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“I asked you a question.”
Pain shot up my leg as Roger kicked me under the table. I jerked forward, biting my tongue to keep the sound at bay.
Another bruise.Fuck, I don’t want to lie to Gin anymore.
I moved my legs. Determination battled the fear and anxiety that riddled my body. “This is it.”
I pulled out my wallet and grabbed every bill I had.This shouldn’t be so fucking hard.Years of being under his thumb came flashing before me, and sweat sliced down my spine. It was cool in the restaurant, but it felt like the sun was beating down on the back of my neck.
Roger snatched the money from my hand, his lip twisting into a frown as he counted it. “There is no way this is enough. You will have to give me more.”
No, no, no.I couldn’t be tied to him any longer. “That’s not—”
“What the fuck is happening?” Giancarlo’s deep voice echoed through my body, sending a new kind of fear pulsing through me. I turned to stare up into his furious dark brown eyes.
Why is he here?This couldn’t be happening. This had to be a nightmare.
“Gin.”
I glared from him to his father and back again. Putting a tracking app on his new phone had been a better idea than I thought. All those bruises, the broken phone, the disappearances; they were all to meet his scumbag of a father. Seeing him hand money over to the man I wanted to stick into a shallow, unmarked grave made every inch of my skin ignite. My blood boiled as I stared back at Ash.
His eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open as if he didn’t know what to say. Those eyes that I had fucking fallen for darted around, a trapped animal in a goddamn cage about to be taken to slaughter. When he didn’t say anything else, I leaned forward, my hand on his table as I closed the space between us.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked him. “Huh?”
Ash swallowed hard. “It’s not what it looks like.”
My hand slammed onto the table. A glass of water spilled, but no one moved. Ash’s tongue darted out, running over his bottom lip as he stared up at me. I hadn’t seen him this scared of me since the night I brought him home. For the first time, I didn’t give a damn.
“Open your fucking mouth and speak,” I growled. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re feeding your father money after you told me you were going shopping. So I’m going to ask one more fucking time. What is this?”
“You’re making a scene,” Roger muttered.
I turned and shoved a finger in his face. “One more word, just one, and I’ll slam your face into this table until your head cracks open.”
The man shoved back in his seat, but something on my face must have deterred him from speaking. He kept his fucking mouth shut, his eyes darting around like the slimy piece of shit he was. My head whipped back in Ash’s direction. I grabbed his chin, my fingers squeezing his cheeks.
“Speak!”
“Let's go home,” Ash said, shaking his head. “Come on. I’ll tell you everything there.”
“You’ll tell me right goddamn now,” I snapped.
“This is ridiculous,” Roger huffed.
I reacted without thinking. My hand reached out, fingers digging into his thin locks before I smashed his face against the table. One, two, three times. Every bang that echoed through the restaurant soothed my soul. When he sat up, he wavered, his eyes glazed as blood rushed down his face.
“Stop! Giancarlo, stop it,” Ash begged. He jumped up, grabbing my arm. “We better go. Everyone’s looking. Seriously.” He shook my arm hard until I looked at him. “Let’s go home. You’re not supposed to get in trouble, remember?”
I yanked my arm out of his grasp as a waitress rushed over to check on Roger. Hitting the cool air outside didn’t take any of the heat from my body. I stormed to my car, climbing in before I slammed the door so hard the glass rattled. Ash hurriedly climbed in. I had half a mind to tell him to get out, to fuck off, but I didn’t. I drove.
“Don’t be angry,” Ash whispered. “I didn’t want you to find out like this.”
“Find out what?” I snapped as I turned to glare at him. “What exactly were you doing with him? Giving him money? Giving him information? Was that the grand plan all along? Make me look like a fucking idiot while you help that asshole!”
“No, it wasn’t like that. Slow down,” he said.
“Fuck you!”
