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“What’s up, kid?” Emmie answered on the third ring.
“Hey, you busy right now?”
“Not this very moment, no. I’ve got a few minutes I can kill. You okay?”
I put my pride aside and did the one thing I had hoped never to do. “I have a small issue. Can you help me out?”
Not ten minutes later, I was talking to a very apologetic CEO as he assured me everything I had ordered would be delivered later that night. “And I’ll oversee every order personally from here on out, Mr. Cutter,” the nervous man promised. “We appreciate your business, sir, and would hate to lose you as a client.”
I rolled my eyes but kept my voice professional. “Make sure the liquor is here on time next week, or I’m done with you. Understand?”
“Yes, sir. I can assure you you’ll have everything you ordered on time from here on out.”
After I got off the phone with the man, I texted Emmie to thank her for whatever she had done. I wasn’t about to ask questions because I was pretty sure she hadn’t used any normal methods to make the liquor distributor give me what I wanted. Emmie had friends in just as many low places as she did high ones.
A glance at the clock on my phone told me I was going to be late for the appointment if I didn’t leave now. Grabbing my keys, I called a goodbye to Barb to let her know I was going and left through my private exit. As I pulled out into traffic, I called Lucy.
“Hello?”
I stopped at a red light, but my senses were on high alert. Something was off in her voice. It sounded almost lifeless to my ears. “Are you mad at me?”
“No.”
“Are you okay?” My stomach was in knots now because that one word in that empty tone was putting all kinds of images in my head.
“I’m okay. Did you get everything sorted at work?”
“Yeah, it’s done. I’m on my way home now if you want to meet me downstairs. I think we should be able to make the appointment still.”
“Appointment… Oh, shit. I forgot about the house.” She let out a tired sigh. “Okay. I’ll get ready. Be careful.”
“Lucy…” She still sounded off to me, and my heart was racing because I wanted to get home and see her with my own eyes. Wanted to make sure she was okay, that she wasn’t hurting…
Or hurting herself.
“I’m fine,” she assured me as if she could read my thoughts. “I haven’t done anything, Harris. I swear.”
“But you’ve thought about it?”
There was a long pause on her end before she let out a heavy sigh. “I’m getting ready now. Please drive carefully. I love you.”
“Lucy…” But there was nothing but silence as the phone disconnected. “Fuck!” I roared and punched the gas as soon as the light turned green. I broke half a dozen traffic laws in my rush to get home. As I hurried, I called Layla to ask her if anything had happened while they had been out for lunch together, but she didn’t answer. Cursing her, I tried Kin’s number next, but it went straight to voice mail without even ringing, telling me her phone was off. Jace didn’t answer either, and by the time I thought of calling Kassa and Gray to beg them to go up and check on Lucy, I was already pulling up in front of our building.
My heart rate slowed down a little when I saw Lucy coming out the front door. My stomach was still in knots at the look on her face. Her skin was pale, her eyes dry but bloodshot. I couldn’t tell if she had been crying or not, but there was a haunted look in those brown depths that made my hands tighten around the steering wheel.
She opened the passenger door and stepped inside. “Hey,” she greeted in that same empty tone as she leaned over the console to kiss me.
I caught the back of her head and deepened the kiss, wanting to put a spark back into her. I kissed her for nearly a full minute before she let out a small sigh and melted into me. Her tongue skimmed over my bottom lip, and her hands fisted in my shirt. Leaning back enough to look down at her, I saw the pink that filled her cheeks and the hunger in her eyes. “There you are,” I whispered and kissed her lips again. “Where did you go, sweetness?”
Her eyes instantly filled with tears, but she blinked them back. “I don’t want to talk about it. Please don’t make me.”
I rubbed my thumb over her bottom lip, worry still churning in my gut. “Will you tell me if you want to hurt yourself?”
“I won’t hurt myself.”
“But you’ll tell me if you feel like doing something that will hurt you?” I persisted.
