Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SLOANE
After work, I head to the mini-mart I always go to, needing tampons and Tylenol, but my nerves are on high alert the entire drive. Every street I turn onto feels like Eli’s behind me, close enough that if I glance in the mirror, I’ll finally see him.
I can’t shake the feeling that he’s still close. He has to be. He wouldn’t show up at the diner just to disappear. He wants something from me. Either to kill me or drag me back into the game. Neither of which I’m willing to let him do.
Pulling into a busy parking lot, I take a spot right in the middle just in case he’s nearby. More cars means more witnesses. Grabbing my bag, I shut the door, pull up my hoodie, and walk in like I’m not scared at all.
I head to the aisle I need and grab a box of tampons without really looking, then cut to the next one to find the meds when that same cold prickle climbs the back of my neck. The exact one from the diner.
No, no, no. Please let me be wrong. Please let it be in my head and not him standing right behind me.
My fingers clamp around the box until the cardboard bends. My pulse hammers in my throat, my skin going tight and hot while the rest of me feels ice cold. I can’t make myself turn around. I’m scared that if I see him, it makes all of this real, and if I don’t, maybe I can still pretend I’m safe.
Milo flashes through my mind in a rush. What happens to my baby if I disappear?
I see my sister’s face, the way she barely looks at him now, and I know she’d dump him into the system just to be rid of the responsibility. She doesn’t love him. She never has. She never will.
“Hi, Eden. I thought this was a better place for us to talk.”
A brutal shudder rips through me.
Of course. I knew it. I knew he was still watching me.
“Please…” I force myself to turn, inch by inch, like one wrong move might set him off. “I–I don’t know what you want from me, but I swear I wasn’t the one who called the cops that night. I would never do that to any of you.”
Every syllable comes out thin and shaking, my eyes tied to his, begging for something, any hint of doubt or mercy, but there’s nothing there. No remorse or hesitation. Just flat brown eyes that give nothing away.
He hasn’t aged much since the last time I saw him. Same sharp cheekbones, same easy good looks, the same smile I used to think was charming. The handsome devil I once knew.
Only there’s nothing attractive about him now. All I see is what he really is: poison in a pretty package. Barrett’s monster. The kind of man who would kill me in the middle of this aisle without blinking if that’s what he was told to do.
His assessing gaze drifts over me. “If that’s true, why’d you run?”
The question knocks the air out of my lungs and I just stand there, fingers digging into the box in my hand, nails biting through the cardboard.
“Because I wanted out.” The words scrape out of me. “Once I had Milo, I couldn’t raise him in that life. I needed a fresh start with my son. Can’t you understand that?”
Of course he can’t. Men like Eli don’t understand loving someone more than yourself.
My throat burns, but I keep my chin up. “I’m begging you, please don’t hurt me.”
He takes a step closer, and instinct shoves me back. My shoulders hit the shelf, boxes rattling, a few tumbling to the floor around my feet.
Eli laughs. “Don't look so afraid of me, Ghosthands. I'm almost insulted.”
His fingers brush under my chin and I jerk away, stomach lurching as another memory slams into me. The last time he tried something with me, the way I told him no, the way his eyes went flat like a switch flipping and all the warmth draining out, leaving nothing but anger in its place.
“What do you want, Eli?” I’m trying to relax my pulse, but it just keeps pounding harder. “If you’re here to kill me, at least let me see my son first. Let me say goodbye.”
Someone pushes a cart past the end of the aisle, and his smile smooths out, harmless on the surface. He waits until they’re gone before he answers.
“I’m not here to kill you. Not yet, anyway.”
He reaches past me and a fresh wave of nausea hits as he nudges one of the boxes back into place on the shelf.
“I need something.” His gaze fastens on me. “And you’re the only one who can get it for me.”
This makes no sense. Barrett would want me dead. There’s absolutely no way he’d want anything from me if he thinks I’m a rat.
“What exactly do you need? Is this for you or Barrett?”
Did Eli cut ties? Did he start something on his own? I remember how much he hated being second to Barrett, how badly he wanted more power than he was ever trusted with.
“Does it matter?” His features pinch, a flicker of anger slipping through that calm mask.
For the first time since he walked up behind me, I get the sick, sinking feeling that whatever he’s about to ask isn’t going to be good.
“I just wanna know what's going on, okay? I want to know why you're here.”
He steps in closer, breath hot against my ear.
“Barrett has nothing to do with this. I’m the one who found you, and I’m the one who can ruin your entire fucking life if you don’t do what I say. You understand, bitch?” he whispers.
Ice crawls through my veins. I know exactly what he’s capable of, what I’ve watched him do to other people who crossed him. There is nothing empty about that threat.
“I understand.” The words barely make it out.
“That’s good.” His grin turns sinister, and I swallow down the bile climbing up my throat. “That’s real good.” The back of his hand drags down my cheek, and every muscle in my body screams to get away. “Go pay for your things. We’re going to my car to talk.”
I nod and turn toward the front of the store. He falls in behind me, so close that something hard presses into the center of my back, and I instantly know it’s a gun.
“If you say anything to anyone, I will kill you and your fucking kid. Got it?”
My knees buckle. “I won’t. You know I won’t.”
“Smart girl. You were always so smart. Now move.”
He gives me a small shove, and I pick up my pace, forcing my legs to carry me to the checkout. I stand in line, every second stretching, the bulk of the gun at my spine keeping me straight.
The cashier rings me up, her attention flicking between us. I paste on what I hope passes for a normal expression, praying she doesn’t see the terror behind it and call the cops.
“Thank you,” I manage, grabbing my bag with shaking hands.
Eli steps up beside me, close enough that our arms brush, and walks out of the store with me.
“My car is right here.” He points to a white Benz and opens the doors. “Get in.”
My pulse batters at the base of my throat. I don’t know if he plans to kill me now or later, only that either way, this is how it starts.
He doesn’t wait for me to move on my own. The passenger door swings open, and he shoves me inside when I hesitate, my shoulder knocking the seat. The door slams with a sharp bang that makes me jump, and he’s in the driver’s seat a second later, locking the doors.
The tinted windows turn the car into a dark little box, cutting us off from the lot, from the world. And all I can think is no one can see in. He can do whatever he wants to me and no one will even know I was here.
For a moment, he just sits there, studying me in silence in a way that unnerves me more than any threat. Then he reaches into the glove compartment, pulls out a manila folder, and sets it on his lap like this is a business meeting and not a hostage situation.
“I have a job for you.”
My fingers curl against my thighs. “What kind of job?”
“I’ve been following you for a while now.”
What?
The words make the inside of the car tilt. I grip the edge of the seat. How long has he been watching?
I don’t even want to know how he found me. That’s an answer that will only make everything worse.
“What's in the envelope?”
His grin widens. “Straight to business. I love that about you. I remember when you first started with us. A shy little thing like yourself.” His gaze drags over my face like he’s cataloging every flinch.
“Did you forget who molded you into what you became, Ghosthands? Fuck, I miss watching you work.”
Just thinking about those days makes me want to retreat and forget I was that person, because I'm not her anymore. I'm Sloane. Eden is dead, and I want to keep it that way.
“I'm not going back,” I tell him, clinging to whatever semblance of strength I have left.
He lets out a short laugh. “You really think you have a choice?” The laugh cuts off almost immediately, his amusement draining away until what’s left on his face is darker.
Colder. “You do what I say, how I say it, or I tell Barrett exactly where you are. You know he still has a bounty on your head, right? I’d be happy to cash that in. ”
Fear slides icy fingers up my spine. I’ve known this was hanging over me since the night I ran, but hearing it out loud makes it feel real in a way it never has before.
He leans in. “I’m doing you a favor, little girl. You should thank me.”
My mouth goes dry. “This is your idea of a favor?”
He ignores the question, eyes gleaming. “And if you don’t behave…
” His smile sharpens. “I’ll take your kid.
I’ll bring him to Barrett myself. I’ll make sure he never leaves our world.
Grows up in it. Belongs to it.” He watches my face, clearly enjoying the way it drains.
“Because for you, that would be worse than death, wouldn’t it? ”
Something tears inside my chest. He’s right, and he knows it.
In one breath, he wraps a leash around my throat. In the next, he fastens the other end around my son.
Of course I would never want that life for Milo. Who would? They’re criminals, murderers. They’ve done things most people can’t even imagine. I came close to killing for them once, but I couldn’t pull the trigger. Eli did it for me, and he never let me live it down.