Chapter 4
E verly
The lock clicked, and I was alone once more. The fight left me, and I withered onto the sofa cushions, confused and mixed up. Connor was so different. Not only with his all-black clothes and the extensive tattoos from the backs of his hands up to his throat, the gang bandanna around his neck, but also his anger.
It had done something to my body.
His being near had warmed me. The aggressive, dangerous male element had always been there, but now it was a honed weapon. Easy to imagine him doing gang business, however that manifested. I needed therapy for how my toes had curled.
He hadn’t been careful with his language around me either. Two women had been murdered in awful, horrifying ways. The image loomed in my mind and deadened my unwanted lust. For a long while, I sat there and thought of their names. Cherry and Natasha. Though I’d read about them in articles, I’d skimmed the grisly details.
How awful to have their lives ended in that way. The terror they must’ve felt.
I crept my hand to my throat. Held it there like I could defend myself from a similar fate. My morbid thoughts stole any chance of getting back to sleep, so instead, I took the opportunity to explore Connor’s apartment. He’d flustered me, but I was glad to be here, even for a short while.
I paused, considering my change in perspective. I’d told Connor I wanted to stay at home, but that was a better-the-devil-you-know claim.
I’d never felt safe in my father’s house.
With a minute to process what had happened, my idea of going home shifted to something deeply unpleasant. So easily, the place had been invaded.
If it had been the killer, I’d be dead.
I continued exploring to take my mind off the horror.
In a stack of paperback books, I found a bookmark in one—a placemat from the Divide nightclub downstairs with the image of a skull wearing a bandanna over its jaw, neon pink around. Connor liked thriller novels. That was new.
I’d make the most of having access to the man who’d clearly never forgiven my crimes against him. From his comment about protecting me for my father’s sake, it convinced me even more that he was under the mayor’s thrall. That cut deeper than his obvious dislike of me.
Other than the comfortable main bedroom, there were two more rooms off the hallway and another bathroom. One was locked, but the other held a bed and nothing else. Not even a window. It also had a lock on the outside, and I didn’t want to think about why. The rest of the apartment was taken up by the big living space I’d already seen.
Except for a mysterious, narrow door.
I’d almost missed it because it was on the inside hallway wall, recessed, and in the opposite direction to all the other room entrances. I tested the handle. It gave, opening into what looked like a dark cupboard, except a draught swept down from above, bringing in the scent of the night.
A shiver ran over me.
My eyes adjusted to the gloom, and I made out rungs in the wall ahead. They ran upwards, leading, what, to the roof of the warehouse? Darting back into the bedroom, I grabbed a pillow to prop the door open in case the wind blew it shut, then ventured into the dark space.
The metal ladder was cold under the soles of my bare feet. I climbed up until I touched a hatch then ran my hand around, finding a sliding lock. It wiggled free, and the trapdoor opened.
I was on the roof.
Crawling out, I gazed around the vast rooftop. Here and there, vents released steam, and a low wall edged an expansive view. It was unnerving being so high, but I stood taller and peered around, gaining a small sense of freedom after Connor’s stubborn door locking. I didn’t want to run from him, not yet, but I didn’t enjoy the restrictions either. I had enough of those in my regular life.
Maybe I’d see him return this way. Freak him out by hiding.
On one side of the warehouse, darkness swallowed the river that headed out to sea many miles to the west. In the other directions, the city sparkled, with terraced houses in curved rows that echoed the shape of the hillside, tall office blocks with all-glass frontages, and cars twisting through the streets.
A cold breeze wrapped around my legs, damp air bringing the scent of autumn. I took a deep inhale, engaging my brain to solve the problem of Connor. If only I could speak to someone else here, they might be able to help me. Then, when he next disappeared from my life, I’d make every effort to remove any control Father had over him and get life back to normal. If I couldn’t achieve that, all the heartache I’d suffered would be in vain.
“Oh, hello. Who the hell are ye?”
I yelped and spun around at the voice. A woman, Scottish by her accent, walked the low perimeter wall, her feet bare, and her hair a wild mass of dark curls. Unlike me, she was tiny, and clearly insane. One misstep and she’d fall to her death.
I covered my mouth in shock. “God. You scared me. Please get down.”
“From here? It’s fine. I have excellent balance.” To demonstrate, she pirouetted on one foot, the other extended over the deadly drop.
My eyes slammed closed of their own accord, but I picked up her snicker of a laugh.
“Okay, okay. I’m down. Where did ye come from? I’ve never seen anyone else up here.”
I cracked an eyelid, and she’d sat cross-legged on the wall. Slightly better, but my stomach still roiled at the terrifying drop at her back.
“I’m Everly. I came up from Connor’s apartment.” Feebly, I gestured at the trapdoor.
“Holy shite. You’re staying with Shade?”
“Staying with, kidnapped by, same difference.”
The woman’s eyes widened. Even in the reflected light of the city, I could make out their startling dark blue. At a guess, I’d put her at around twenty, a few years younger than me. I also recognised the vintage couture gold party dress she was happily scuffing on the brick wall.
She fished out a phone from her clutch. “I’m messaging Genevieve.”
Genevieve. I knew that name. She’d famously matched with Arran, gang leader and owner of this building, in a dangerous game they ran in the basement. Twenty men were set loose on five willing women, and the first to have sex made their claim.
In my desperation to see Connor, I’d signed up for that game, hoping he’d be the one to claim me. My application had been rejected.
Since, I’d tried to meet with Genevieve, but our one short conversation had been interrupted.
The woman finished typing and set down her phone. “Let’s see if she can find a way up. I’m Cassie.”
I raised a hand, glued to the spot so unable to turn it into a polite shake. “A pleasure. Do you live here?”
“Nope. Just visiting. Arran’s family, kinda. He doesn’t actually know I’m here, though I guess that surprise will go by the wayside now.”
“I would never tell him.”
Her lips lifted in a grin. “Hos before bros. I like ye. But anyway, Gen will give it up. Couples, man.”
“Why would Arran not want you here?” I peered at her with greater interest. She was pretty and infinitely cooler than me.
“On account of the murders, he told me to stay away, but I like being part of the action.” She patted the wall fondly, a horn honking somewhere in town behind her, the streets still busy despite the late hour. “I commandeered a bedroom downstairs then went dancing in the club. I came up here after it closed. It’s my new thinking spot.”
“All without the owner knowing you’re here? Impressive.”
She waggled her head. “The head of security knows me. It was easy to convince him that Arran knew I was around. How come Shade kidnapped ye?”
A scrabbling came from across the roof, then a blonde woman appeared in a fire escape, the cage of which presumably ran down the side of the building. She slipped out the gate and approached us, her gaze jumping from the ledge bearing Cassie, and then to me. “I didn’t even know this was accessible up here.”
“Meet Everly, guest of Shade’s, though by abduction,” Cassie helpfully introduced.
Genevieve blinked, and her eyes crinkled in concern. “We’ve met. Hey, Everly, are you okay? Did Shade really kidnap you?”
Embarrassment heated my cheeks. I turned my toe on the rough rooftop surface, conscious of my lack of clothing beyond Connor’s long hoodie. It reached mid-thigh on me, but still, I never went anywhere underdressed. It wouldn’t be becoming of the mayor’s daughter. “He did, but we aren’t strangers. I’m not scared of him.”
A partial lie. The two women shared a look.
Cassie spoke. “I’ve got a fast car and no sense of self-preservation. Say the word and I’ll get ye out of here.”
Genevieve snapped her head around. “You never offered me an out like that.”
Cassie made an off sound. “I’ve known Arran since I was six, and he’s the best. Shade, I’m on the fence about. Arran trusts him, but we’ve already established hos before bros.” She gestured between me and her.
I hastened to interject. “Oh, no. Thank you, but I don’t need rescuing, at least I don’t think so. Someone broke into my house this evening, and Connor, I mean Shade, brought me here. But I’ve been trying to see him for a while, so it suits me.”
Cassie curled her lip. “I’d say that was the first time kidnapping ever worked for all parties, but Gen arrived at my house with Arran in much the same way. If this is modern-day dating, maybe I should be the one laying traps and readying the duct tape.”
Genevieve choked on a laugh.
I turned to the fair-haired woman. With her, I had an opportunity, and I wanted to take it. The only problem was, I didn’t know how far I could trust her. Or anyone, really. My life was painfully thin with friends. “I wanted to see you again. We never got to finish our conversation.”
She gifted me a nod. “I remember. You said something about being in the club on behalf of your father. He’s the mayor, am I correct?”
Cassie gave a comic little gasp. “Shade kidnapped the mayor’s daughter? Bad boy. Will your da be worried? Are the cops about to swarm us?”
For unknown reasons, the question sideswiped me. I opened and closed my mouth, trying to form a diplomatic answer and say the right thing, as I always did. An unbidden truth popped out instead. “My father won’t give the tiniest damn so long as the voting population doesn’t hear about it and I show up to work on time.”
Horrified at myself, I fluttered my fingertips at my lips.
Silence followed, Genevieve stalling in whatever she was going to say.
“I don’t know why I said that,” I managed.
Cassie gave a small and sympathetic laugh. “I only exist because my da bought prostitutes and deliberately got a handful of them pregnant to make an heir. Because I was a girl, he barely acknowledged my existence.”
My heart panged. “That’s awful.”
Her shoulder rose in an easy shrug. “He’s dead, and I wipe away my tears on handfuls of his cash while living in his stately home, so who’s laughing now?”
Genevieve peeked between us. “I love my dad, but he recently stole all our savings and rent money to go on a drink-fuelled grudge mission. Just today, he texted me to ask if I could get my boyfriend to pay for him to go on holiday. It’s not as bad as what you two just said, but still, some men shouldn’t be fathers.”
Cassie said, “But without their fuck-ups, we wouldn’t be here.”
A kind of solidarity settled over me. It was unexpected and strange, born from an equally bizarre night.
Cassie gestured from the hatch behind me to where I stood. “How does Shade fit into this if it’s not to piss off your da? Is stealing ye away in the middle of the night some fucked-up proclamation of love?”
“God, no. He hates me.”
“There’s no love lost, then?”
I hesitated, because on my half, all the love I’d ever felt for anyone had been lost when he’d walked away. But confessing that secret to strangers went far beyond what I could easily share.
The reason I’d tried to see Genevieve was to get Connor to talk to me. Ten minutes of his time so I could ask him to his face why my father wanted him, then work behind the scenes to make the arrangement go away. After everything Father had done to him, it broke me to imagine him having any power over Connor again.
Yet now we’d spoken, I couldn’t imagine him telling me anything. Which meant I needed to get the information from another source.
“That is one loaded silence,” Cassie said.
Genevieve cut her a look that had the younger woman quiet down. She came back to me. “If there’s anything you need help with, just ask. While you’re here, we’ll be neighbours. Our apartment is right across the hall from Shade’s. Seriously, if you want out of whatever’s going on, call me. I’ve got your number, let me dial it now, then you’ll have mine.”
She pulled the phone from her jeans pocket and squinted at the screen. “Shit. Arran’s hunting for me. Something to do with my brother. I’d better go.”
“Wait,” I said in desperation. “Do you know anything about how this place works? There’s a deal my father struck.”
Using the word ‘deal’ was a guess, but Genevieve paused.
“Not much. I might be dating Arran but I don’t pay much attention to the details of how he runs this place. I can ask him?”
I chewed my lip. She noticed.
“How about I ask subtly?” My relief must’ve been apparent, because Genevieve dusted off her hands. “Consider it done. I’ll report back when I have something to share. I take it you don’t want Shade to know about this?”
“It’s better if he isn’t aware of my snooping.”
She nodded and held out a hand to Cassie. “You’d better come with me and say hi, otherwise Arran will be storming up to drag you back from the edge.”
“Ugh, men are so dramatic.” Cassie rolled her eyes but climbed off the wall.
Both women retreated to the fire escape.
“See ye up here again sometime,” Cassie called to me.
With my only source of information being them, she could count on it.