FIFTY-TWO
Milan
PRESENT
“What’s this?”
As I reach for a T-shirt from Shin’s shelf, I am surprised by a very different sight.
Tucked between the neatly folded clothes is a collection of bottles. One by one, I pull them out, studying the labels and the amount of liquid left.
Vodka, whiskey, rum. All at least half empty.
Immediately, Shin yanks a bottle from my hand and stuffs it back into his closet before shoving a clean T-shirt toward me.
“It’s nothing. I grabbed them from my dad’s basement, so we’d have something to drink when we hang out here.”
I stare at him in silence for a moment. Bullshit.
Now that I think about it, I’ve never actually seen Shin drunk. Sure, sometimes he seems tipsy, but even when he drinks more than Damian and me, he never shows typical signs of being drunk.
I always assumed he had a high alcohol tolerance, but looking at the bottles in his closet, another thought crosses my mind.
Maybe the reason he can handle alcohol so well is because he drinks more often than we do.
Does he have a … drinking problem?
Just as I’m about to say something, the door bursts open, and Damian stumbles in. “Did you miss me, motherfuckers?”
I close my mouth again. I’ll talk to Shin later.
Damian throws himself onto Shin’s bed, arms spread wide. Definitely drunk.
“Where were you?” Shin shuts his closet and walks over to Damian while I start changing.
“At Logan’s party. I fucked three girls.”
“And I’m sure you were as charming as ever.” Shin grabs Damian by the collar of his shirt and yanks him into a sitting position.
He grins and pokes Shin in the forehead. “You’re just jealous, Shinichiro. You missed out!”
Damian grabs Shin’s arm and pulls him down. “Did you know Mary Ann’s hiding an E-cup under her uniform?”
“Get off-” Shin’s eyes suddenly widen. “Wait. E? You’re shitting me.”
“I’m dead serious,” Damian chuckles. “I’ve got proof.”
I roll my eyes and sit down on the couch in Shin’s room. Damian holds his phone just inches from Shin’s face.
“Damn,” Shin whispers.
“Shane! Get over here, man. You gotta see this,” Damian calls me over.
I click my tongue as suddenly my phone starts ringing. It’s an unknown number.
Frowning, I answer. “Who is this?”
“Shane?” Even though her voice is muffled through the line, I know exactly who it is.
Silver Moore.
Why in the world is Silver calling me at one in the morning?
My heart skips a beat as an unpleasant thought creeps into my head. “What’s wrong?”
Shin and Damian, sensing the shift in my tone, turn to look at me.
There’s a brief silence before she speaks again, her voice shaky. “Is Aliya with you?”
The second I hear her name, my heartbeat quickens. My grip tightens around the phone.
Has something happened to her? Is she in trouble? Is she hurt?
“No. Why?”
Her voice breaks. “Her mother called me. She ran away from home, and she hasn’t come back. I’m really worried. She didn’t take her phone with her.”
My mind goes blank.
She ran away. She’s out there somewhere at one in the morning, without her phone or anything else.
Goddammit.
I hang up without replying and shoot to my feet.
Shin and Damian are both staring at me, waiting for an explanation. I don’t bother giving one. I don’t have time – I need to find her. Grabbing my jacket, I head for the door.
“Whoa, where are you going? Who was that?” Shin grabs my arm.
I look him dead in the eye. “Let go. It’s about Aliya, I need to find her.”
“Why? What happened?”
A chill runs through me.
Running away isn’t like her. She can be stubborn and hot-headed, sure, but she’s always been the responsible type. She wouldn’t just vanish like this.
My eyes shift to Damian, who’s sitting on the edge of the bed, watching me closely. His face is serious, and the way he’s looking at me like he’s sizing me up – it’s not something I see often.
A terrible conclusion forms in my mind. I shove Shin aside and move toward Damian.
“You have something to do with this, don’t you?”
The corners of his mouth twitch up, and he rises from the bed, locking eyes with me. “What are you talking about, Shane?”
My jaw clenches.
He wanted to punish her, to hurt her.
He wasn’t here all night.
And now that smug grin.
He definitely has something to do with this.
Rage boils over inside me, and before I can stop myself, I grab Damian by the collar. “What did you do to her? Where is she?”
“What’s going on?” Shin steps up beside us.
“Get a grip, man,” Damian sneers. “You really think I’d hurt her?”
“Of course you would, you bastard!”
Shin glances back and forth between us, clearly confused by what’s happening. “What the hell are you two talking about?”
“I just wanted to teach her a lesson, that’s all.”
My eyes darken. A lesson?
Shin’s expression hardens. “Who? Aliya? What are you talking about?”
“I just made sure she knows her place,” Damian says with a shrug, like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
My hands tighten around his collar, nearly choking him. “What the fuck did you do? Answer me.”
“Didn’t you notice how she came between us? Because of her, you’ve started to turn against me. She’s a weakness you can’t afford, Shane.”
I can’t take it anymore.
Without thinking, my fist crashes into Damian’s face. His head snaps to the side, and a satisfying crack of cartilage fills the room. He stumbles back, collapsing onto the bed, clutching his bleeding nose.
“What did you do to her?” I step toward him, ready to hit him again.
Despite the blood and pain, he smirks. “I put her in her place. Simple.”
My fist slams into his face again, splitting his lip. Blood splatters onto my hand. “You fucking piece of shit. Tell me what you did!”
Shin tries to pull me back. “Milan, stop! Beating him won’t change anything!”
I’m breathing heavily, struggling to keep my anger in check. I’ll lose my mind if I don’t find out right now if she’s okay.
Damian lies on the bed, his face covered in blood.
“Where is she?” I demand, my voice rougher and darker than ever.
“I drugged her and left her at home. But that was hours ago. She should be sober by now,” he admits.
Drugged?
I grind my teeth and resist the urge to kick him or break more of his bones.
Damian’s said all he knows. It’s time for me to find Aliya.
“If you even think about going near her again, you’re dead.”
I turn to leave, but his voice stops me. “You’re choosing her? Putting a worthless slut over our friendship?”
“You’re fucking stupid if you ever thought I’d choose our shitty friendship over her,” I say, laughing bitterly. “She means the world to me, and I’d take her over anyone any day. Maybe one day, you’ll understand what I mean.”
“You’ll regret this, Shane. When you realize she’s destroyed us.”
“The only one who will regret anything is you, D. You destroyed our friendship the moment you hurt her.”
Ignoring Shin’s protests, I storm out of the house, start up my motorcycle, and rev the engine until his words are drowned out.
Aliya is my priority.
I have to find her.
And I already have an idea of where she might be.