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I give myself a moment to compose before I leave Teddy’s office. He hasn’t even been back a week, and here I am, falling to my knees to please him even though he doesn’t deserve it. Maybe it’s a punishment to myself. I know what I did, and I deserve how he’s treating me. It’s a total cop-out to think that way, but I couldn’t care less. As terrible as he is, I do love him and will do anything to prove it. Even if that means degrading myself. Love is a wicked thing.
I walk to the kitchen but stop in my tracks when I make it through the doorway. Lucas is sitting alone at the counter with a glass in front of him filled with amber liquid. Whiskey if I had to guess. He is quietly swirling the glass, listening to the clinking of the ice cubes.
I turn to back out, but he catches me. “Charlie. Wait. Please.”
I’m not sure if it’s the pain in his voice that turns me around or the desperation not to be alone, but against my better judgment and Teddy’s warning, I do. “What?” I snap.
“We need to talk.” He pats the stool next to him.
I huff and lean against the doorjamb. “There is nothing to talk about, Lucas.”
He takes a swig of his drink, gulping the last of the liquid in his mouth and swallowing before he turns back to me. “There is. You can spend the rest of your life hating me, or you can listen to what I have to say.”
I push off the jamb and go to walk away. “I’d rather hate you.”
I wish I could tell him it’s only for his own good—our own good—but I can’t. If he thinks I hate him, it’ll be easier on both of us. Sure, I never loved Lucas, but I did have feelings for him. He helped me see the light in a dark time. He became the friend I never expected to have. Someone who kept the memory of Teddy alive for me in a way.
I only make it a few steps before his hand is grabbing my elbow and hauling me back. He turns me to look at him again, then brings his face an inch from mine. “Hate me, Flower, I couldn’t give a fuck less. But you need to realize he was the one who told me what to do. My loyalty lies far deeper with him than it does you. If you want to hate someone, hate him,” he growls.
I swallow and scowl at him. “Don’t get it wrong, I hate him too.” I wince at the words because maybe they are true. Love and hate run hand in hand, and sometimes it’s hard to distinguish the difference. Or maybe I just hate who he is now.
I shake the thoughts away and continue. “But he wasn’t the one trying to fuck me while I mourned. How low do you have to be to go that far, pretty boy?”
He leans his head back and cackles at my question. “So, you’re a liar and a whore. If I’m remembering correctly, you’re the one who kissed me. I’m the one who stopped it.”
His words hurt, but I don’t let it show on my face. He’s right. I’m a liar. But I thought if I said it out loud and he somehow believed it, then I could believe it and feel better. Not feel the crushing weight of all the guilt alone.
I tilt my chin and listen as he continues.
“Boss was out of the picture, so you had to hop to the next. Tell me, baby, do you get off sucking his dick when he treats you like shit? Or is it just fucking men who murder? Knowing the pussy between your legs, the only thing you’re good for, can drive them so mad they’d kill for you? Is that why you wanted me?”
His words mixed with the whiskey on his breath make me sick as the realization dawns on me. “You saw—”
He doesn’t let me finish. “Oh, I saw it all. How you gagged and drooled as he shoved his cock into your throat. How he grabbed your hair so you couldn’t move. Does that light another fire in you? Knowing I saw it all?”
I don’t answer. Humiliation crawls all over my body. Lucas watched Teddy use me. Even worse, I let Teddy use me. My cheeks burn hot as my mouth goes dry.
“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. But I’m telling you now. Don’t. Fucking. Cross. Me. I’ll show you how murderous someone can get over your fucking cunt.”
Once he leaves the kitchen, I gasp for the air that’s left my lungs and sink to the floor. I’m stuck in a triangle I never intended to create or wanted to be in, and I have a feeling someone is going to die because of it.
The slamming of the door wakes me. I bolt upright in the bed and glance behind me. No light shines through the thin curtains, so it still has to be night. I stand from the bed and slip on my robe before walking to my door and cracking it open.
Teddy is already halfway down the hall, his eyes catching mine as he shuffles toward me. I step back into my room and leave the door open, waiting for him.
He walks in and closes the door quietly behind him. I’m not sure why considering the slam from the front was already probably heard by everyone.
“We have a problem,” he states.
I tip my head. “What kind of problem?”
He shakes his head and starts pacing the floor in front of me. “Lucas got a call that someone was at the warehouse snooping around.”
“Okay? It shouldn’t matter because after you went away, I moved things around. The guns, the crates, everything that you had originally stored in the warehouse, has been relocated. It’s just an empty building.”
“I know that. It’s more the fact of who was snooping around.” He stops pacing.
“Who?”
