Chapter 37 I’d Have Two Nickels, Which Isn’t a Lot, But…
I’D HAVE TWO NICKELS, WHICH ISN’T A LOT, BUT…
KOEN
Now
My little ballerina is silent as I escort her out the back of Wonderland and into Liam’s waiting SUV.
I keep a firm grip on her arm, seeing how her eyes dart around the dark alley behind the club, desperate for a way out.
I open the back door and thrust her through it, far too forcefully to be considered gentle. I’m being too rough with her because there are cameras back here, and because I’m not willing to take a chance on her bolting on me.
Again.
Inside the SUV, she turns to face me, and wordlessly, I motion for her to slide over, climbing in to sit in the seat beside her.
Her lip curls and she slides as far away from me as possible, pressing herself into the other side of the SUV, stiffening when she notices both Alex and Liam staring over their shoulders at her from the front seat.
“Hi.” Liam smiles at her, and she stares back at him like he’s crazy.
“Just drive,” I order. Sinking down into my seat, I keep my gaze fixed outside and away from Rose—Briar, as I try and work through the chaos playing out inside my mind.
We make it nearly two blocks before a small click draws my attention, and I’m momentarily confused when the interior lights of the SUV turn on.
But just as I put two and two together… I lock eyes with Briar just as she shoves open her passenger door, evading my hand and diving out of the moving vehicle.
A string of curses erupts out of my mouth when Briar disappears from view. The car door slams shut in my face before I can follow, and I’m grappling for the door handle.
“Fuck, Liam. You didn’t child-lock the doors?”
My brother slams his foot on the brake, and my face hits the back of the front seat hard, causing me to let out a grunt.
“No, I didn’t. This wasn’t exactly the plan, was it? How the hell was I supposed to know you were going to kidnap a stripper?” He looks to Alex for backup. “Honestly, if I had a nickel for every time…”
I don’t hear the rest of it, finally getting the door open and launching myself out of the car to hunt Briar down. She’s not getting away from me again that easily.
I look back down the street, sure I’ll find her still curled up on the ground.
She would have hit hard; she’ll be lucky if she didn’t break anything hitting the asphalt like that.
Liam was going at least thirty miles per hour when she dove out of the car.
But to my surprise, Briar’s already halfway down the street by the time I catch a glimpse of her, sprinting like her life depends on it.
I take off after her. I’m fast, and with far longer legs than her, I easily close the distance.
Briar never looks back, but she must hear me closing in because, just as I’ve about caught up to her, she darts down a narrow side street before quickly turning down another, nearly losing her footing on the loose gravel in her attempts to shake me.
I smile to myself, knowing it’ll be over soon.
But that smile quickly turns to a frown when I notice how she’s favoring her left leg. Probably injured it jumping out of the fucking car. She’s still got a bit of a lead on me, so I increase my speed, having had enough of these shenanigans.
I lose sight of Briar when she takes another tight turn down yet another narrow side street but, when I make the turn, she’s nowhere in sight.
A delivery truck is parked at this end of the street, blocking a good portion of the alley from view. A few dumpsters line the street to my right, and I also take note of a few metal doors leading into the abandoned warehouse that stretches tall over the alleyway.
The turn to the next street is too far away. I was too close for her to get away, so I start walking slowly down the road, the sound of my boots echoing in the late-night quiet. She’s somewhere nearby.
“Might as well come out now, Briar Rose,” I call out, eyeing the dumpsters to the right, craning my neck to see if I can get a look in them before moving deeper into the alley. “There’s no escaping me, love.”
My words are met with silence, and I sigh.
“Your choice, remember.”
That’s when I strike. One second I’m on my feet, and the next, I’m chest-down on the pavement, arm outstretched underneath the truck, my hand closing around a slender, delicate ankle.
I yank hard, and Briar screams as I drag her out from under the truck. She fights me, clawing the ground in desperation, trying to find something to grab ahold of. Her attempts to kick me away are futile.
“Stop.”
Swapping out her ankle for an arm, I haul her up while she thrashes against me, her fists flying, falling uselessly against my chest. Once she’s on her feet, she does everything she can to twist out of my grip.
In a shock to me, she actually manages to slip out of it.
Her eyes widen when she realizes she’s free.
She barely makes it two steps before my hand closes around her wrist again and she yelps when she meets resistance.
Whirling her around, her back hits the brick wall of the alley, and I pin her there. Yet she still doesn’t relent.
“Let me go!” she screeches, attempting to drop out from under me, but I reach down, wrapping a hand around each wrist, forcing them up over her head and pinning them there against the brick.
At the same time, I lean in, using the weight and size of my body to cage her in until she has nowhere left to go.
By the time her eyes meet mine again, my forearm is pressed firmly against her throat—threatening but not yet cutting off air—just letting her know if I wanted to, I could.
“Stop. Running. Away. From. Me.”
She finally goes still, blue eyes alight with fury.
I cock my head to the side as I look down at her, finding her rage at being caught amusing. “You done?”
She struggles again, bringing our attention to just how close our bodies are.
How I’m pressed up against her. She makes an attempt to free her hands, but I tighten my grip and watch as the rage and fury in her eyes fall away to reveal sheer panic and utter terror, before she releases a low whimper. Her entire body trembles beneath me.
At first, her reaction confuses me, but then—realization. “Fuck, I’m not—I’m not going to hurt you, okay?”
My grip on her loosens slightly, but I don’t let go. I don’t trust her. I keep her pinned in place.
“You bought me.” Her voice comes out cracked, full of broken accusation.
I let out a sigh. “I know, but—”
“I heard what you said in there about…” breaking her, she doesn’t say it. Trailing off, her gaze darts to the right, flinching violently at the appearance of my brothers.
I move my forearm off her neck, holding up a hand to ward them off. They freeze a couple feet away, watching me and waiting on my next order.
“Please let me go. Please, Koen,” Briar begs. Falling apart now, tears rim her blue eyes as she stares up at me, pleading with me to let her walk away from this.
Something cracks deep inside me at the sight—and the way she says my name—but I only tighten my grip.
“No.”
Her eyes once again fill with panic, and she trembles against me.
I rub my free hand down my face. “Shit. Look, it’s not—it’s not what it seems. I just…
need you to trust me. I can explain, but not here.
” I release her hands, taking hold of her arm again as I ease my weight off of her, guiding her in the direction of the street, but she resists.
“If you’ll just get back in the car and—”
“I don’t know you.” She cuts me off, trying to watch both me and my brothers behind me at the same time.
I stop. Looking down at her.
“No, you don’t.” In all fairness, we’d spent one night together, nearly five years ago, and all I’ve done since then is threaten her.
“Alright, I get it, this is… a lot. But if you get back in the car with me, I promise, no one will hurt you. I’ll take you back to your apartment. And we can talk.”
She stares at me, searching my face, my eyes, for a reason to believe what I’m saying is true. That I’m not trying to trick her.
“Okay,” she says finally, letting me lead her back to the SUV. Her eyes full of distrust.