Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Sienna
I watched Vanessa toss another pair of socks into her suitcase, visibly frustrated. “I fucking hate the idea of you being stranded here alone while I’m whisked away with your boss’s family to some swanky summer retreat,” she griped. “If Gavin’s family has space for my ass, they sure as hell could accommodate you. Christ, you’re the one who actually works for him.”
I shook my head, feeling the weight of responsibility on my shoulders. “I’ve gotta stay put, collaborate with Fury and Gavin to ensure that bastard Arthur Dalton doesn’t harm another soul.”
“Why is that your problem?” Vanessa whirled to face me, her eyes blazing with a mixture of anger and concern. “Why should you be the one to deal with this shit? Aren’t your boss and Fury able to handle this crap? Let them and the damn cops sort it out. I know you’re devoted to your job and your work buddies, but for Christ’s sake, Gavin doesn’t pay you enough to risk your life.”
“I have to do this,” I insisted, my voice firm despite the knot in my stomach. “I know it’s hard to comprehend.”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “If you get so much as a scratch doing this bullshit, I swear to God I’ll beat their asses to a pulp,” she warned. “You make damn sure they know that, you hear me?”
“I’ll pass along the message,” I promised, feeling a rush of affection for her fierce protectiveness. My phone buzzed, interrupting the moment. I glanced at the screen. “Are you all set? The car’s arrived.”
“Jesus, I wish you’d at least stay at Fury’s place,” Vanessa grumbled, hefting her suitcase with a resigned sigh that spoke volumes about her frustration.
“I’ll be fine, babe,” I assured her as we trudged down to the lobby, my heart clenching at the worry etched across her beautiful face.
I continued to believe that when I said goodbye to her and made my way back upstairs. I still believed it when I stretched out on the couch to catch a couple hours of sleep before work.
When someone's banging at my door jerked me out of sleep, I was disoriented enough to think Fury was here to take me to work. Then I saw the time and realized I’d only been asleep for about an hour. Confused, I sat up and made a few steps toward the door before the person on the other side shouted my name.
It was like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over my head. Instant wakefulness, ice in my veins, and fear so sharp and bright it made it hard to breathe.
“Sienna, answer your damn door! I know you’re in there, bitch! Open up!”
Holy shit. It was Ralf.
I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut and pretend this was just some fucked-up nightmare, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the door, utterly terrified that he would find a way to break in. That he’d do to me what he’d done to Lulu, or something even more horrific.
“Sienna!” Ralf roared, his voice dripping with menace. “Open this motherfucking door before I kick it in, you sorry-ass bitch!”
Then I heard something worse.
“Excuse me, young man.” It was Mrs. Goldstein, my elderly neighbor across the hall. “If you can’t keep a civil tongue in your head, you need to leave.”
“Who the hell are you? I’ll beat your ancient ass, too. Don’t think I won’t.”
His threats against a woman who’d been nothing but kind to me got me moving. I would not put one more person in danger for knowing me.
So I opened the door a crack and came face-to-face with my former pimp for the first time since I’d told him I was leaving. In his mid-forties now, he hadn’t aged well. His thinning brown hair was worse now despite his obvious attempts to cover it up. His eyes were bloodshot, and the smell of cigarettes and weed clung to him. His athletic build, however, remained, which wasn’t good for me because when he slammed his shoulder into the door, I couldn’t stop it from flying open.
I stumbled backward, struggling to stay on my feet. I knew if I fell, it was all over. Standing, I could at least try to avoid any punches, but on the ground, he’d kick me, and I knew from personal experience how bad that could be.
“Where is she?” he demanded, advancing toward me.
“Where’s who, Ralf?” I played dumb, knowing he wouldn’t fall for it.
“Lulu, bitch.” He glared at me. “Is she hiding in one of those back rooms? Or are you two setting up your own place? Turning tricks without giving me a cut?”
“I don’t do that anymore,” I said. “You know that. I told you when I went to work for Gavin Manning that I wasn’t hooking anymore.”
“You gotta be doing something worthwhile to get a place like this,” he sneered. “You think you and Lulu could double up, maybe bring in even more? Or did your new ‘boss’ tell you to start recruiting? You are getting older. Things maybe not so high and tight anymore?”
“She’s not here, Ralf,” I said, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice.
“But you know where she is, right?”
He took two more steps toward me, and I moved back until my legs hit the couch.
Shit .
“I know she came to you,” he said. “I got eyes and ears everywhere.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to snap back that if that was true, then he’d already know where she was. But I knew better than to smart off.
“She’s not here,” I repeated.
“Don’t lie to me, you stupid cunt.”
I held up my hands, as if that would keep him away. “She was here, but she left the next day. I don’t know where she went after that.”
That was technically true. I left out the part where I’d given her the means to get out of the city and that I had a phone number to reach her. We’d both agreed it was smarter for me not to know her whereabouts, just in case something like this happened.
Ralf’s lips twisted into a scowl as a too-familiar light came into his eyes. My stomach dropped and my brain raced, trying to find a way out. But I knew there wasn’t one. He was between me and the door, and he’d catch me if I tried to go around him. I had nothing within reach to use as a weapon. If I ran to either bedroom or the bathroom, he’d break down those doors.
I was totally fucked.
“You know something,” he said. “And I’m gonna enjoy getting it out of you.”
He closed the distance, his arm going back to get as much force into his blow as possible. I could only hope it’d be a slap, not a punch.
It never came because, suddenly, someone was between Ralf and me. A huge body I knew intimately. I had no idea how Fury had gotten from the door to the few feet separating Ralf and me, but I wasn’t going to question it. I was just glad he was here.
“Who the fuck are you?” Ralf tried to sound big, but I knew that tone too. It was how he sounded when he realized he wasn’t the biggest bully in the playground anymore.
“I’m the one who’s going to throw you out on your ass in about three seconds.” Fury’s hands curled into fists.
“Wait a minute. I know you. You’re the boyfriend.” Ralf sounded far too pleased, warning me that whatever came next would piss both Fury and me off even more. “You got some bigwig job, don’t you? Working with other people’s money. Rubbing elbows with the rich and famous.”
“Just go, Ralf.” I put my hand on Fury’s back, feeling the tension radiating off him as he fought for control of his temper.
“I will,” Ralf said. “As soon as your boy here writes me a nice fat check. And give me whatever cash he got in his wallet. I like the watch too.”
“Fuck off,” Fury growled.
“Don’t be like that,” Ralf said, almost enjoying himself. “It’s just a business transaction. You give me what I want, and I don’t tell people you’re fucking a whore.”
Fury went impossibly still.
“Sorry to burst your bubble,” Ralf continued, as if he didn’t realize he was poking a very angry bear. “She learned all those bedroom skills to impress the upper crust.”
“I know what you made her do,” Fury said quietly.
The calm in his voice was somehow scarier than his rage.
“Okay, but you’re not gonna want anyone else to know. I mean, who’s gonna want you handling their money with the same hands you handle someone who’s fucked half of Manhattan?”
“I don’t care what you tell people,” Fury said. “What I do care about is you harassing her. So you’re going to leave this apartment and stay away from Sienna.”
“And if I don’t?” Ralf asked. “If I decide she has information I want and I intend to get it one way or another?”
“Then I’m going to make your life a living hell,” Fury said evenly. “Because what you apparently didn’t figure out about me is that I have the means to destroy you. Make you disappear off the face of this earth, and we both know not a single person will miss your sorry ass.”
“You can’t?—”
“I can,” Fury interrupted. “And more importantly, I will. For this woman, I’ll do a hell of a lot. Now, get out before I have to make you.”
As I peeked around Fury, I saw the fear on Ralf’s face before he tried to cover it up with his usual bluster and swagger. Shooting me a glare, he slinked out, not turning his back on Fury until he was in the hall and on his way.
I was fairly certain that Fury’s threats were the hottest things a man had ever offered to do for me.