Lili
The hotel room and adjoining bathroom were so fancy. Fancier than anything I’d ever stayed in before.
I finished toweling off after my long, hot shower in the enormous shower stall. There were so many shower heads, I didn’t know how to work them all. Nabbing the swanky bathrobe off the hook by the door, I slipped into it, then used a towel to clear the steam off the backlit, bronze-framed mirror.
My reflection looked back at me. I looked a little pale, my red-brown hair shades darker since it was wet. My cheek was still a little red from the hit I’d taken.
No wonder Cole couldn’t wait to be rid of me. One, I’d brought him trouble to deal with, and two, I looked like some homeless waif.
Well, I pretty much was homeless.
I sighed. Tomorrow, I’d try to dredge up some excitement about a new start. Tonight, I was just a little rattled, sad, and tired.
My thoughts turned to Ava-Jane. My reflection frowned. Did Goodyear know where she was? Had he done something to her? I thought she’d just moved on. She was nineteen, almost twenty and determined to make it as a model.
I’m going to be a supermodel one day, Lili. Everyone is going to know my name.
She lived with her mom and I knew they fought. She didn’t see Bronco much. Her parents had been divorced for years.
God, I was a terrible friend. When she hadn’t returned my messages or calls, I’d just assumed she was done with me.
Where are you Ava-Jane? I didn’t have the first clue where to start looking for her, but I really wanted to know that she was okay.
In the other room, I perched on the edge of the king-sized bed and nabbed the TV remote. The room was so quiet, underscoring how alone I felt. I found a news channel and left it on. It made the room feel less empty.
Rubbing my hands up my arms, my thoughts kept drifting to Cole. When I’d been with him, I hadn’t felt alone. I’d felt safe.
I couldn’t ever remember feeling safe.
“I’ll make myself safe.” I couldn’t sit here and wallow. Feeling sorry for myself didn’t help things. Believe me, I knew.
Spotting the T-shirt Cole had given me, I rose, and quickly shed my robe. I pulled the soft, white cotton over my head. It was huge, swamping my frame, and instantly, I smelled him. That spicy, dark scent that made me think of bourbon and black pepper.
I crawled into the center of the bed. For a second, back at his villa, I’d almost given in to the temptation to kiss him.
I squeezed my eyes closed. Of course, he’d pulled away.
It was embarrassing. I was nobody and he could have anyone.
He just had to snap a finger and he could have any one of those beautiful fight groupies who panted after him.
My stomach growled. I knew it was the middle of the night, but I hadn’t eaten any dinner, and I’d been running on fumes most of the day. I snatched up the room service menu. Cole had said to order something.
After ordering a burger and Coke, I snuggled back in the pillows and flicked through the channels. Tonight, I was going to enjoy this beautiful room and get some sleep. I wasn’t going to think about my father, or Anton, or Chadwick Goodyear. None of them existed for me anymore.
Then tomorrow, I’d think about how I could find Ava-Jane. Maybe I could find a PI or something.
Then, I was going to drive to California.
I was going to make a fresh start.
I found a music channel, playing a Taylor song I loved.
Leaping up, and breathing in the delicious scent of Cole Black from my T-shirt, I danced around the room. I swung my hips and raised a hand like I was holding a microphone. Smiling for the first time in ages, I threw my arms above my head and boogied.
Yep, I was going to shake it off. My life was going to be different.
There was a loud knock at the door.
I jolted and quickly turned the TV volume down. Wow, room service at the Avernus was fast.
The knock came again.
“Coming,” I called out.
I glanced at the T-shirt and shrugged. It covered everything important. On top of that, I was sure the hotel staff had seen pretty much everything before.
Smiling, I yanked open the door. “Thanks, I—”
My smile dissolved. Two of Goodyear’s goons pushed inside.
“No!” I threw an arm up. How had they gotten up here?
One fisted a hand in the front of my shirt. Fear and anger punched into my throat. No. This wasn’t happening. I saw he was holding an ID card in the other hand. It had a woman’s face on it and had Housekeeping written on it.
I jerked back, but he didn’t let go.
Screw this. This time, I was fighting.
My punch hit Goon One in the jaw. He cursed and shook me.
I kicked and punched. I wasn’t making anything easy for these jerks.
“Get a hold of her,” Goon Two snapped as he moved closer.
“I’m trying.”
Goon Two slammed a punch into my face.
I staggered and saw stars. Blood pooled in my mouth.
I threw a hand out and it closed on the lamp on the desk. Yanking it hard, I threw it at the closest thug. It smashed into his head and he let out a string of curses.
He hit me again and I slammed backward into the wall beside the TV. Pain rocketed through my head, then I fell onto my hands and knees.
I watched my blood drip onto the carpet.
Then one of them kicked me.
With a cry, I curled into a ball, trying to protect my stomach.
“Get her,” one of them growled. “We need to get out of here. Fast.”
The other one dragged me up.
My head throbbed and the metallic taste of my own blood was on my tongue.
Despair flooded me.
I knew better than to believe I could have a different life. To hope for more.
Life always dragged me back down.
With a goon on either side of me, they half dragged me to the door.
There would be no fresh start for me.