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For tonight.
“Just like I fucking told you before, this could be over for her if she just gives us her name. If she weren’t a stubborn bitch, she wouldn’t be bleeding right now.”
“And it’s obvious that she’s not going to.” He pushes me aside and moves toward her again, only for me to pull him back once again. “We’re out of time anyway.”
Tristan’s eyes darts to the clock and a growl rumbles in his chest. “Then we’ll pay for more time.”
“No. It’s not going to make a difference. If she didn’t crack in two hours, more time isn’t going to change that,” I state firmly.
“Do you not care about what fucking happens to us if this bitch runs her mouth? If she tries to blackmail us? Do you realize what we’ll lose?!” he screams in my face.
“And we’ll deal with that as it comes. This is becoming unproductive.”
I keep my voice even. When it comes to dealing with my brother’s anger, matching his energy only escalates the situation. One of us has to be calm, and that’s usually me in our arguments.
The muscle in his jaw tenses as well as his hands tightening into fists at his sides. I’m sure it’s taking everything in him not to punch me, but he thinks better of it. He doesn’t say another word as he storms away. The room fills with tension as he cleans himself up, pulls his clothes back on, and exits the room.
My shoulders sag a bit when the door slams behind me, and I turn my attention back to the woman on the bed.
She’s a bloody, bruised mess, her fragile form trembling in fear. I’m not even sure what to say to her. There’s nothing I can say or much I can do that’ll take back everything that has been done to her over the last two hours. Considering how we still didn’t get any information, none of it seems worth it.
I move toward her, guilt swirling in my chest when she flinches away from me as I reach for her. Her soft cries fill my head as I remove the leather straps from her wrists. My fingertips brush over the red, angry skin from where the cuffs cut into her flesh, and she whimpers in response. I don’t bother saying much to her, as there isn’t anything I can say that’ll be helpful. She allows me to clean her up at least.
“I can walk you to your car,” I offer her as she gingerly pulls her dress back on. She doesn’t say anything to me as she gets dressed. Her movements are stiff, her face twisting in pain with each step she takes. I try to offer her my arm to give her a little support, but she pulls away from me. Not that I blame her. Iwouldn’t want help from the guy who contributed to my pain, either.
When we reach the outside of the club, she moves in the opposite direction of the parking lot. I watch her with a frown.
“I can walk you to your car or help you?—”
“I don’t have a car,” she mumbles. “I took the bus here.”
I glance at the visible bruises that’ll be on display. If she steps on a bus looking like that, it’s only a matter of time before the cops get involved. I shove my hands in my pockets.
“I don’t think it’ll be comfortable riding on a bumpy bus after everything that’s just happened.” I nod toward the parking lot. “I don’t mind giving you a lift.”
“Why give a ride to someone you hate?” Ice and malice fill her tone as she stares at me accusingly.
“Who said anything about hating?”
“You don’tfucksomeone like that if you don’t hate them.” She wraps her arms around herself. “I didn’t do anything to you guys. I gave you your two hours, so I just want you to leave me alone.”
She turns to walk away, but I know I can’t let her go out around other people looking like that. I gently grab her arm with enough pressure to keep her from running, but not enough to hurt her. She glares at me, but she at least doesn’t pull away.
“Please,” I say and give her what I hope is an inviting smile. “It’s the least I can do after all of…that.”
She stares at me for a long moment as she bites the inside of her cheek. “Fine,” she agrees reluctantly.
She follows me back to my car and looks around cautiously, as if she’s looking for Tristan to pop out from the shadows. Even I’m surprised not to find him anywhere. I pull out my phone to call him, only to find a text from him.
Tristan: Taking an Uber to give me time to cool off. Don’t wait for me.
I sigh inwardlyand unlock the car door. Considering that we arrived in his car, it’s strange that he’d take an Uber instead of making me take one, but I guess it works out. Kitten gets into the passenger seat, sitting as far away as she can. She murmurs her address to me and then goes silent, not saying anything for the duration of the trip.
By the time we get to her place, the earlier guilt I felt comes back with a vengeance. At least I now know why she sold her virginity for money. The apartment complex is run-down and doesn’t look like a safe place for someone like her to live alone in. It’s a miracle that the place isn’t condemned with its broken windows, sagging foundation, and the cracked sidewalk leading to the place. I frown at the scene in front of me. Tristan had said that desperate people would do anything and now I see what she’d willingly risk her life for.
She opens the car door, which pulls my attention away from the apartment complex. I quickly get out of the car and help her out, only for her to jerk away from me. I put my hands in my pockets, more so to remind myself not to try to help her since she doesn’t want to be touched. My head stays on a swivel as we make our way inside the building. The inside is even worse than the outside. There’s no way that this building could pass inspection. How the fuck can she stand to live here?
The stairs leading to the upper levels appear to be on their last legs, trembling anytime someone uses them. I look up to see the patchy work on the roof and then notice the buckets scattered across the floor, probably to catch whatever leaks from the ceiling. I shake my head. This is fucking sad.
