go by them, I give Shade, Mav, and Blake a kiss each.

‘I’m glad you’re here,’ I say quietly, hoping that I’m able to get the Stinger off before the next time I seethem.

Already, my body seems to be responding to their proximities in a very Pavlovian way. Besides, if I never let them touch me again, they’re probably going to notice.

‘Sauvage said you need to be shown the underground system,’ the bigger guy says, tossing Blake, who’s closest, a keycard. ‘Come down to the basement in ten and someone will take you down there.’

I leave the penthouse with Sauvage’s guys. In the liftelevatordown, I notice the bigger one watching me. He can’t be all that much older than me, I’m pretty sure.

‘What?’ I ask.

‘Which one of those guys are you with?’ he says.

‘All three,’ I answer plainly.

He blinks. ‘And they’re okay with that? With you being with all of them?’

I glance into his eyes and then away. ‘Only when it’s one of them.’ I say pointedly in case he’s getting ideas.

He puts his hands up and takes a step back, not speaking again.

The elevator opens in the basement and I leave it, turning left when I get my bearings and finding the hatch in the floor at the end of the hallway.

One of them lifts it for me.

‘You’ll be allowed out in ten hours.’

I frown at Sauvage’s guy, not taking one step toward the ladder.

‘Go on,’ he says impatiently.

‘No.’

‘Look, sweetheart. You work for Pierre Sauvage now. Either you get your little ass down there, or he’ll find someone else to do the job.’