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“Sorry. Lover boy is a bittiedup at the moment.”
“Javier,” I snarled, clutching the phone tight. “What the hell have you done? Where is Asher?”
“Oh, he’s with me. Don’t you worry about that.”
“Prove it.”
“Watch your mouth. You don’t get to make the rules here, bitch.”
Breathing heavily, I closed my eyes, turning to rest my back against the door of my apartment as I fought for control.
“Javier, can I please talk to Asher?”
It was silent for a moment, then the sound of movement came down the line and I waited, my heart in my throat for what would happen next.
“Hey!” Javier called, but not to me. “Hey, wake up. Someone wants to talk to you.”
A groan, then a cough, and I felt my whole body relax at the sound of Asher’s voice.
“What?” he said, sounding groggy.
But Javier had apparently had enough because he came back on the line.
“Time’s up,” he stated, and I could hear him moving again; any hope I had of actually talking to Asher disappearing with every step Javier took away from him.
“If you’ve hurt him—” I started, but Javier cut me off.
“Don’t you threaten me, bitch,” He seethed, his rage palpable even through the phone. “I’m the one in charge now, not you. You’re gonna do what I say, you feel me?”
“Yeah,” I said, trying to rein in my own anger. I didn’t want to piss him off anymore than I already had. If he had Asher, I needed him to think he’d won, and the only way to do that was to play to his ego. “You are in charge, Javier. Tell me what it is you want.”
He laughed, a rotten sound that crawled into my ear and slithered down my spine.
“I’ll tell you exactly what I want, but first, you need to get here.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m where we first met, baby. Where it all started. You come find me here, and then we’ll talk about what you’re gonna do next.” He paused, then added. “And no fucking cops, ya? You know better than that, don’t you?”
“Alright, Javier. Alright. I’m on my way. Just, please, don’t do anything stupid. I’ll fix this, okay?”
“The clock’s ticking,puta,” he spat, then ended the call.
“Fuck!” I screamed, kicking my door with one booted foot. “What the actual fuck?”
This was insane. Javier was literally insane. What kind of person pulled a stunt like this? Over a fucking tattoo? It was complete bullshit, but Javier was right about one thing: he was in charge now. I had to do this right if I expected Asher to make it out in one piece.
But what the fuck was I even going to do? I knew where Javier was; Murray’s old shop. It made sense, in an insane super villain kind of way. Personally, I’d have preferred something a little less dramatic, but at this point, I just wanted this shit to be over.
I paused at that thought, considering. Would this ever be over? What would be enough for Javier? When would he be satisfied? He’d been taunting me like a schoolyard bully for over two months now; what made me think that whatever was next would be enough for him so that Asher and I could walk away and never have to deal with this again?
Unless Javier had no intention of letting us walk away.
Up until now, I’d never considered Javier to me anything more than an annoyance. A buzzing fly fucking up my day. But this latest stunt was taking things farther than I’d ever believed he would, so who was to say he wasn’t prepared to kill us both?
I needed a plan. Something that I could do to protect Asher and myself, not just today, but forever.
Tugging on my pendant, I turned ideas over in my mind, wondering how far I was willing to go, if what I was considering would save us or damn us? Was I really prepared to do the things I likely needed to? Was that the kind of person I’d become?
