Page 10

I pull in a breath. “Cole, you can’t be serious. Michael Maddox?”

“He’s the key to everything. I get him, I save a hell of a lot of lives. He’s developed a reputation for ratting others in, and he knows a hell of a lot. He’s the head of the snake, Sun.” I know that. Everyone does. Michael holds so much power over so many people that he’s a ticking time bomb. I may not be involved in this twisted side of the world, but growing up how we did, you hear things.

Cole returns to his suitcase, pulling off his shirt and fully revealing a body I don’t recognize. Scars and tattoos cover skin I once kissed and caressed until he fell asleep in my arms. His snakes are one of many other serpents twisting over and through carefully inked scenes of cabins settled amongst snowy mountains and timepieces. Feathers tip-toe down his spine and when he turns, they continue across scarred ribs as if floating. It’s intricate, stunning work, but it makes me feel more removed from him than ever. “Now I’ve told you, you tell me.”

I drag my attention from his body, focusing on removing the heels Darcy gave to me. “I have more questions.”

He lets out a low, impatient growl. “We don’t have time, Sunday. Tell me how you ended up here.”

Looking down at my hands, I lace my fingers together, squeezing until my skin whitens. The moment I say these words, Cole will fucking erupt.

“I visited my dad a few days ago because I hadn’t heard from him, and Felton Maddox was in our house. Dad borrowed money without asking⁠—”

“He stole from Felton?”

I nod slowly. “They’d beaten him half to death. I said I would work off what he owed. I’ve done it before, so⁠—”

“You’ve—” Cole pauses, taking a slow, steadying breath and pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’ve worked for them before?”

I chew my lip. “Once or twice.”

“What the fuck kind of trouble has your dad got himself into?”

“A lot. But Felton said if I came here, did some work, kept the guests smiling and happy then that would be it. I can handle a crappy weekend with a bunch of creeps flirting with me if it means my dad lives.”

His expression is stone-like. “He’d live to get into more debt, Sun.”

“And what was my other option? Let them kill him?”

“You should never have been in that position.”

“Well, I was, and I made a choice. You don’t get to judge how I fix my father’s mistakes.” I storm into the bathroom, switching on the faucet and glaring at the stream of water. Cole follows, his glare hot on my skin, but I focus on washing my face, foaming up the hand soap and scrubbing at the heavy make-up Darcy applied.

“This is literally your dad’s MO,” Cole says from the doorway. “Fuck up and let everyone else deal with the mess. He’s an asshole and he always has been.”

Snatching a hand towel, I dry my face. “Is that why you did what you did?”

Tension crackles, years of unsaid words adding to an already dangerous level of electricity between us. “I was going through a lot.”

“So you took it out on my father’s face?” I challenge. “Try to imagine what that was like for me, Cole. You leave me, I go home, and you’d beaten the shit out of my dad when all he did was try to help. He offered to take you in! You chose to leave; you threw his kindness back in his face.”

“My parents were dead, Sunday.”

“That wasn’t his fault!” I cry out, and he falls silent. I toss the towel into the sink. “He may have fucked up, but he was also the only one who didn’t leave me. Remember which column you fall into before you judge.”

Cole is clearly warring between verbally kicking my ass and accepting that he’s no better than my dad, especially now. Instead, he makes the smart choice and says nothing.

“So, let me do what I came here to do,” I say, wetting a cloth and rubbing it over my arms to remove the body glitter that Darcy insisted was ‘the bomb’. “I keep you happy for the weekend, you do whatever you have to do, I go home on Sunday.”

“Absolutely fucking not. I’m getting you out of here.”

I gape at him, my heart rate ramping up. “You can’t. My dad still owes them. If I leave, they’ll kill him.”

He steps close, searching my face. “If you stay, they could kill you.”

“I’ll be fine, Cole. I’ve done this before.”

“No, you haven’t,” he whispers tightly. “This isn’t any ordinary weekend. I’m at this meeting because they trust me. This isn’t just to swap contacts, Sunday. This is them accepting me into a group that I can never leave alive.”