Chapter Twenty-One
EFFA
Raoul drags me down the alley toward the car while I pound my fists into his back and shoulders, screaming at him to take me back. I don’t care if I draw attention. I don’t care if the whole damn city hears me. Kaden is back there, and every second we’re moving away from him feels wrong.
“Stop yelling,” Raoul snaps, his breath tight. “You’re drawing attention to us. I need to get you in the car and to safety, then I swear to you, I will go back for Mercs. But you have to stop fighting me.”
“Like fuck I will!” I twist against him, trying to wrench free. “Take me back. Now.”
He jerks to a stop so suddenly that I stumble forward.
“Fuck! Fucking hell,” he mutters, clearly at war with himself. He sets me down but keeps hold of my arm, fingers digging in because he knows the second he lets go, I’ll bolt.
And I would have.
Except the sight in front of us steals the fight right out of me.
The hood of the car is pried open. Not just open—destroyed, with wires spilling out like guts, metal panels hanging loose. Whatever they did under there was deliberate and thorough.
We’re not driving anywhere.
A sick, almost hysterical laugh bubbles up in my throat.
Now he has to let me go.
Now he has to help Kaden.
Instead, Raoul grabs me around the waist and shoves me into the back seat.
I slam against the leather. “Are you kidding me?”
The door slams shut, and the locks click.
Final.
Fucking unmovable.
I lunge for the handle, yanking it over and over even though I know it won’t budge without the remote. The car may be crippled under the hood, but the electronics are intact. Bulletproof windows, a reinforced frame, it’s a security cocoon, and I am firmly locked inside it.
Raoul stands outside the door, jaw tight, shoulders squared, looking torn but unmovable.
I start pounding the window with both palms. The glass doesn’t even shake. My hands sting, but I keep hitting it anyway, like maybe if I hit hard enough, the world will crack with it.
Down the alley, shadows move.
A shape lifts.
A shape falls.
Someone is on the ground.
My stomach heaves violently, and I taste bile as realization slams into me.
They’re hitting him.
Hitting Mercs.
“Raoul!” I scream, my fingers smearing tears across my cheeks as I try to see around his body. “Raoul, you motherfucker. I swear to Gaia if you don’t go back and help him, I will fire your ass!”
He shifts his stance but doesn’t move from my window.
Guarding me.
Watching him.
Another shadow swings something heavy.
Mercs curls tighter on the pavement, and my chest feels like it’s being torn open from the inside.
Yes, I’m angry with him.
Yes, I’m hurt about whatever this is.
But this?
This isn’t justice.
This isn’t karma.
This is a beating in a dark alley, and I am forced to watch the man I love get broken.
“Do s-something,” I beg, my voice fracturing. “Anything.”
Raoul’s thumbs move rapidly over his phone.
What the hell is he doing?
Mine buzzes in my hand.
I nearly throw it aside, because how can a notification matter when Kaden is being destroyed thirty feet away? But instinct wins, and I open it.
Raoul: Effa, as much as it is killing me to watch this, my duty is to protect you.
I can’t leave your side. I know Mercs wouldn’t want me to.
I’ve contacted the police, and I’m recording the assault.
Please try to stay calm. We don’t want them shifting their focus to you.
The car is reinforced. The windows are bulletproof.
It’s the safest place for you right now.
Letting out a gasp of air, I look up, and Raoul’s phone is angled subtly toward the alley.
He’s recording.
Evidence.
Proof.
But proof doesn’t stop bats from cracking ribs.
Proof doesn’t stop blood from spilling.
Proof doesn’t stop them from killing him.
I sob as another swing lands, my vision blurring as though the world is dissolving around me. Every impact feels like it echoes through my own bones. I curl forward in the seat, but I can’t look away. I won’t look away.
And then, suddenly, they stop.
The men step back.
Mercs is folded in on himself, barely moving, and my heart stutters.
Please don’t pull a gun.
Please don’t finish it.
They turn, start walking toward us, and my entire body locks in place.
Behind them, Kaden tries to lift his arm. It shakes but falls. His head drops back against the concrete with what looks like a dull crack, and then he’s out like a light.
I clamp my hand over my mouth, not sure if I’m trying to muffle a scream or hold back being physically ill. Raoul pockets his phone and shifts in front of my door, positioning himself between the approaching men and me.
They spread out slowly, casual and terrifying, bats resting on shoulders, knuckles flexing.
“I’ve informed the police,” Raoul says, his voice steady even though I can see tension thrumming through him. “They’ll be here any minute.”
The scarred man steps forward as if this is a social visit.
“Now, now,” he says mildly. “We just want to talk. We’ve got a few minutes before the police arrive.
So how about you get pretty out of the car, and we all behave like civilized adults, where no one gets hurt…
other than Mercs, of course… he’s in a world of pain right now.
But that’s his fault. What’s it gonna be? ”
Raoul doesn’t hesitate. “Not happening.”
My gaze locks on the bat in the man’s hand—there’s blood on it.
Merc’s blood.
“You see…” he continues lazily, “… this goes one of three ways. We beat you and drag her out ourselves. We torch the car and wait for her to come out. Or you open the door like a good boy, and she steps out nice and easy.”
I press my palm to the window. “Let me out, Raoul,” I say quietly.
He doesn’t even look at me this time. “No.”
“Tick tock,” the man says, tapping his watch.
“Raoul,” I try again, forcing calm into my voice even though I’m shaking. “It’s okay. Let me out.”
“Effa, no.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” the man mutters, and he pulls something from his waistband.
He grabs a weapon from the side of his pants and pulls the trigger, and a large flame bellows out of it—a miniature flame thrower. I open my eyes wide and start banging on the window.
Raoul grimaces while Vex steps up to the car.
“Three, two—”
“Fuck!” Raoul yells and then tries to grab the flamethrower, but in the process loses the car’s remote. One of the guys rushes forward and kicks it away from Raoul, while another sinks a fist in Raoul’s stomach, causing him to buckle over in pain.
The guy hands the remote to Vex, and he pushes the button to unlock the car. Vex then turns up the flame, and it hits the side of the car, the paint bubbling on the surface.
Enough!
I put up my hands to signal that I’m surrendering and exit the vehicle. Vex smiles and turns off the flame, hoisting it back into its holster, and he grins at me as Raoul steps to my side protectively while still holding his stomach.
“So, you’re the rock star girlfriend, right?” Vex asks.
The casual tone of his voice makes my skin crawl.
I glance down the alley again, my heart hammering so hard it feels like it’s cracking against my ribs.
Mercs still isn’t moving, not even a twitch.
The sight of him lying there, broken and motionless, sends a violent shudder through me that I can’t suppress.
For half a second, fear threatens to swallow me whole.
But I won’t let it.
I straighten my spine, forcing myself to stand tall and breathe.
“I am. I have no idea what the hell kind of mess Kaden’s gotten himself into with you, but you can’t go around beating people to a bloody pulp because they owe you a measly sum of money,” I blurt out, my words spilling fast and sharp.
I feel my anger rising, washing over my fear, and burning it away.
If I let myself think too long about what he’s done to Kaden, I’ll crumble, so I don’t.
Vex raises his brow slowly.
And smiles.
The asshole actually dares to smile.
Raoul shifts in front of me immediately, his arm coming up across my chest, pushing me back a step as Vex takes one forward. The movement is protective, automatic, but I refuse to retreat further as my heels dig into the concrete where I plant myself.
I am not going to let this man think I’m afraid of him.
I’m furious.
My man is lying defenseless in that alley, possibly dead, all because of this asshole. And I’ll be fucked if I’m going to shrink back now.
“You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?” Vex chimes, amused. His gaze drags over me in a way that makes my stomach twist. “I can see why Mercs has a boner for you. Hell, I think I’m getting one for you.”
My lip curls before I can stop it.
Disgust ripples through me like acid.
“I’m surprised you can even get it up. You have to be what? Decayingly old?” I shoot back.
Raoul groans under his breath, pushing me slightly further behind him as if trying to physically block my mouth from making matters worse. But I lean around him, refusing to be hidden and keep my eyes locked on Vex’s.
If he thinks he can intimidate me, he picked the wrong woman.
I might be shaking inside.
I might be terrified of what he’s already done.
But I will not give him the satisfaction of seeing it.
He smiles and nods to his men, and my spine locks so tight I’m sure it might splinter. For a split second, I think this is it. That this is where it escalates. Where they rush him again. Where I watch something I won’t be able to unsee.
But they lower their bats.
Lower their fists.
And step back.
The shift is subtle, but it changes the air entirely.
“You impress me, girl. You have lady balls. I’d like to have you on my team, but you already have a job, and you’re damn good at it. So, I know I won’t be able to bring you into the fold. But I do have another proposition for you.”
My stomach twists. Compliments from men like him aren’t praise, they’re leverage.
Furrowing my brows, I force myself to breathe through the metallic taste coating my tongue. “What, you Negan wannabe?”