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ChapterThree
Roxy
Iwatch as the second hand of the clock on the wall opposite my desk counts down the last few seconds to midnight. In another life, if I was another person, I might feel like Cinderella, but if only all I had to worry about was my carriage turning back into a pumpkin and my clothes turning back to rags at the stroke of midnight.
My worries aren’t born of fairy tales, they are born of fucking nightmares. The work of minds more wickedly dark than the Brothers Grimm.
At exactly fifteen seconds past midnight, my phone pings with a message. I drop my eyes from the clock to my phone on the desk in front of me and read my final reminder.
Zak: Tick tock, Rox. Time to make your mind up.
Snatching my phone off the desk, I shove it in my bag and shut down my computer. Except for Smithy, who is knee deep in paperwork and calls out a weary goodnight to me as I pass, the office is empty.
Outside the station, I heave in a breath of cold night air, which catches in my lungs and makes me cough. Zak’s message flashes in my mind as I stride across the car park.
Dropping into the car, I shove the key in the ignition and start the engine before pulling my phone out of my bag. I sit and stare at his message as the car warms and the windows begin to fog up before I type out a reply. My finger hovers over the send button, and I know once I send it there’s no going back.
A moment later, the blare of a car horn makes me jump, taking my decision away from me as my phone chimes to indicate the message has been sent.
“Fucking hell!” I curse, dropping my head back against the headrest and banging it several times. With no other choice, I send another message.
Me: It’s done!
Noah: You sure about this?
Me: Too late now. I’ll message you later.
I delete the message thread before throwing my phone back in my bag and dumping it on the passenger seat, then I slam the car into gear and head towards Brick Lane.
As I drive, my mind drifts to the last time I saw Maddox and Zak up until two weeks ago. It was ten years ago, and the night my world fell apart in more ways than one.
That night plays out in my head as I turn off Brick Lane onto a small side street where Bishop’s Bar is, and it’s almost like I conjured them from my mind to appear in front of me. There they are casually leaning on the wall outside Bishop’s waiting for me.
Ten years of pent-up emotion swarms me again; anger, grief, betrayal, and even a spark of the love I once felt for them stirs. All those emotions are obliterated by rage and hatred at the fact they are forcing me into a corner; forcing me to give up the one thing that means everything to me, my career.
Their eyes track me as I drive past, but I don’t look their way once. I park my car at the side of the road several metres away from the bar.
Grabbing my bag, I dig around to find a mint to settle the nausea swirling up a storm in my stomach. Finally finding a packet, I shove the last two in my mouth and throw the wrapper back in my bag before snatching it up and climbing from the car.
The soles of my Dr Martens boots thud mutely around the empty street in time with the crunching of the mints in my mouth as I stride towards them.
Reaching them, I take them in. Maddox dressed in tight fitting black trousers and a leather jacket over a white shirt, open at the top, and I have to raise my head to look at his amber eyes, which narrow at my perusal of him. Zak is wearing a beautifully cut suit that does nothing to hide his well-toned but lean body. His blue eyes spark with something I can’t quite read, and his messy blonde-brown hair is flopped to one side. Zak pushes off the wall and pulls the door to Bishop’s open for me, and I arch a brow at him.
“Chivalry instead of bullets today. Now there’s a turnaround, and more than a little out of character for you, don’t you think,” I say sarcastically and step through the open door. I feel Maddox as he steps in behind me and ignore the ripple of heat that flashes down my back.
“Have you forgotten everything we taught you, Roxanne,” Maddox whispers to the back of my neck. I fight the shiver that’s working its way free at his proximity and the heat of his breath on my skin.
“I haven’t forgotten, Maddox. I know not to turn my back to my enemies. The problem with that is friend or foe, it doesn’t matter, both are capable of inflicting fatal wounds. Maybe it’s you who forgot.” I step round the table, pulling out a chair and sit down. I don’t miss the deep growl that comes from Maddox’s direction, but I ignore it and him.
Zak pulls out the chair to the left of me, spinning it round before sitting on it, arms folded across the chair back. It’s casual, relaxed. The sort of thing he used to do when we were kids, and it throws me for a second. Then I catch on to what he’s doing. It’s a psychological thing, to set me at ease, make me feel safe. If I were a lesser person, I’d fall for it, maybe even if I were the Roxy they knew before. But I’m not her.
Maddox on the other hand, sits in the chair directly opposite me. His intimidation tactics hard at play. Or so he thinks.
I finally take a look around the bar. It’s one I know well, and exactly why I chose it. My eyes skim over the guy sitting in the back right corner, sipping his pint and pretending to read the paper. I keep my surprise at seeing him here locked up tight.
They have absolutely no idea who I am anymore or what I’m capable of.
I finally begin to relax, and when the waitress comes over, it’s my turn to shock the shit out of them.
