Page 17 of Pain

He had far too good a heart for that.

Of course thinking that was laughable. I didn’t know anything about Knight except what I’d heard through the grapevine. I’d never met the man before today, and I definitely didn’t know how he ran his club or what he felt for his people.

Except that somehow, some way, I thought I did. I’d looked up at him today from the sidewalk, into clear, worried eyes, and known exactly what he was.

A knight in shining armor. Someone who would protect me at all costs, even when he shouldn’t. And though I didn’t actually know him and couldn’t truly say that I had any evidence to think he’d do one thing or another...

Something deep inside me, in some dark, aching place that I’d never explored before, told me that I knew exactly who he was.

And that he’d protect me at all costs, now that I’d told him I wanted to join his side of the war.

I’d never been able to depend on Devil that way. He’d beat the snot out of me one night and then wake up the next morning and act like nothing had happened. Or worse, cry and beg me to kill him, saying that he didn’t deserve me but that he did deserve to die. He’d put me in a position where I was actively trying to make him feel better, the abused comforting the abuser, and in doing so, forgiving everything he’d done.

Until he did it again.

Which he felt he had a right to do, because I always forgave him. Always welcomed him back.

“Not this time,” I hissed into the blackness. “Not this time.”

This time, I’d gotten out. I’d taken what he did to me and stored it up, a ball of flame and anger in my belly, and I’d used it the moment I had a chance. I took the risk and jumped out of that truck and now I was far away from him, and safe.

For the moment.

Oh, I wasn’t stupid. I knew Devil would kill me if he ever got me back. He’d torture me and remind me again and again how much I’d betrayed him. He’d accuse me of wanting other people more than I wanted him. Maybe even say I’d been trying to kill him.

And this time, he’d be right. I’d deny it, of course, but he’d be right. I had betrayed him.

I’d joined the other side.

Which meant that now I was relying on them to protect me from the man who’d once called me his own. True, I’d been trained to believe that Knight and his crew were nothing more than thieves and liars, but everything I’d seen so far told me that was wrong. They’d taken me in and patched me up when they didn’t have to. Given me dinner and a warm place to sleep.

They hadn’t laid a hand on me except to try to help. They hadn’t asked for a single thing except what I wanted.

Maybe this side of the line was where I’d finally find people I could call friends.

I flipped the phone over, wondering what time it was, but got sidetracked by the notifications. Text after text after text. Phone calls. Voicemails. Messages through social media.

Threats, threats, and more threats.

And all of them from Devil.

Oh, hell. He already knew I was missing. The prospect must have told him exactly what had happened.

And he knew I had my phone.

I sat all the way up and fumbled with it, looking for the power button and almost dropping the device in the process. I was so terrified that my fingers were numb, shaking. Incapable of doing anything.

Because it had just occurred to me that Devil might have put a tracker on the phone. I almost never had it, but he always did. It would have been so easy to install a tracker, just in case I took it with me when I ran.

I’d run. And I’d brought the phone with me... right to Knight’s headquarters.

I finally found the power button and jammed my finger down on it, holding my breath until the lights of the phone died away, signifying that it was off.

Then I put the phone to the side, heaving a breath in and trying to calm the shaking in my hands. I hoped the phone hadn’t been on long enough to trigger any alerts to Devil. I hoped he wasn’t smart enough to have installed something that would have tracked the phone regardless of whether it was on or not.

I hoped he hadn’t been able to see that I’d woken it up.

I wondered briefly if I should tell Knight or any of his people what I’d done—what I suspected—but then I realized how insane that sounded. They hadn’t experienced Devil like I had, and if they were lucky, they’d never experienced anyone as obsessive as he was.