by Ella Miles
I pull out the picture and examine it closely. This has to be Nicolo.
I study the picture, trying to feel anything, any memories, good or bad, but I get nothing. The picture isn’t posed, taken without his consent or knowledge as he walks down the street. He’s turning his head, looking right at the camera just in time for this picture to be taken.
He has short dark hair, an angry scowl, and he’s wearing a dark suit. The camera’s old technology reddened his eyes in the picture, so I have no idea if they are the grey eyes that have been haunting me or not.
Dammit.
I let the photo drop.
There are no other clues for me to find in this bedroom. As the first round of the competition grows closer, I need information and allies if I want to survive and win.
I walk in my pajama pants to my bedroom door and press an ear to the door. I hear Vincent’s cronies talking outside. Two guards guard my door day and night. I’m not sure if they are to keep me in or to keep others out.
But I have to try something. I have to know if Beckett and the others are still on my side, or if I’m truly alone in this game.
I open the door, and both men’s eyes immediately drop to my breasts. The tank I’m wearing is thin, and I’m sure my nipples are visible beneath the fabric.
“I’m sure Vincent would be thrilled to know that his cronies are checking out his daughter.”
I push my breasts out further, and their eyes snap up. “What can we do for you, Rialta?”
“I’d like to see my friend Lucy. If I remember correctly, she works this afternoon at the Red June Cafe.”
“Of course. We’ll be ready to go when you are.”
I shut the door in complete shock. I’m truly not a prisoner here. They are here to keep me safe and alive.
I remember my life before. I was a college student, undeclared major, working at a local restaurant. I lived in a small apartment with Lucy. Dario and Leone watched from afar but were always watching.
Where were they that night that I was attacked? Why didn’t they stop him? Would Odette still be alive if they did?
I shower and get dressed as I ponder all those thoughts. I could ask them, but I’m not sure they’d answer. And I don’t want them to know what I’m up to. They work for Vincent, not me.
But it’s not their loyalty I care about. Beckett, Caius, Gage, Hayes, and Lennox—are we still on the same side?
They drive me to the cafe without questioning me but stop me before I can get out.
“Here, wear this,” Leone says, holding something shiny out to me.
I study it cautiously, like it’s going to bite me. It’s a sparkly bracelet with hundreds of diamonds.
“No thanks, it doesn’t really go with my attire.” I’m dressed casually in skinny jeans, a maroon v-neck, and shoes I can run in. I blow-dried my hair in long waves and put on only minimal makeup.
“If you want to get out of this car, you’ll put it on,” he growls.
I relent, taking the bracelet from his calloused hand. I don’t have to ask why he wants me to wear it. It’s clear that it has a tracker in it.
I fasten it around my wrist loosely, staring at the ugly piece of jewelry, unsure of how it is going to fit into my plan.
“We’ll be watching the perimeter to keep you safe.”
“To keep me safe or to keep me from running?” I mumble under my breath as I climb out of the car.
“Safe—you can’t run from us,” Leone winks.
I roll my eyes before heading inside, not sure what I’m going to find, but hoping that Lucy isn’t upset that I haven’t called her or worked any of my shifts.
“Well, look who came back from the dead,” Lucy says as soon as I enter the small cafe.
Her blonde curls hang down just to her shoulders, her green eyes pierce me with a glare, and her hands are on her hips, just above where her apron sits.
I bite my lip. “I’m sorry I didn’t text or call, my life—”
She wraps me in a hug. “Shhh, you don’t have to explain.”
I melt into her hug, my shoulders slumping, and I exhale a deep breath. She’s my friend and I’m safe here, I realize as more memories flood back in my brain. I breathe in her bright, flowery scent.
“Frank, I’m taking my break,” Lucy says as she puts her hands on my shoulders, studying me closely like she knows I won’t tell her the entire truth of what I’ve been through. Not yet.
She leads me over to a secluded small table in the back corner. She pushes me into a seat.
“I’ll be right back.” And then she heads behind the cafe counter.
I purse my lips and blow out several slow breaths as I stare at the bracelet and out through the window. I don’t see my shadows, but they’re there. I turn my attention back to Lucy, who mumbles something to the guy she’s working with.
Frank—she said, but I don’t remember him. He must be new.
She comes back carrying two lattes and a piece of chocolate cake.
I raise my eyebrows as she sinks into the chair opposite of me.
She stabs a fork into the enormous piece of cake. “I thought we’d need this after you tell me what happened to your ass this last week.”
I take the second fork and take a bite. The fudge frosting combined with the moist chocolate cake is delicious. It melts in my mouth. I’m going to get a stomachache from this amount of sweets, but I don’t care.
Lucy lifts her latte to her mouth. “Your father?”
I nod, trying to remember how much I’ve told her in the past. How much does she know about this part of my life?
I look around at the quaint cafe as happy memories flood me, including us blaring music after we close the cafe for the night. We’d dance while we cleaned and closed up. We’d drink a bottle of wine together and eat this very same chocolate cake as we talked about the college guys we wanted to date. The ones she would go after, but I never would because I knew what I was risking—their lives.
“I’m guessing I’m fired after not showing up all week.”
“Nah, Ezra loves you. He doesn’t care that I’ve had to work the cafe on my own because you weren’t here.”
“Thank you”
Lucy shrugs. “It’s what best friends are for.”
I smile at that.
“Do you remember who came into the cafe that day? The man who chased me?”
She frowns. “No, I’m sorry. One minute you were here, the next you were gone.”
I mindlessly take another bite of cake.
“I called you in sick to your summer classes, but I doubt you’ll be able to catch up. I told you not to take summer classes anyway.”
I was taking an art class and a business class. I’m starting my junior year in the fall and still haven’t decided my major, probably because I never thought I’d make it this far. I thought I’d be dead or taken or married off to some cruel man.
“But what you really owe me for is walking Loki.”
I laugh just imagining tiny Lucy trying to wrangle Loki, my Great Dane. Well, actually, he’s her Great Dane. Lucy claims to hate dogs, but I know she feels safer with him there, even if he isn’t the best guard dog.
“Thank you, for everything.”
Lucy rolls her eyes. “Don’t get all soft on me now.”
I sip my latte. It’s like I have two different lives—this one as a normal college student and the other one full of dangerous men. As much as I want to sit here all day and catch up with Lucy, I can’t.
“Can I borrow your phone?” I ask.
She leans forward, narrowing her eyes at me.
“What?” I puzzle at her reaction.
“You lost your memories again, didn’t you?”
We stare back and forth at each other, while I try to decide if I should just be completely honest with her.
“Yes, how do you know?”
“Because you have half a dozen burner phones stashed here and another dozen at our apartment.”
; “Oh.” I grab my head. “I guess my memories are still fuzzier than I thought.”
“Tell me everything.”
So I do. I tell her about the blood, about Beckett and the guys, about Ares, Paxton. I tell her about Odette, about my father, about the damn game. It all spills out of me—every detail.
“Jesus, girl, you know how to attract drama.”
I smile tightly.
She reaches across the table and puts her hand on my wrist as I grip my coffee cup.
“What do you need me to do?”
“I can’t get you involved in this.”
She chuckles. “I’m already involved. This isn’t the first time you’ve been kidnapped or had your life threatened, hence the burner phones. I’ve helped you before; I’ll help you again.”
“But I don’t want to put you in danger.”
She shakes her head. “That’s why you made me take those self-defense classes and carry mace wherever I go. Besides, no one cares about me, even as bait to get to you. They’ve tried taking me before. It didn’t work out. They only want you.”
I frown, not liking any of it.
“Let me help you for selfish reasons. If you die or get married off, then there is no way I can afford rent. Plus, I don’t think Loki and I will both survive if you’re gone.”
I smile at that. Then I grab her hand with mine, and I roll my bracelet from my hand to hers.
She doesn’t question me. She really is used to this. I see the darkness we have experienced together in her eyes. I’ve been taken far longer than a week. I was gone a month once without a trace. She did everything she could to find me then.
“I’m going to the bathroom. I won’t let you help me,” I say, in case my bodyguards have audio. I squeeze her hand, realizing she’s the one Vincent threatened if I don’t do as he says. Her life is at risk. She’s the only person in my life I care about.
Lucy mouths, be careful.
I nod.
Then I walk toward the back of the kitchen, where I stashed my burner phones. I pocket one and exit through the back door. I don’t spot either bodyguard as I run through the alleyways behind the buildings.
Now, time to figure out how to put myself in danger. If only I could get kidnapped on demand.
4
Ri
I start walking as I try to figure out a plan. I’m making this all up as I go along, but I know I need allies. Lucy is one; now, to find out if the Retribution Kings are still others I can count on. I don’t know how to get in contact with them, though. I could hang around Caius’s place and wait for them to show up, but I don’t want to get them in trouble. Vincent’s men will be monitoring them all closely.
No, I need a plausible reason to run into them, something I could tell Vincent. Something he’d believe.
I need to get kidnapped.
I need to be in danger.
I need them to save me.
Ares is dead, although I could try heading back to the Phantom Brotherhood’s club. However, I doubt they would let me inside after what Vincent did to Ares.
I could try Paxton and Mayhem, but…my back stiffens just thinking about it. I won’t let that man touch me ever again.
I think of the grey-eyed man—the man haunting me. Now would be a great time for him to make an appearance. But as I keep wandering, no one attacks me. No van pulls up beside me to throw me inside. No danger approaches.
I stop suddenly, knowing I need a plan. Even though I passed the tracking device off to Lucy, it won’t take long for Dario and Leone to realize what I did. Vincent has unlimited resources. I don’t have much time before he finds me.
“Sorry,” a guy says as his backpack bumps into my shoulder.
I smile casually at him, and then I look around at where I’ve stopped. College students are weaving their way through large grassy areas as old buildings tower around them.
When I let myself wander, I found my way back here, to the life I’ve always wanted. A normal life where I could be a normal college student where my only fears were whether I was going to fail my calculus test, not who was going to kidnap me, or which asshole I was going to be forced into marrying.
Being here doesn’t help me get kidnapped, though. It doesn’t put my life in danger.
“Party at Cameron’s cabin tonight,” a guy shoves a flyer into my hands.
I start to crumple it up and throw it away when I decide to study it closer. Maybe I don’t need to get kidnapped by a monster; maybe just getting drunk and putting myself in danger is enough to see whose side Beckett and the rest of the Retribution Kings are on.
A bonfire warms the cool air near the lake. It’s windy out tonight even though it’s early summer; the summer heat and humidity hasn’t hit the city yet. In a few more weeks, a bonfire like this will feel sweltering. But for now, it lights the night sky and proves a treacherous obstacle for the drunk assholes to maneuver around.
I’ve been here for two hours, and no knight in shining armor has come to my rescue. Or no controlling hero with his crew of devils is more like it. Vincent’s men haven’t found me either. It looks like I might be on my own tonight.
I’ve barely drank, knowing I’ll need my wits about me if they do show up. But now that I know they aren’t, I decide to enjoy my night of wild freedom.
I grab two solo cups filled with beer and make my way to the crowd dancing in the firelight. I down the first cup and then sip the other while I dance. My hips sway, my arms raise over my head, and my eyes close as I let myself feel the music.
Warm bodies surround me, but I don’t open my eyes, not even when grabby hands slide over my hips and sway with me. I let myself be free. Vincent thinks he can control me with threats. He thinks he can prevent me from fucking every man in the city. I may have failed at getting Beckett or the Retribution Kings to come to me, but I can piss off Vincent by fucking a guy of my choice tonight in the woods.
Another pair of hands grip my waist from the front, and I feel a hard body press against mine.
I open my eyes to see a gorgeous man in front of me—hazel eyes, cropped brown hair, and a jawline that could cut glass. I’m entranced already, not to mention the muscles I feel beneath his clothes as he pushes up against me.
I reach back as I look up at the hard man behind me. His hair is shaggier, unkempt; tattoos peek out beneath his clothes, reminding me of too many guys I had hoped were my friends.
I let my eyes grow heavy with lust as I turn from one guy to the other. I don’t care which of these studs takes me to the woods and fucks me against a tree. I don’t care which one makes me forget the pain and anger building in my chest, begging for a release. I just need one, or both, of them to fuck me—now.
I drain the rest of my beer and lick my lips, looking from one to the other. The front guy’s mouth drops, and I’m pretty sure he’s drooling. The guy behind me brushes my hair off my neck and breathes against my bare skin. This is moving far too slow for my liking.
“I’m going into the woods, and one or both of you can follow me if you dare. But I expect to be fucked so hard that I won’t be able to walk straight tomorrow. If you aren’t up for the challenge, don’t follow me.”
I shove at the guy in front while whipping the guy behind me with my long hair. And then I strut toward the woods, letting my ass sway, knowing they’re staring.
I don’t stop on the edge of the campsite, where I can hear many other couples moaning just at the edge of darkness. No, I keep walking five minutes into the woods, wanting to get away from the crowd. I need to scream without fear of others hearing me.
The crunch of the leaves and sticks is my only indication that the guys are following me—both by the frequency of the sound.
I grin, biting my bottom lip. Sex is one of the only things I can control that is a big ‘fuck you’ to Vincent. It’s also incredibly fun.
I stop walking when I feel like I’ve gone far enough and turn to face my followers. I’m hoping my intoxication level will make up for a
ny lack of skills these guys have.
My eyes wide when I turn. “You brought some friends.” I keep my voice level and calm as I stare at six guys.
This isn’t what I signed up for. Two guys I can handle, six means giving up control completely. It means they can overpower me and do whatever they want to me. As much as I enjoyed fucking the four Retribution Kings at once, this is different. I don’t know these guys. I don’t trust them like I did Caius and his crew.
I fold my arms and stick out my hip, my eyes flickering on bored. “You don’t all get to fuck me. I invited these two. The rest of you, get lost.” I point to the two I want to fuck.
“Oh, come on, beautiful. You’re a wild thing. Don’t act like you don’t want us all.”
The guys all start taking steps toward me.
My heart thunders, and I try to clear the alcohol from my head, to think of a way out of this. I don’t want to be gang-raped by a bunch of rich college pricks that think they own the world. They are just as mad as the criminals I’ve been running from, but at least the gangs don’t try to pretend they are good like these college douchebags.
I take a step back, trying to keep my distance. I’m going to have to run and hope they are all as drunk as me and will give up the chase quickly.
A couple of guys smirk, others’ eyes darken as if hunting their prey. And others stare blankly, not giving away any emotions.
“Run, baby, we like to chase,” the guy closest to me says.
I run.
I can’t see where I’m going, and I should run toward the bonfire, toward people who could help me. But the boys are in the way, so I don’t have a choice but to run deeper into the dark woods.
I can’t run full out as the ground is uneven and full of sticks, broken logs, and stumps. In the dark, I can barely see more than a couple of feet in front of me.
I can hear the boys chasing behind, growing closer with each step.
