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I shook my head, feeling the weight of responsibility on my shoulders. “I’ve gotta stay put, collaborate with Fury and Gavin to ensure that bastard Arthur Dalton doesn’t harm another soul.”
“Why is that your problem?” Vanessa whirled to face me, her eyes blazing with a mixture of anger and concern. “Why should you be the one to deal with this shit? Aren’t your boss and Fury able to handle this crap? Let them and the damn cops sort it out. I know you’re devoted to your job and your work buddies, but for Christ’s sake, Gavin doesn’t pay you enough to risk your life.”
“I have to do this,” I insisted, my voice firm despite the knot in my stomach. “I know it’s hard to comprehend.”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “If you get so much as a scratch doing this bullshit, I swear to God I’ll beat their asses to a pulp,” she warned. “You make damn sure they know that, you hear me?”
“I’ll pass along the message,” I promised, feeling a rush of affection for her fierce protectiveness. My phone buzzed, interrupting the moment. I glanced at the screen. “Are you all set? The car’s arrived.”
“Jesus, I wish you’d at least stay at Fury’s place,” Vanessa grumbled, hefting her suitcase with a resigned sigh that spoke volumes about her frustration.
“I’ll be fine, babe,” I assured her as we trudged down to the lobby, my heart clenching at the worry etched across her beautiful face.
I continued to believe that when I said goodbye to her and made my way back upstairs. I still believed it when I stretched out on the couch to catch a couple hours of sleep before work.
When someone's banging at my door jerked me out of sleep, I was disoriented enough to think Fury was here to take me to work. Then I saw the time and realized I’d only been asleep for about an hour. Confused, I sat up and made a few steps toward the door before the person on the other side shouted my name.
It was like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over my head. Instant wakefulness, ice in my veins, and fear so sharp and bright it made it hard to breathe.
“Sienna, answer your damn door! I know you’re in there, bitch! Open up!”
Holy shit. It was Ralf.
I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut and pretend this was just some fucked-up nightmare, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the door, utterly terrified that he would find a way to break in. That he’d do to me what he’d done to Lulu, or something even more horrific.
“Sienna!” Ralf roared, his voice dripping with menace. “Open this motherfucking door before I kick it in, you sorry-ass bitch!”
Then I heard something worse.
“Excuse me, young man.” It was Mrs. Goldstein, my elderly neighbor across the hall. “If you can’t keep a civil tongue in your head, you need to leave.”
“Who the hell are you? I’ll beat your ancient ass, too. Don’t think I won’t.”
His threats against a woman who’d been nothing but kind to me got me moving. I would not put one more person in danger for knowing me.
So I opened the door a crack and came face-to-face with my former pimp for the first time since I’d told him I was leaving. In his mid-forties now, he hadn’t aged well. His thinning brown hair was worse now despite his obvious attempts to cover it up. His eyes were bloodshot, and the smell of cigarettes and weed clung to him. His athletic build, however, remained, which wasn’t good for me because when he slammed his shoulder into the door, I couldn’t stop it from flying open.
I stumbled backward, struggling to stay on my feet. I knew if I fell, it was all over. Standing, I could at least try to avoid any punches, but on the ground, he’d kick me, and I knew from personal experience how bad that could be.
“Where is she?” he demanded, advancing toward me.
“Where’s who, Ralf?” I played dumb, knowing he wouldn’t fall for it.
“Lulu, bitch.” He glared at me. “Is she hiding in one of those back rooms? Or are you two setting up your own place? Turning tricks without giving me a cut?”
“I don’t do that anymore,” I said. “You know that. I told you when I went to work for Gavin Manning that I wasn’t hooking anymore.”
“You gotta be doing something worthwhile to get a place like this,” he sneered. “You think you and Lulu could double up, maybe bring in even more? Or did your new ‘boss’ tell you to start recruiting? You are getting older. Things maybe not so high and tight anymore?”
“She’s not here, Ralf,” I said, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice.
“But you know where she is, right?”
He took two more steps toward me, and I moved back until my legs hit the couch.
Shit.
“I know she came to you,” he said. “I got eyes and ears everywhere.”
