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“She couldn’t make it,” I say, dropping the duffel bag on the floor. “I put an extra five hundred thousand in there as an apology. Now, let the girl go and come get your shit.”
He points the gun at me, gesturing toward the wall. He’s short, physically weak, and the sort of man who uses his position and firearms to provoke fear. He’s like this kid in school who used to bloody me up quite badly, a scrawny, weak prick, but he had three older brothers, and there was nothing anybody could do to stop him.
I back up to the wall. Lily moans when Sergei crosses the room, leading her by her hair. She tilts her head to account for the movement of his hand.
“Kneel, slut,” Sergei snaps. “Tell me what’s in the bag.”
He locks eyes with me as she obeys his command, grinning as if it’s impressive, and that bitch comment keeps bouncing around and around my head. As sick as it is, that’s what’s making me the angriest—the word he aimed at my woman.
“L-lots of cash,” Lily whimpers.
“Well, count it then, you stupid slut.”
“Does that make you feel tough? Talking down to women knowing they can’t fight back?”
Sergei gestures with the gun. “You would be wise to watch your fucking mouth.”
“I was about to say the same to you,” I growl.
We wait as Lily counts it, her voice shaking as she tells him there’s nine hundred thousand in cash and several gold bars and valuables, which add up to five hundred thousand.
“I’ve found the rarest thing,” Sergei says, laughing. “An honest billionaire. This was surprisingly simple, Luke. You shouldn’t have tried to trick me. Now, I’m going to leave.”
He motions as if he’s going to force Lily to stand, but I shake my head.
“She stays,” I tell him.
Sergei grins broadly. “Tut-tut, I thought you already had a nice, plump bride-to-be. You’ve been seen with her, dear fellow. You almost let that rat biker kill you for her, but this one interests you more, is that it?”
I don’t reply. I can’t reply because all that would come out is pure rage. I feel my vision wavering as if I’m going to black out again like before when I tackled Axel and beat him bloody. Now, in the haze of the near violence, I know where the blackout came from. It’s what happened to me after Dad died when I found him—a blackout, then I was holding his body.
The rage twists around my bones like tightening muscle, squeezes, and tells me to hurt this man, to kill him. Nobody has the right to say plump with that ugly twist to their lips and that light in their eyes, as if it’s all a big joke.
“Leave her,” I say after a pause. “You’ve got what you want. Don’t get cocky.”
“What if I don’t feel like it?”
He waves the gun at me again, frowning as if annoyed by my lack of a reaction.
“What if I feel like shooting you both instead?”
“Then the mercenaries I hired will hunt you down and kill you.”
He tries to laugh it off but can’t hide the fear flickering across his eyes.
Shaking his head, he says, “That wasn’t part of the deal.”
“Ever since the threats started, I’ve had an arrangement with some bad, bad people. Black-ops types, Sergei. If I don’t call them in ten minutes, they will assume you’ve done something you shouldn’t, and they won’t stop until you’re dead.”
I walk forward and keep going until he’s got the gun barrel pushed against my forehead. The cold metal bites into me, reminding me of what he said, plump, with that grin as if he’s checkmated me—as if my woman’s size can be used as a weapon. Her size is perfect, just like everything else about her. There’s not a single part of her that isn’t goddamn perfect.
“Pull the trigger. You’ll just kill yourself, or you can do the smart thing. Take your cash and leave.”
Slowly, he steps away, keeping the gun leveled at me. He glances down at Lily in disgust.
“You can keep the whore.”
“You’re a monster,” Lily whispers, glaring at him.
“Relax. I only gave you a knock on the head, girl. Trust me. It could’ve been much worse.”
“Disgusting,” she spits.
“You really should pick her instead,” Sergei says as he scoops up the bag and backs toward the door, “over your girl, Luke. This one looks like she’s addicted to meth and stinks like shit, but at least she hasn’t got love handles.”
I stare at him as he backs toward the exit, fists clenched at my sides, trembling even as I try to hide it. Nobody ever gets to talk about my woman like that.
“Thank you,” Lily says, climbing to her feet.
I offer her my arm, but even that feels like too much. Touching another woman is not something I ever want to do, even in nonintimate circumstances.
