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“Fucking traitor.” Dino shakes, jerking his chains. “You weren’t supposed to make it out of the Velvet Belles that night. Sammy was supposed to bring you to Please. Unfortunately, he had a conscience. He made a mess that we had to clean up before we could come find you.”
“I tried to open it, but it’s encrypted.” Delilah moves to me, one hand pressing against my chest. “If it was trouble, I didn’t want to bring it to you.”
I pull her against me, pressing my lips to her hair. “Goddamnit, Delilah.” I want to simultaneously kiss her and kill her for being so stubborn. For putting herself in danger. But this isn’t a conversation to have now.
Warren looks up at Dino’s face. “What’s on the drive?”
“Things.”
“Enlighten us, asshole.” River storms toward him. The buzz of nerves fills the barn.
“Things that Please wants to do to you girls.” Dino’s tone turns dark. “All his girls. They don’t know what’s coming. But you’ll know soon, won’t you, Lady?”
Delilah pales. Rage rattles inside of me as the man tries to get into her head.
Warren steps in front of me, holding out a hand like he knows how close I am to snapping.
But it’s Delilah who moves. I make a grab for her, but she shoves me away, charging toward Dino.
“Did you take Melly? My friend from the club. Did you take her?” Delilah’s lip trembles, but she stares the man down.
Brave. She’s a force of a woman unlike any I’ve ever known. I keep my hard gaze on them, my fists clenched. Even her being within ten feet of the man who tried to abduct her has me on edge.
“Tell me!” she shouts.
“Belle gave her up.”
“Belle.” Delilah’s eyes grow wide. She’s rattled, stunned.
“She’s on Please’s payroll.”
“No.” A hand to her mouth, a tear slowly slips down Delilah’s cheek. The pain, the betrayal in her voice cuts me.
Dino wets his lips. “Belle gave Please the pick of any girl he wanted from her club. It made things easier than hunting on the streets.”
“Hunting?” River’s eyes move to mine. My blood chills.
The light from the sunset creeps through the rafters and beneath the door. The barn takes on an eerie, fiery tone.
“You’re fucked, sweetheart. When Please gets his hands on you, you’re gonna wish you were dead.” Dino’s smile is slimy as his gaze drifts over Delilah. “You know why they call him Please, don’t you? Because it’s the last word he hears when you’re begging him to stop.”
Delilah gasps.
Gasoline replaces my blood. I stalk forward, wrath weaving its way beneath my skin.
Silence descends as Delilah takes my bicep. “What are you doing?”
“Getting answers.” I wrap my arms around her, and press a kiss to the crown of her golden head. “It’ll be okay, darlin’.”
“I don’t care what you do to him,” she says, her voice sad, but strong.
I let her go and move toward Dino. “Wrong fucking answer.” I lower my voice to a harsh whisper. “You thought you’d come to my town, take my girl, and get away with it?”
I could have lost her today.
The realization roars in me, tears at me with fangs and claws.
From the corner of the room, I grab a metal chain that lies over a box of Christmas ornaments. Dino’s eyes widen. I swing it in an upward arc and snap it toward his kneecap. It shatters.
