If anyone dared to talk like that about me to Nico, he’d put a bullet in their head.The thought comes out of nowhere, and I freeze on the stairs as soon as I think it.
Because out of all the possible reactions I can have to that thought, I sure as shit didn’t expect a surge of savage satisfaction running down my spine at the thought of Nico killing for me.
I look at the photo again at Mom’s smile. If I put my hand up to cover the bottom half of her face, she might as well be crying.
“Mom?” I call out again, a little louder this time.
She still doesn’t answer.
The sense of wrongness is suffocating now.This is a mistake,the little voice in my head whispers.Get out. Get out now!
I’m halfway down the stairs when I see the front door opening, and a man stepping inside.
It’s a cop.
He fills the doorway in full uniform, badge glinting in the dark. His thumbs are looped casually through his belt. For a second, I think that it’s Frank, having gotten fat over the years.
But the moment he starts to walk, I know that it’s not.
He scans the darkened interior slowly, and then stops when he catches sight of me frozen on the steps. But he doesn’t look surprised at all when he sees me.
Instead, a smile breaks out across his face, and I can see his white teeth in the dark.
"Well, well, well." His voice is slow and pleased. "Look who’s finally home."
"Where's my Mom?" I ask from atop the stairs as he starts walking towards me. "Who are you?"
"Your mom?" He shuts the door behind him without looking at it, and then he locks the door for good measure. "Mommy’s not here, sweetheart."
The world starts spinning beneath my feet. "Where is she?"
"Captain said you’d come running if mommy sent the right message." He steps calmly towards me and I back up with every step he takes. "The boys called bullshit on it. Even placed bets on whether you’d come back."
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
His smile widens and he licks his worm-like lips. “Turns out the old man did know you after all.”
It wasn't her! It was never her. It was bait, and I was stupid enough to swallow it. I fucking flew across an ocean to a house full of monsters because I was too emotional and stupid to stop andthink!
"Stay away from me.” I keep backing up the stairs, but I’m starting to run out of room.
The cop smiles one last time, and suddenly bolts up the stairs with terrifying speed. A meaty hand slams me back against the wall hard enough to knock the breath clean out of my lungs.
He pins me there with one forearm across my collarbone and his face swims into full clarity from the streetlight outside. He licks his lips again.
"Captain said you were pretty," he murmurs, and his breath is hot and sour against my cheek. “Bastard was underselling it.”
With a practiced motion, he flips me until my face is pressed against the wall. His free hand rakes down my side, and I struggle uselessly under his weight.
"He ordered me to bring you back alive." He presses his body against me and squeezes my ass painfully. "He didn’t say shit about bringing you back unused, and I don’t do sloppy seconds.”
I open my mouth to scream and suddenly, the unmistakable sound of a door being kicked open fills the air. The weight on my back pulls away slightly.
“What the fu–”
The cop never finishes his sentence when a roar of thunder fills the tiny space. The world suddenly detonates in a spray of hot red. Something warm hits my cheek. The forearm pinning me goes slack, and I turn just in time to see my would-be rapist’s body crumple to the floor.
Blood pours out of a hole in his head and I stand there with my back against the wall while my ears are ringing. My mind flat-out refuses to make sense of what the fuck just happened.
