LOCK

by Debra Anastasia

  “Don’t...” I went to my tiptoes and put my hand behind his neck. Our lips were close as he dipped his head down, eyes growing heavy-lidded. “...dance with other girls.”

  I expected some fight. I was “with” another man. I’d ignored him as totally as I could since we discovered each other in this twisted Alice in Wonderland nightmare.

  “Anything you ask, I’ll do.”

  His breath on my face sent shivers over my shoulders and down my spine.

  “Kiss me.” The wine was talking. The lonely was talking. The scared was screaming.

  He shifted and pulled me to his chest. I put my other hand in his hair. His eyes darkened like he might kill me, but instead, he kissed the living hell out of me. Twisting and pulling so I was straddling him and had my back against the door.

  I melted into the comfort. The care. I felt the moisture in my eyes start. While we kissed, heart to heart, my tears went down my cheeks and traveled down my throat, creating a tiny river running between my breasts.

  “Sweet Ember.” He must’ve felt the tears and stopped kissing me. He set me on my feet and used his thumbs to wipe my tears away. “What’s this? What is this?”

  He reached down and grabbed my hands, kissing each of them. Oxygen burned in my chest. I wanted to fall into him. Beg him to save me from it all. Call my brother, call Animal and T. Enough was enough. And then I dropped my hands. I pictured Bowen. I saw Files die in front of me all over again. I couldn’t do it to him.

  “I’ve made a mistake. Please leave.” The words were a double-edged knife that sliced into both of us.

  Lock’s confusion clouded his face. He came toward me for another kiss. I put my hands up. His chest was under my palms. I unlocked the door and pushed it open behind me. He stepped out the door, then turned and said my name.

  “Soften to me again just once—for a heartbeat and that’s it. This place can blow up around us. You have this light inside you when you turn it toward me. I’m yours. That’s all I am. Not a brother, not a son… None of that matters. I’m only yours. Be wary with that power, Ember. I’d end the world for you.” He held his hands open like he was offering me something. And he was.

  I let the door swing closed behind me.

  Chapter 47

  Lock

  I WAS PRETTY SURE I denounced everything I stood for because that gorgeous girl kissed me. She made me stupid, and I’d gladly take the dunce cap. Shit, I’d have to put it over my goddamn boner to get out of this ladies’ room.

  I was sure about something now, though. She was a prisoner. She wasn’t here because she wanted to be. I’d bet my life on it. I was going to bet my life on it. As I snuck out of the bathroom, I had the start of a plan. It involved her brother and me taking a bunch of risks. And going down in flames. Hell, for her I’d swallow fire if I had to.

  The rest of the night she stayed in the VIP room, and every time I looked she was facing a different way. But the memory of her lips on mine sealed my resolve.

  The next day, I sent a letter to Ember’s address at school when I went into town with Felon to buy more Tootsie Rolls. It was my hope that the mail would get forwarded to her brother somehow. I was holding my breath the whole time, but if Felon saw me he didn’t mention it.

  A week later, Volt and I escorted Ember to the pool again. It was evening and she was dressed in white. She wouldn’t look at me, but my heart was aching for her to do just that. I was so focused on trying to make a connection that I missed the obvious. Her dress was very telling, almost bridal. Her makeup was light, reminding me with a pang of our date at her college. I realized it had been weeks since I’d heard her laugh.

  That’s what I was thinking when Cosmo went to one knee in front of her and the small crowd that had been invited to witness the proposal. I was thinking that I’d do anything to hear her laugh again. That her laugh was a soul cleanser. It reminded me of how happy my sister made me. How loved my mother made me feel. Ember’s laugh was a part of my soul that clicked in such a way that I knew it was meant to be.

  And that was the part, that part with her laugh in it shattered when she told Cosmo she would marry him. Each crack was a gunshot. I couldn’t tell if it was my heart breaking or my soul dying. All I knew was my surprised, painful gasp made her look at me, concern written all over her face.

  I put my hand to my chest and leaned forward. I felt Volt smacking me on the back, and went with it, acting like I was choking. Instead, I was drowning in pain. And then I felt her hand on my forehead and saw her beautiful eyes filled with worry and fire.

  As soon as I stood, realizing that I was breaking our cover, risking Ember’s life with my reaction, I straightened my shoulders and patted my throat like I had actually choked. I couldn’t bring myself to say congratulations. I wasn’t that good of an actor.

  It turns out, you can still breathe after your heart breaks. You can still hear her pretend to be happy when your soul curls up and dies.

  Chapter 48

  Animal

  WE GOT WORD THAT Ember was now engaged to Cosmo Feybi. Nix was livid.

  “How far is she going to take this? When will she throw in the towel?” Nix paced the basement.

  “Well, according to Lock, he doesn’t think she knows that she can.” I shrugged my shoulders. Baby Girl had gotten herself into a big ol’ situation. “Or she’s in love with Feybi. And Lock has trouble dealing with moving on.”

  We’d gotten a letter from Lock, forwarded from Ember’s school.

  T spoke up, “Yeah, I think she’d ask for Lock’s removal if she really was in love with Cosmo. She wouldn’t have him hanging around. It puts him at risk. She’s not a different person, despite her actions at the college.”

  My lady was right, though she usually was. Ember’s turnaround was too much. Too convenient for the Feybis. Nix looked at his phone and slowly shook his head.

  “What’s going down, Sweetness?” I stood and walked closer.

  “Olin Feybi is requesting a meeting in a neutral spot.” Nix looked like he was going to throw the phone but thought better of it. “He left a message on the old server that Bat Feybi would use back in the day.”

  Nix could hack the living shit out of anything you could plug in. He used to do assassin jobs for whoever was paying top dollar. Oh, how things had changed.

  “He’ll get the meeting. I wonder if he’ll leave dead or alive.” Nix sounded genuinely interested and more than a little motivated.

  Chapter 49

  Ember

  THE ENGAGEMENT RING SPARKLED on my finger. It was a huge rock and the band was a little too big. It kept swinging around and dangling on the palm side of my hand.

  I twisted the ring upright again; Laura complimented it as she put the finishing touches on my hair. We were going for beachy waves today because Cosmo had mentioned we might take our engagement photos. Down by the river, there were a beach area and a gazebo. Felix had texted that he wasn’t feeling up to the tutoring session, so we had some extra time. I found myself staring out of my kitchen window at the sound of repetitive gunfire. It had made me nervous a few days ago, and I mentioned it to Cosmo and Felix. Cosmo had shared that his uncle, Felon, did target practice, but not to worry. He was an expert at it.

  Lock was at Felon’s house, so the gunfire could have been him working out his emotions. I heard his words all the time in my head, breaking my heart. And they’d broken my heart a little more when I said yes to Cosmo’s proposal. We were in Olin’s presence, so what the hell else was I supposed to say? Yes. I told Cosmo yes and plastered a fake smile on my face as Olin embraced me and whispered his foreboding congratulations into my ear.

  Cosmo seemed almost as unimpressed with the engagement as I was. I saw Felix and Cosmo fighting, and later, it was Lock and Volt who saw me back to the cottage. It had possibly been the most somber engagement party in history.

  The gunfire tapered off and I relaxed a little. It made me nervous. I watched through the window as a convoy of golf carts and A
TVs arrived at the front of the cottage. Olin jumped out of one, grandiose and jovial. As far as he was concerned, everything was coming up aces. Skinny unlocked the front door and let him in. There was no knocking where Olin Feybi was concerned.

  I walked from the window to stand near the kitchen table. Laura stopped putting away the makeup. Neither of us really knew what to do. The warden was in the building.

  Olin’s smile slid off his face like skin off a snake when he took in my appearance. “What’s this?”

  He gestured to Laura and then to my head. I put my hands on my hair. What could have made him so mad?

  Laura started to apologize immediately. “Sir, I’m sorry. So sorry. I know you said straight hair on Ember, but Cosmo has been liking the curls on Instagram and the beach photos…”

  Olin advanced on her and backhanded the rest of the words out of her mouth.

  It had been brutal, watching Laura get beaten before I knew her. But now I considered her a friend. I’d had plans to stay quiet. Stay in the background. But I reacted before I could reconsider. As he pulled his hand back again, I rushed him and shoved him away.

  I didn’t want to hurt Olin, but I’d caught him off guard. He stumbled backwards. Skinny caught him before he could hit the floor.

  Adrenaline coursed through my system, making me braver than common sense would dictate. “You’ll have to go through me. Don’t touch her again.”

  The silence in the cabin while Olin straightened his shirt felt like a death sentence. I felt Laura gently pull on the back of my dress. Maybe by way of thanks, because I might be about to die.

  “You horrible little thing.” His words dripped like venom into my veins. This man was so deadly. I put one hand behind my back and grabbed Laura’s hand. It was my way of trying to tell her I’d tried my best.

  Olin rolled his head on his neck before unfastening his belt buckle. I expected some violence. But fear rolled over me. There were levels of violence, and Olin was clearly ready to ratchet it up notches. He unthreaded his belt completely.

  “You’re going to be my daughter soon. So, I think you’re not above a sound spanking.” He folded the belt in half and snapped it. “Skinny. Hold that one.” He pointed at Laura with his pinky. “Ember, darling. Go put your hands on the back of the couch.”

  I hated my shaking hands and the tears in my eyes. I had no idea how bad this would get. I did as he asked. Men with guns surrounded us. No Lock. He was off duty. No Cosmo, though I wasn’t sure he’d step in. Olin flipped up my skirt. He ran his hand over my ass. The thong I was required to wear was as close to nothing as possible.

  “Cross your ankles.” Olin traced his fingers down my thighs. “And don’t fall. Or cry out. Or I’ll add ten more for each transgression.”

  My whole body was shaking. The anticipation was horrible. When he was done tracing patterns on my ass, I felt his hand on my lower back. The sound of the belt sliced through the air until it hit. The loud slap corresponded with my knees buckling. The pain made me see stars. The yelp echoed in my ears before I realized it was mine. I couldn’t take one more, nevermind ten more.

  “Well, that was both falling and crying out. So that’s twenty on top of the other twenty you were originally slated to get. You must like it, Ember.” Olin adjusted his hand so he was supporting my stomach and hips on his forearm to prevent me from moving away. The belt sliced through the air, and the pain was twice as much, because I knew it was coming and it hit almost the same spot again. I cried out against my will. Olin’s arm took my weight as I sagged. He leaned over me and whispered into my ear, “Oh, darling, that’s another ten. My men and I may have to take turns so my arm doesn’t get strained.”

  In the next moment I was tumbling to the floor. I rolled away. Cosmo was holding Olin by the throat.

  “Dad. What the fuck? You’re fucking spanking her? You perv.” Cosmo let go of his father’s neck and put his body between Olin and me.

  Olin took a step back. “She hit me.”

  “So what? You can’t take a hit from a girl?” Cosmo smelled like alcohol.

  I could see Olin’s feet. I heard the noise of the belt and flinched, but after peeking around Cosmo, I saw the old man was putting it back through his loopholes on his pants.

  “She gets a new makeup girl. This one isn’t cutting it.” Olin pointed at Laura. The redness on her cheek was a dead giveaway to the previous violence.

  Cosmo shrugged. “Fine. But if anyone spanks my fiancée, it’ll be me.”

  Olin seemed like he wanted to fight more, but he backed away from his son. Olin issued orders for Laura to be taken away.

  “Wait!” I scrambled to my feet but stayed behind Cosmo. “Where are you taking her?”

  Olin’s smile went up on one side. “I’m going to kill her.”

  Laura went white and limp. Skinny caught her and dragged her toward the door.

  “No! It’s not her fault. It was my fault. I asked for the curls. My decision.” I tried to step around Cosmo.

  He turned and grabbed me around the waist. His hushed voice stopped me briefly. “No. Not now. We won this battle.”

  I struggled still and Cosmo wrapped me in a bear hug.

  Skinny pulled Laura through the door; Olin followed and closed it behind them.

  I watched through the front window, transfixed and horrified, as Olin motioned angrily until Volt placed a gun in his hand.

  “No!” I yelled, but Cosmo adjusted his hold on me to put his hand over my mouth. The rest of my screams were muffled.

  Olin cocked the gun. Laura turned her head away from her fate and locked eyes with me. She started to mouth something, but didn’t get far. She was shot in the head. Skinny, who was standing off to the side, holding one of her arms, let go. She slipped below the windowpane. I screamed and sobbed.

  Cosmo whirled me around and pulled me against his chest. “Shh. He has a gun. Let’s just let it go. Let it go.”

  I sank to the floor and Cosmo went with me, comforting me. I don’t know how long we sat there with him rubbing my back. Eventually, I started to feel the pain of my belt beating. Eventually, I started to feel my heart pumping. Hear my breathing. See my lungs bring my chest up and down. When I pushed away from Cosmo, I could read the real sadness on his face.

  “It’s like this with him. Now you know why I hate him.”

  I nodded. I hated his father, too. Cosmo saved me. But why couldn’t he have saved Laura, too?

  Chapter 50

  Lock

  AT THE SOUND OF gunfire, Felon took off running. I jumped into his Jeep as well. Felon took the straightest path. I don’t think I took a breath the entire time. The crowd of people around Ember’s cottage was alarming. The fact that a woman-shaped person was being carried away put my heart in my throat. Felon grabbed my arm hard.

  “It’s not her. That’s not Ember.”

  I had to look at his face to understand what he meant. He kept the grip on my arm until he saw me come to the realization that he was right. The girl’s hair was different. She was taller. But she was definitely dead.

  I didn’t see Ember. Olin was getting into a golf cart. He didn’t spare a glance in our direction. Business was completed here. I ran to the door of the cottage. Ember was on the floor in Cosmo’s arms.

  Relief surged through me. It actually outweighed the jealousy I was feeling. And that was saying something. Felon grabbed my shoulder and pulled. He wouldn’t talk to me now. Not in front of anyone else.

  I got what he was saying. I needed to keep quiet about my connection to Ember. Hell, I hadn’t even said as much to Felon, but he was observant. He motioned for me to stay outside. I had to rock on my heels but managed it.

  There was blood on the flagstone outside. A lot. It reminded me of Dice dying in front of me. The thought that it could have been Ember turned my stomach. The knowledge that it was someone else made me turn and puke into the bushes that rimmed the edge of the cottage. I stood back up as Volt brought a bucket, the smell of bleach wa
fting from it. The cleanup. That’s the way it was in this new life. A beautiful girl was murdered and everyone seemed to know their chores.

  I wasn’t going to get used to this. I hoped I’d never march through a day where bleaching blood from stone was what I did before lunch.

  Who was I kidding? I wasn’t going to survive that long.

  Chapter 51

  Animal

  NIX WAITED UNDER THE bridge for news on Ember. He was prepared to offer his services. He was prepared to threaten Olin Feybi within an inch of his life. But we weren’t sure how it was going to go. When Olin arrived wearing his suit jacket like a cape, I had a bad feeling. He fed Nix the whole bullshit line that Ember was happy. That she wanted to be with this sleaze bucket son.

  We believed differently. Olin acted hurt when Nix ran through the options.

  “Honestly, I’m here to send out the wedding invites. These two kids can’t wait. They’re having the ceremony in the backyard. So wonderful, the young love of it all.”

  “Ember wants me to come?” Nix cracked his knuckles, giving Olin an impassive glare.

  “Of course. Well, she might not want you to come right this second, but we both know that down the line she’ll want to have you in the picture. Let’s do it for Ember’s future.”

  “I killed your half-brother. Why is it okay now to invite me onto your property?” Nix rocked back on his heels. T piped in through my earpiece that more Feybi men were on their way. Almost like the conversation that we were having was a setup for something else.

  A cold look came over Olin’s face. “Quite a thing. The way Bat died. You infested our own family, gained his trust, and killed him. You’d think that someone might want revenge for something like that.”

  Nix tilted his head. Murder cloaked his eyes. He was perfectly willing to go down in flames right this second. I’d seen this look before. More often when we were younger, but still. It was a problem.

  I stepped forward, hands out, ready to mend the situation if I had to. We needed Ember out of this deal. Olin saw me coming at him.