Chapter Seventeen
HOW LONG WAS I going to have to wait? The room felt too big and too quiet, like the air had shifted into something heavier, something that pressed in from all sides, and I stayed where I was for a second longer than I should have, staring at the table of drugs, at the guns laid out like they were nothing, like this was normal, like I wasn’t sitting in the middle of something I had no business being part of.
“Relax.”
Kane’s voice came from too close, close enough that my shoulders tightened before I even turned, my body reacting first as I found him leaning back in his chair, legs stretched out, watching me like he already knew exactly how this was going to play out.
“I am relaxed,” I said, even though my hands were clenched tight in my lap, my fingers digging into each other hard enough to ground me.
He smiled at that, slow, knowing, like he enjoyed the lie more than the truth.
“No, you’re not.”
The silence that followed stretched out, thick and uncomfortable, and I shifted in my seat, inching back just enough to feel like I had some control, even though I knew if he decided otherwise, it wouldn’t matter.
“You always this quiet,” he asked, tilting his head slightly as he studied me, “or just when you’re scared?”
“I’m not scared,” I snapped, the words coming out faster than I meant them to, louder than I could pull back.
That only made his smile deepen. “Yeah,” he said softly, like he was humoring me. “You are.”
My stomach tightened at the way he said it, certain, like he could see straight through me, and I looked away, scanning the room again, searching for something, anything, that would give me an out, even though I already knew there wasn’t one.
“Don’t worry,” he went on, his tone almost casual now, like we were having a normal conversation instead of this, “if I wanted to rape you, I would’ve done it already.”
That didn’t help.
If anything, it made it worse.
“That’s not comforting,” I said, forcing the words out, even as my voice tightened at the edges.
“No?” he asked, pushing his chair back with a slow scrape that seemed too loud in the quiet room, the sound dragging across my nerves as he stood and stretched like he had all the time in the world.
Then he started moving. Not fast. Not aggressive.
That would’ve been easier. Instead, he circled the table slowly, like he was in no rush at all, like this was entertainment, like I was something he could take his time with, and I tracked him without meaning to, my body already reacting, my pulse picking up with every step he took.
“It should,” he said, coming up behind me.
I went still.
Too still.
“You’re in a bad place, sweetheart.”
His hand brushed the back of my chair first, then slid up to my shoulder, light enough it almost wasn’t there, but it was, and that was enough.
I jerked forward, out of reach, my chair scraping loudly across the floor as I stood too fast, my heart hammering now, loud and unsteady in my chest. “Don’t touch me,” I snapped, turning to face him, my voice stronger than I felt, because fear didn’t get to win out loud.
He didn’t get angry. Didn’t even look surprised. If anything, he looked more interested.
“Feisty,” he said, like he approved. “I knew you would be.”
“I mean it,” I said, backing up a step, then another, until the table was between us, something solid I could hold onto even if it wouldn’t really protect me. “Stay away from me.”
He leaned forward slightly, bracing his hands on the table, his eyes locked on mine in a way that made it hard to breathe. “Or what?”
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. And he knew it. That was the worst part.
“You think that weirdo Gatsby’s gonna save you?” he asked, his voice dropping just enough to make the words settle heavy in my chest. “Those boys in that clubhouse don’t have a clue what you’re mixed up in?”
My breath caught, sharp and sudden, and I hated that reaction, hated that he saw it. “Gatsby doesn’t mean anything,” I said, forcing the words out anyway. “I’m just doing what Drago asked.”
Kane laughed under his breath, straightening slowly, like he’d just confirmed something for himself. “Oh, it’s got everything to do with him,” he said. “At least to me. You better keep some boundaries, Evie, or things could get real fucking ugly with how I kill him.”
Then he started moving again. Slow. Deliberate. Closing the distance one step at a time.
I stepped back.
He stepped forward.
Again.
Again.
Until the back of my legs hit the table and I had nowhere else to go, the edge pressing into me, grounding me in the worst possible way.
“Don’t,” I said, but my voice had changed now, the edge dulling into something thinner, something that didn’t sound like a command anymore.
He stopped just in front of me, close enough I could feel the heat of him, his gaze dragging over my face like he was taking his time committing it to memory. “You smell better up close,” he murmured, like it was something he had every right to notice. “I bet you taste so fucking good.”
My stomach rolled and I almost gagged. “Move,” I said, pushing at his chest, needing space, needing air.
And he let me.
That was the part that twisted worse than anything. He let me move him. Took a step back like it was his choice, like he was the one allowing it.
“You’re gonna learn real quick,” he said, his tone shifting just slightly, just enough to make the words land heavier, “that you don’t get to pick sides in this.”
My breath caught before I could stop it. “I already did,” I said, the words slipping out before I could think better of them.
That got his attention.
Really got it.
His eyes sharpened, something darker settling in behind the amusement. “Yeah?” he said quietly.
The air changed again.
I felt it.
“Then you better hope,” he went on, taking one slow step forward, “you picked the right one.”
The door handle clicked, and I flinched, but Kane didn’t. His gaze stayed locked on mine, unblinking, unmoving, until the door started to open.
I straightened without meaning to, my body reacting before my mind caught up, my eyes flicking to the doorway as Ruby stepped in first, and I knew immediately, before she even lifted her head, that nothing had changed.
Her face was determined.
Too controlled.
Like she’d taken whatever just happened behind that door and shoved it down somewhere deep, somewhere it wouldn’t show unless you knew exactly where to look.
And I did.
Her eyes met mine for half a second, just long enough for something to flicker there.
Acceptance. She would take whatever Drago offered her no matter how small. It was there hidden behind the same tight composure she’d been holding onto all night.
Drago came in behind her, slower, calmer, like nothing had happened at all, like he hadn’t just stripped her down to nothing and built her back up into something useful again.
The door clicked shut behind him.
And just like that, the room felt even smaller if that was possible.
Kane didn’t move from where he stood near me, but I felt the shift in him anyway, the way his attention slid from me to Drago, something unspoken passing between them before his gaze drifted back, settling on me.
“You can leave,” Drago said, looking at Ruby with a pointed expression before looking back at me. “You get me information and be back here in two days.”
I didn’t waste time moving around Kane and following Ruby out the door. As we walked out, I thought about begging Ruby once again to run but knew it was a losing battle. Getting out of this was going to be all up to me.