28
Sitting with my feet up in Lorenzo’s lap while I ate flaky, buttery croissants and sipped black coffee—much to his disgust—while he read the newspaper out loud to me had become an almost daily occurrence. The past couple of weeks I had barely been back to my apartment, only spending a few nights there and popping in to change my clothes. I had managed to feel at home in his mansion strangely quickly, and fell into little routines with Lorenzo that made me more comfortable with my choice.
He was trying, and I was starting to feel… something.I was still doing the Brotherhood jobs that no one else wanted, still in his bad books at work, as I had expected I would be, but I was fine with that. No one new knew about our situation, and I didn’t want anyone growing suspicious of it until we both knew where we really stood with each other. He was controlling his moods with me far better than before, keeping things professional in public, but behind closed doors I had stopped questioning how he felt.Every evening that I spent with him had been filled with delicious meals, late night trips to amazing places, and him telling me about his day, just like a normal couple would.“I really appreciate all of this,” I murmured to him as he paused to turn a page in his paper.“The news?” he questioned, and dropped the paper enough to glance over it at me with an amused look on his face. I was starting to enjoy those special expressions that he rarely showed to anyone else.“No, you holding up your end of our agreement.” I smiled at him.He closed the newspaper and folded it before placing it on the table. “I’m a man of my word, amore mio. If you try, I try.” His hands fell to my feet, and he began to rub deep circles into the arch. “Are you happy?” he asked carefully.I groaned as he kneaded my aching feet, and tossed him a seductive smile. “What do you think, Lorenzo. Do I look happy?”He ran his gaze over me hungrily, I was sitting in a blue, silk nightgown that skimmed my thighs. Lorenzo had bought it for me after the second time that I had come down to breakfast wearing one of his shirts, telling me I should wear nightwear made for a queen, not his shirts. That evening he had presented me with a box filled with various silk nightgowns and camisole sets. I tried to refuse them at first, I could bring over some pjs if he wanted to give me a drawer or something, I couldn’t accept such luxurious gifts, but he had put his foot down. Well, he had actually had a raging tantrum and threatened to burn them if I refused them. God forbid Lorenzo not get what he wanted. Drama king.“You look many things, amore mio,” he said in a rough, lust filled voice that sent a rush of heat to my core. “I think…” He searched my face. “I think I can see a hint of happiness…” He gently placed my feet on the floor and leaned closer. “Right there.” He placed the pad of his finger on the corner of my mouth.I smiled into his touch, and he returned it before swiping his finger softly over my lower lip.“I have a request.” He didn’t move away and ran his finger back and forth over my mouth.“Mm.” I hummed, waiting for him to continue.“I have been invited to tomorrow’s charity gala, and I would like you to attend with me,” he said, and dragged his finger down from the centre of my lip to my chin to meet his thumb in a gentle hold.“With you? or with you?” I asked quietly.“I want to show the world how lucky I am to have you, Il mio tesoro. I want you on my arm for everyone to see,” he said and pulled me in to place a chaste kiss on my lips.He released me and sat back, retrieving my feet from the floor where he had placed them and lifting them back in his lap as he waited for me to respond.“So everyone will know, everything will change?” I asked.“Yes, everything will change,” he agreed, “you don’t have to decide now, but I will need your answer by tomorrow morning, amore.”I nodded slowly and forced a smile to my face. “I’ll think about it, thank you.”“You couldn’t have covered up a bit, cara?” Adonis said from the doorway where he was leaning and scowling at me. How long had he been there?“Bite me, Donny.” I narrowed my eyes at him, and he barked a hollow laugh, but didn’t respond. He walked over to where we were sitting and leaned over my legs to grab the newspaper from the table.“Are you done with this?” he asked Lorenzo, who nodded and began to rub my feet again.Adonis tucked the paper under his arm and reached over me again, grabbing my coffee and sipping from the half-empty cup.“Are you fucking kidding me, Adonis,” I snapped and pulled my feet away from Lorenzo’s lap to stand up, coming up face to chest with the arsehole.
He smirked down at me and wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb. “Delicious,” he whispered with a low laugh.“Go and get her a fresh cup, Adonis,” Lorenzo commanded in a voice that sounded like he was growing more and more tired of our shit each day.
Adonis hadn’t been around as much as I thought he would be since I had agreed to try with Lorenzo. He often stayed out for the whole night. I had no idea where he went, I didn’t really care, so long as he wasn’t around me all the time pushing my buttons.“She has legs; she can get her own,” he argued, continuing to stare me down.“That was mine,” I snarled and shoved his chest.A growl rumbled in his throat, and before I could blink, a hand was on my chest. But it wasn’t Don’s hand, it was Lorenzo’s. I had been so consumed by my anger towards the arsehole that I hadn’t noticed when my lover had stood up to place himself between the two of us.“Can you two please try to get along,” he sighed and looked from me to Adonis.I didn’t speak, choosing to sit back down and try to keep a hold on my temper, while Adonis swatted Lorenzo’s hand away and turned to leave the room. A few minutes later he returned with two full cups of coffee and wordlessly placed one on the table where mine had been sitting before he had stolen it. He gave Lorenzo a tight, sarcastic smile and sauntered back out of the dining room.“You will have to drive yourself into work today, amore. I have a job for you later,” Lorenzo said, a simple change of subject that worked perfectly to take my mind off of the coffee stealing arsehole.“What is it?” I asked with mild curiosity, recently I’d spent a lot of early evenings running around on drug drops, something I hadn’t done in years—being in Lorenzo’s bad books at ‘work’ had shitty consequences.“I need a message sent to Shay,” he said, and his eyes glittered as he watched me quickly perk up.Finally, something big.“Okay,” I said slowly and attempted to wipe the wide grin from my face.“Do not go overboard though. I don’t want any retaliation from him,” he warned, “I have a few things to handle, but Cooper is around, go and see him before you leave for work.”He stood, then leaned in to place a kiss on my forehead. I reached up and looped my arms around his neck before he could pull away and dragged him back in for a deep kiss that perfectly conveyed how happy I was to be back in his good graces.After I was washed and dressed in the clean outfit that I had picked up before hitting the gym last night, I went in search of Cooper. He would either be in the little office that our boss had set up for him, the one filled with computers and all sorts of gadgets that I had no idea about, or he would be taking full advantage of working here by enjoying a morning workout in Lorenzo’s home gym.I checked the gym first, but it was empty, so I moved on to the door at the end of the hall. Loud drum and bass music was thumping from the other side, and I winced a little at the sound, it was not my cup of tea at all.“Coop,” I hollered over the music as I opened the door
He paused the song. “Good morning, Sunshine,” he exclaimed and grinned up at me from his swivel chair in the centre of the room.“Good morning. Boss says I need to come and speak to you about the Shay job today?” I tilted my head and leaned on the door frame.“Oh, and here I was thinking you had come to see me because you missed me.” He pulled a sad face, bottom lip jutting out and eyes widening as though he was attempting to bring tears to them.“Seriously, Coop, we had lunch together on Sunday.”“And now its Wednesday, it’s not good enough, Mallory, I’m starting to feel abandoned,” he teased. “Take the day off and hang here with me?” He widened his eyes even more in a plea. “I’m already bored, and its only 8am.”“I have work to do, important work.” I folded my arms. “And so do you, I’m guessing.”“Whose account?” he raised a challenging brow at me.“The boss’s,” I said, “you know, the one client who might actually kill me if it doesn’t get done.”Cooper spread his arms with a triumphant smile. “Then what better place to be than his own damn house with the man himself just down the hall, easily accessible if you have any questions about his expense reports.”I frowned at him.“Come on, Mallory, play with me,” he pouted.I rolled my eyes at his theatrics; I thought I was bad. “Let me go and speak to him,” I sighed, knowing already that Lorenzo would most likely agree to me staying here for the day, but I didn’t want to give Cooper that satisfaction just yet.I strolled back down the hallway and turned to head towards Lorenzo’s office. The door was open a crack, so I peered through it before entering, making sure that he wasn’t in the middle of a call or something.“Amore mio, is everything alright?” he asked as he looked up from a stack of papers.“Everything is fine. I have a request; can I work here today?”He looked a little taken aback, then gave me a small smile. “Of course, but don’t let any of us distract you too much. Do you need anything?” He stood up and crossed the room to me.“Just a computer, a printer, and unlimited coffee.”He chuckled and kissed my forehead. “Done, and we can have lunch together?”I nodded in response. “I’d like that.”He walked with me back to the room where Cooper had turned his music back on.“C,” he bellowed. “Turn this shit off. Mal will be working here today, make sure she has everything that she needs, and go make some fresh coffee,” he commanded.
Cooper nodded like a madman, then wiggled his eyebrows at me behind Lorenzo’s back as he shot out of the room.“Thank you, boss.” I turned to him and ran my hand up his chest, toying with the two buttons at the top of his shirt that he had left open.“I love how you look when you’re about to go to work. Wear your hair like this for me this evening?” he murmured, and I smiled as he brushed the loose hair that framed my face behind my ear. I wore it in a chignon for work, and I usually unpinned it the second I left the office. His fingers lingered on my earlobe and his brows creased slightly. “You deserve diamonds, amore.” He stroked my lobe. “We can shop for some tonight.”He released my ear and pressed his mouth to my cheek. I half nodded, then realised that he meant earrings. No, I couldn’t. My fingers shot up to my earlobes and I swallowed thickly.“These are important to me,” I whispered, my voice wobbling slightly. “I don’t want anything else.” I bit my lower lip, “Thank you though,” I added.Lorenzo’s face twisted with confusion, but he didn’t push. “Maybe a necklace then?”I considered it for a moment. Jewellery didn’t overly interest me, I had pieces I liked already. But he clearly wanted to spoil me. I just wished that he knew what would really make me smile wasn’t something that I could wear around my neck. “Maybe.”Cooper cleared his throat as he moved past us and placed our drinks on one of the many surfaces in the room. My shoulders relaxed at the interruption; I hadn’t been aware that I had tensed up so much. Lorenzo straightened up, adopting his big scary boss mask, and turned to Coop.“Let her work, otherwise you can kiss goodbye to the special treat that I have coming for you from Andreas,” he threatened, and Cooper’s face lit even brighter than usual.“You didn’t?” He bounced in the chair he had sat back down in.“I did, do your research before you use them though.” Lorenzo glared at him, and he agreed, still bouncing.I went to sit in the only other chair in the room and wriggled to get comfy. Lorenzo gave me a sharp nod and I returned it; we were in business mode from now until lunch.When he closed the door Cooper grabbed a cup of coffee and spun in his chair to hand it to me. I took it and thanked him.
“What’s the special treat from Andreas then?” I asked, beyond curious about what had him so excited.“Explosives.” He grinned and his blue eyes twinkled. I nodded, completely understanding his excitement now, and knowing that if they had come from Andreas then we were absolutely not supposed to have them.“Explosives that I can play with later?” I asked, full of hope.“No chance, and the boss doesn’t want to make a statement that big. Randomly blowing up one of Shay’s guys is not sending the right message, that’s starting a war.” He gave me a stern look.“Fine.” I slumped in the chair and pouted. “What’s the deal with this message anyway, he said to come and talk to you about it.”He twisted from side to side in his chair and steepled his fingers, looking like a hyperactive spy villain. “Take your pick, a group of his guys will be at the shooting range this evening, rumour has it that the big dope is planning something unpleasant for the boss tomorrow evening at the gala.”I nodded along as I listened intently.“Boss wants you to make sure that Shay understands that if he does anything stupid, his men will pay. Get creative, Sunshine, but don’t go too far. And for God’s sake keep me in the loop. Boss will kill me if anything happens to you.”I scoffed at the idea of anything bad happening to me and thought for a moment. “Couldn’t I just kidnap and hold one of his guys hostage? I’ve always wanted to do that.”Cooper spluttered a laugh. “Sure, you crazy bitch, you going to rock up in a balaclava and throw him in the back of a van?”I laughed with him. “Maybe not.”“Just stick to what you know. Select one, get him alone, make a threat, spill a little blood, but leave him able to actually send the message.”I sighed in satisfaction. “It’s nice to be out of the boss’s bad books.”Cooper raised his brows at me. “Did he spank you?” He winked.I pretended to zip my lips closed and he groaned.“You’re no fun.” He spun back to one of the many computers that he was working on. “Stop distracting me and get to work.”I laughed and turned away from him to face the only screen that he hadn’t fired up, and sipped my coffee as I waited for it to wake up. Then I opened my emails and found the documents that I’d need for the day. I liked it here in this room with my friend far more than I liked my quiet office. If it wasn’t for the fact that I needed my own space and separate friends, like Eden, I’d probably ask Lorenzo if I could work here permanently.
“Be careful sunshine.” Coop’s voice came through the headphone that I had in my ear.“I always am, call you in a bit, enjoy the show.”I hung up and waved up at the camera on the side of the building before slinking into the shadow of the trees that bordered the mountainside shooting range to wait for the three wolves to come outside.I had gone over my plan with Cooper, and we had agreed that a simple approach was the best idea. The three men always arrived in separate vehicles, so I could mess with one car, the other two would drive off, and I’d be left with my poor victim stuck and alone.Then I could pounce.
Coop had advised me to use a gun, as the chances of anyone noticing the shot outside of a shooting range would be pretty slim. I took his advice and had my favourite Beretta 92 in a shoulder holster, and had strapped a couple of extra items to myself, just incase.From my hiding place I had a clear view of the main entrance to the range and the vehicles parked out front. I’d selected the car that was parked furthest from the entrance, but in clear view of the camera. Coop had already confirmed that he had intercepted the feed and would do whatever Coop does behind those computer screens when the time was right. I hadn’t been listening. It only really mattered that he knew what he was doing, so if anyone in the security office was watching the screen during my little attack, they’d be none the wiser.The heavy front door to the range swung open, and two men in black denim jackets stepped out laughing, followed by another matching man who was checking his phone and not paying them any attention.Hello, little pups.The two cheerful guys made their way to their cars. “Drinks back at The Hound?” one called out over the roof of his pickup to the other two.The man he had been laughing with agreed enthusiastically and slid into a blue Maserati and the man who continued to type away on his phone nodded his head distractedly.The man put his phone into his pocket and strode over to a silver Audi, the car that I had taken great joy in messing with. I hadn’t done a lot to it, nothing that couldn’t be easily fixed, but his car was not going to start while the spark plugs were missing. He climbed into the driver’s seat and his friends pulled away from the parking lot, speeding off towards the winding mountain road that led back to town.
Everything was running smoothly.The Audi made a painful choking noise a couple of times before the man got back out with a frustrated scowl set on his face. I cracked my neck and pulled out my gun, training my eye on my target as I took aim and waited for the perfect moment.The wolf walked around to the front of his car and popped the hood, leaning in to take a closer look at what I’d done.
I squeezed the trigger, watching with smug satisfaction as a bullet shot through the air and sank into the front tyre of the Audi, emitting a pop and a soft hiss.
The wolf jolted upright and moved to the side of the car. He crouched down to investigate. He carefully ran his finger around the bullet hole and groaned, wiping his hand over his face before his eyes started to dart around the parking lot, squinting as he examined all of the wrong shadows.I holstered my gun and stepped out from beside a tall tree, moving just far enough into the light that glowed from the front of the building to be visible. When the Wolf finally stopped me his face twisted in disgust.“Lady Brother,” he hissed.
I had no idea that I had a nickname. Cute.I gave him a devilish smile and strode slowly over to him, tossing my hair back and pulling a small knife from the sheath that I had strapped to my thigh. I twirled it around in my hand. I was pretty much winging it from this point onwards.“I’d heard that you were dramatic, but this...” He gestured to his tyre. “Is a little much, don’t you think?” he asked in an amused tone as he finally straightened up. “I take it you’re also the reason that my car wont start.” He folded his arms and raised his brows, he knew who he was facing, but he wasn’t scared. The fact just made me smile wider.“Maybe.” I shrugged as I came to a stop a couple of feet away from him and reached into my jacket pocket to pull out the missing car parts. I held my hand out to him, but he made no move to take them.“Smart.” I laughed and tossed them on the floor at his feet.He bent slowly to pick them up as I leaned a hip against his car and tossed my knife in the air a few times. He kept his eyes on me from his crouched position and pulled a knife from his boot.
So predictable.
He lunged towards me, but I was ready, grabbing his outstretched arm before the sharp blade in his hand could connect with my body. I twisted him into a secure hold, pressing the tip of my own knife to the side of his throat.“You won’t kill me,” he panted and writhed in my hold.“Won’t I?” I asked casually as I ran the tip of my blade in gentle teasing circles over his throat, putting an instant stop to his attempt to break away from me.“Of course not,” he rasped. “You’re not that dumb.”My jaw tensed but I refused to bite. Instead, I shoved him to the floor and slammed my boot down onto the middle of his back. He grunted in pain as my foot connected with his ribs next, and he rolled to his side as he cursed me out.I continued to wear him down, kicking and stomping, blocking his every attempt to strike out at me. When he seemed reasonably broken, and unlikely to fight back, I crouched in front of him. I grasped his face, turning his head so that his eyes met mine.“I was planning on just shooting you in the leg and being done with it, but I think I’ve changed my mind.”I gave him a feral smile as I ran my knife down one side of his face, and he sucked in a pained breath as the skin broke and blood began to trickle across his cheek. I pushed him onto his back with my knee and straddled him, holding him in place on the gravel. Turning his head the other way, I ran an identical line down his other cheek. He cried out as I pushed deeper this time, and I sighed.“Oh shh, you big baby.” I sliced again. “Chicks dig scars. If anything, I’m doing you a favour.”I knew that wasn’t necessarily true, Grey was covered in scars and the only woman who wanted him was Deb, but it worked for some guys. This guy might be able to pull it off. If he wasn’t a Wolf, I’d have said that he was reasonably attractive. Although If I were him, I wouldn’t be telling any girls how actually I got scarred. No, if I were him, I’d come up with some epic story where I came out on top.“Are you done?” he growled as I admired my work, having added a couple of short slashes to his left eyebrow after carving a jagged ‘b’ into his forehead.I hovered with my knife tip held above his eye and hummed thoughtfully. “Yeah, I suppose I am.”
I pushed his head hard against the ground and he winced then glared at me. “Good.”Standing up, I frowned down at him as the rumble of a car engine drew closer.“The cavalry?” I asked. Then pulled out my gun and swiftly shot him in the leg.He screamed and rolled around at my feet, and I groaned, glancing up at the camera with an eyeroll for Coop as the blue Maserati approached. I squared my shoulders took aim towards the windshield of the Maserati as I moved around the Audi and stepped closer to where it had stopped. The driver’s door opened, and a tall man stepped out, but it wasn’t the Wolf who had driven away from here ten minutes ago.“What did I miss?” the heavily tattooed, well-dressed arsehole asked as I lowered my gun.“What the fuck are you doing here?” I snarled. “And where’s the Wolf?” Please tell me you haven’t killed him. Please don’t be that stupid.“In the trunk.” Adonis smirked. “Where’s your guy?”I pointed to the Audi. “Behind there.” I frowned back at Adonis. “Why are you here?”“Because you needed me,” he said cockily and closed the Maserati door. He stepped closer to where I was standing, still in my power pose, but with my gun pointed to the floor now, instead of at him. Although I was half tempted to raise it.“I didn’t need you. I’m guessing the guy in the trunk was coming back to help his friend out?”He nodded, still advancing on me.“I could’ve handled him,” I said firmly, and he took one final step closer, his pristine Italian leather loafers halting toe-to-toe with my scuffed black boots.“Sure you could, cara.” He looked down at me and I pursed my lips.“Does the boss know you’re here?” I asked.His deep laugh irritated me. “Who do you think sent me? Clearly he doesn’t think you can handle things by yourself anymore.”I blinked at him, attempting to hide how that had made me feel. It hurt, that Lorenzo didn’t trust me to do this. But he trusted Adonis?What the fuck.I put my gun away and turned away from Adonis, needing to get away from him, from this scene, away from the fact that apparently I wasn’t trusted to do my fucking job.I steadied myself within two steps, clung on my annoyance, instead of the hurt, and glanced over my shoulder, glaring at Adonis. “Whatever. Don’t be stupid, Donny, return the nice Wolf to his owner. Unharmed.”We both walked away. He went back to the stolen car, and I headed towards the Audi.. The Wolf that I had been handling hadn’t made any more noise, so I presumed that he had passed out from the pain. I would check on him before I left, just to make sure that he wasn’t bleeding out and was able to go home.The Maserati’s engine started up, and I felt a small fragment of tension leave my body.
As I rounded the Audi, I was knocked to the floor, a solid mass colliding with me. It took me a moment to realise that the Wolf was on top of me, pinning me to the ground behind his car.“Fuck,” I shouted and held my arms over my face as his fist came hurtling towards me.He connected with my arm as I locked them in a hard barrier in front of my face and anticipated the next blow.It didn’t come.Instead, cool air washed over my body as the man’s heavy weight vanished from on top of me. I dropped my arms and jumped up, searching for him while wondering what the hell he was going to do next.Nothing. He would do nothing.Adonis had him by the scruff of his shirt and was dragging him towards the front of the Audi. I scrambled to my feet and stumbled around the car, ignoring my bodys protests, hurrying as I heard a loud thud and a sickening scream. I got as far as the wing mirror, then stopped, taking in the two men in front of me.Adonis had his hands pressed down on the hood of the car, the hood that was not fully closed. His black shirtsleeves were rolled part way up his forearms, and the exposed skin was smeared with blood. I tried to recall if it had been there before but I couldn’t remember, I had been too irritated to fully take him in.
The wolf was bent over, half of his body hidden from sight. Muffled screams were coming from where he was trapped under the hood. Adonis lifted the hood and peered inside with a disgusted look on his face.
“Don’t you ever touch her again,” he growled and straightened up.My eyes widened, and I met his dark, dangerous stare. He looked me up and down, his gaze locking on my face for just a moment, and then drifting to my hand that was clinging to the side of the car. He pushed the now silent Wolf to the floor and rushed towards me. He moved me so that my back was against the side of the car, and he began checking me over.“Are you hurt?” he asked in a low, quiet voice.“I thought you left,” I murmured.“I didn’t, are you hurt?” he repeated.“I’m fine Don, is he?” I bit my lip. “Is he still alive?”Adonis’ hands continued to search for injuries while his eyes darted, intensely taking in every inch of me.“He’s fine, they’ll get the message,” he assured me. “You are hurt,” he said with a slight growl as his he removed his hand from where it had been carefully examining my head. There was blood on his fingertips, but I hadn’t felt any pain in my head.“I’m fine,” I repeated, “It’s probably not my blood.”“What if it is?” he asked, sounding annoyed as he pushed his hand back through my hair, gently searching for any cuts.“It isn’t,” I said with more bite this time. “Get off of me.”I lifted my hand and tugged his wrist.“Just wait, cara,” he snapped, sounding more irritated.“No, Don.” I tugged again, and he snarled at me.“For God’s sake Mallory, just let me check,” he shouted, and my mouth fell open. I looked up at him and found myself silenced by the anger burning behind his eyes.I dropped my hand from his wrist, and he slid his hand from my hair and down the side of my face, slowly, softly. My breath caught in my throat as I was dragged deeper into the depths of his midnight eyes. I let out a shaky breath as his fingers reached my chin, and he held me, tilting my head back.
His head dipped lower, his lips hovered over mine.I froze.His breath was warm, his scent was intoxicating, a combination of cinnamon and bonfire. I couldn’t stop myself from being drawn in. My lips brushed his, and a spark of electricity flashed through me.Did he feel it too?Suddenly I pulled away, startled by the realisation of what had almost happened. His hand dropped from my chin, and he blinked rapidly before scrubbing his hand repeatedly, forcefully over his face.“What,” I breathed. “What the fuck was that?”He stared down at me, anger still simmering in his eyes, but he didn’t speak.“What was that?” I shouted, and shoved his solid chest.He stepped back a few paces, and his jaw tightened. He glared at me for a moment, then turned and walked away, getting into the Maserati, and speeding out of sight.I took a few steadying breaths and attempted to step away from the car that I was still leaning against. My body groaned as I moved, but I didn’t care, it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I managed make it back to my car and climb into the driver’s side. My hands were shaking, and my head was spinning. What the hell had just happened?I shook myself off and swallowed down the lump sitting in my throat. I hated him, he hated me, and that was all just adrenaline fuelled stupidity. Nothing more.I glanced around the car park, apart from the Audi and the unconscious man on the ground, it was empty. I looked at the building in front of me and blew out a long breath. It was only when I remembered what was on the side of the building that I tensed again.The camera.I yanked my phone out of my pocket, thankful that it hadn’t been damaged in my fall, and bought up Lorenzo’s number. I called and listened to it ring out. Seconds turned into minutes where I couldn’t breathe, all I could do was press call, over and over again.He didn’t answer.I tried Cooper next, but nothing. I chewed on my lip until it began to bleed. He had seen, hadn’t he?
He was going to kill me. Us.A few minutes later a message popped up on my phone.
CooperStay away from the mansion. Let him come to you when he’s ready. Stay safe.
I winced. What the hell was going on over at the mansion? I pressed call one last time on Lorenzo’s number, and when I reached his voicemail, I left a short message.“L, I need to clear my head, but please, call me back.” I sighed, unsure what else I could say. “Please,” I repeated softly, and then hung up.I looked up at my face in the mirror, there was blood drying on my skin and a few tiny scratches that I’d guess had come from gravel flicking onto my face when I had been on the ground. I looked a mess, too much of a mess for what I was about to do, but I didn’t care. I needed to clear my head, just like I’d told Lorenzo, and I knew there was only one other way I’d find a release without him.