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They share a look between the two of them before Tristan smirks at me. “You know what? That’s a good idea. And when they get here, maybe you can explain why you’re essentially committing fuckingfraudby having your apartment in the name of a dead woman.” My blood runs cold at his words as I watch him pull out his phone. “So who’s calling? Me or you?”
I nervously shuffle my weight from foot to foot. Everything in me wants to end this nightmare with them and just tell them the truth, but I know the truth will only make matters worse. I don’t even know why they’re here or how they know that I put my apartment in their mother’s name. Do they think I’m going to tell people they’ve been at the club or something? The way they’re essentially hunting me makes no sense.
What are they going to do once they know who I am? Kill me?
No matter what they plan to do with the information, I can’t tell them. I want to tell them the truth if it means that they’ll leave me alone quicker. I want to tell them who I really am and why I chose a fake name, but I don’t want them to see just how far I’ve fallen from grace. I don’t want to taint the image of me they remember from all those years ago, the girl I wish I still was…
“That’s what I thought.” Tristan tucks his phone in his pocket and folds his arms across his chest. “Now, which do youwant to tell us first? Your name or the reason you have your apartment in a name that isn’t yours?”
“Why does it matter to you?” I huff. “Why are you guys still bothering me? You got your two hours?—”
“I’m the one asking the questions,” he grinds out. Talon puts a hand on his chest and frowns.
“Will you relax?” he hisses. “You’ve tried the ‘scary, bad guy’ shtick already, and you see what good that did.” Talon’s concerned eyes fall on my pajama pants. “How long has that been going on?”
“What are you…” My sentence trails off when I lower my gaze and notice the blood dripping along my arm and down my clothes.
“If you’re still bleeding, you probably need stitches,” Talon continues. “We should get you to a hospital.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you psychotic fucks,” I snap. “The only thing I want is for the two of you to get out of my apartment.”
“If you don’t get to a hospital, you can slowly bleed out or be at risk of an infection.” Talon’s frown deepens as he watches me. “Now isn’t the time to be difficult.”
“Why the hell do you even care? It’s your fault I’m bleeding to begin with.”
“Boo fucking hoo,” Tristan drawls and rolls his eyes.
Talon gives him a pointed look before concentrating on me. “Look, fight with us later, but we need to get you help.” When I don’t say anything, he sighs deeply. “We’ll leave you alone if you let us do this.”
“What?” Tristan’s hard gaze snaps to his brother, but Talon never takes his eyes off of me.
I stare at him for a long moment. If doing this one thing will get them to finally leave me alone without me having to give them more information, then I’m willing to do that.
“Fine,” I agree with a sigh. “Let’s go then.”
CLEO
My nerves start to get the best of me once we get to the hospital. The entire ride here, I kept thinking of a way to ditch them, as I know the hospital is going to want to know my real name. That’s probably the only reason why Tristan is fine with bringing me here to begin with, thinking that he’s going to get my name.
I’d rather die than let that happen.
The harsh fluorescent lights in the hospital make my bruises look even worse than I thought they did, the purplish-green marks like beacons to alert everyone to the abuse I’ve suffered today. The guys fussed back and forth about the story I was to tell the hospital staff so they wouldn’t get in trouble, but I can’t even focus on anything they’re saying to me. I have my own stuff to worry about.
The three of us approach the check-in desk, the woman behind it giving us a smile until her eyes settle on me. “Oh my goodness,” she says with a small gasp. I can only imagine how horrible I look. After crying for hours and all the trauma I’ve been through today, I’m sure I look as bad as I feel. The woman gives the guys accusing glances.
“Our friend needs to see a doctor,” Talon says. The woman disregards him and focuses on me.
“Are you in danger, ma’am?” she asks. I have the thought to tell her that I am just so I can get away from Tristan and Talon, but that’ll be pointless. They know where I live. The way they broke into my house tonight is the same way they can do it again. And there’s no telling what’ll happen if I get them in actual trouble.
I shake my head and try not to look uncomfortable. “I…think I need to see a doctor.”
“Can I get your name and date of birth, ma’am?” the woman says, her voice soft.
“I…don’t remember,” I lie.
“Come on. I’m sure you remember your name,” Tristan says from behind me, his voice flat.
“A lot of things are fuzzy in my head right now,” I say, not bothering to look back at him.
