Inside Danger (Outside The Ropes Book 2) (9 page)

“Don’t” he breathed, stepping closer to me. “Don’t push me away. You need me.”

“Need you? You have my mind twisted more than anything else going on, and I can do something about that. I can’t be two different people and you made your choice tonight. So walk away now.”

“This is you lighting those fires you warned me about. Don’t do it.” He reached for me, his hand landing on my shoulder. “Lets—”

I shoved his hand away. “You lit this fire. I’m just cleaning up.”

Demetri’s door opened and he stepped out, pausing as he took in the scene. He cocked his head at me, a glint in his eye.

“Fuck off Demetri, this isn’t any of your business,” Gage broke the silence.

Demetri’s smile broadened as he nodded at me. “She is my business. I leave if she wants me to.”

Looking between the two of them, I stepped back to my door, hand on the knob. “We’re done talking.”

Gage met my eyes as he stepped back.

Then Demetri stepped in front of me, lifting his chin down the hall. “You go now, Lawson.”

Gage walked away without looking back, but my eyes followed him until he turned the corner to the stairs, dropping out of view.

Demetri nodded to me and then followed behind Gage.

I walked back to my room, empty, but relieved that I had finally dealt with the one thing I did have control over.

THE CHILLY MORNING AIR SMELLED OF THE rain that came during the night. Puddles spotted the driveway and reflected the bright sunshine. All I kept wondering was if the rain had washed away the blood from the wreckage. Guilt was heavy in my stomach, a brick that wouldn’t budge.

Demetri was as silent as ever as we walked to the car. He’d only spoke to order me to get ready, we had to go to the gym and he was driving me again.

As we drove down the road, I looked for signs of the accident. There were skid marks on the road and grass. Nothing else I could see as we passed by. But my mind was expanding, thinking about what might have happened after.

“Did everything go okay last night?” I asked.

Demetri tilted his head towards me with a frown. “Hm?”

“The cleanup.” I swept my hand, gesturing out the window.

“Yes, finished.” He kept his face forward, eyes on the road.

“Did you find out who they were?” I asked, patience slipping.

“None to do with you.”

I guess he no longer considered me part of it. I decided to drop it for now and move onto my other concern of the night.

“What about Damien? Was that done last night?” Icicles formed painfully in my body, keeping me rigid as I awaited his answer.

He pulled his eyes from the road to narrow them at me. “Why you think that done last night?”

I gulped, air stuck in my lungs as I realized I’d almost caught myself. It was Gage who told me he was going after Damien last night when he did his transaction for Rusnak.

“Well, since we found out Damien suspected something you said it might speed up.” I quickly tried to cover my tracks and shrugged like it was just an assumption.

“Ah, that.” He looked between the road and me a couple of times with narrowed eyes before settling back down. “No, that was not done. Not yet.”

My almost slip still had me jittery. Demetri might have known Gage and I had some type of relationship, but I didn’t want to reveal that it had been more than physical. So I kept my mouth shut on further questions.

My workout couldn’t touch the turmoil in my brain. And Silas’s anger wasn’t helping.

“Dammit Rea, focus. You have a fight in two weeks, but if you keep this up you’re not going to have any more.”

I tried to shut down everything else and strike his hand, and it almost worked. But I still wasn’t getting into my zone, and eventually Silas called off the training.

“Go finish up on the treadmill. Be ready for more tomorrow.” He started to walk away and then stopped. Stepping back towards me, he dropped his voice, “I shouldn’t need to remind you that this is important. Act like it.”

I didn’t even have the energy to argue with him. There was nothing I could say anyways. He was right, I had to do better.

“Where are we going?” At this point I felt less than human. I felt numb as I followed whatever agenda others had for me.

“Nick needs to talk to you.” Demetri had his sunglasses on now, making his flat tone even more unreadable.

“What about?”

“He’ll tell you.” Once he merged onto the main road, he turned up the radio, his way of ending our conversation.

We were back in Nick’s office in the club, it was much quieter in these morning hours.

“I’ll cut to the chase, ‘cause I don’t feel like wasting time.” Nick leaned forward on the sofa, forearms perched on his knees and tattoos showing under his rolled sleeves. His dark eyes focused on me and I tingled with anticipation.

“I don’t trust ya. You’ve done very little to earn it. And now we’ve learned that the police are closing in on Damien, putting pressure on him.” He raised his eyebrow at me, pausing for my reaction.

But I had no reaction. I couldn’t put two and two together.

I shrugged. “Okay.”

Demetri pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on and sat in the chair next to me.

“That’s what Damien knows, that’s what boy was warning you last night.”

I shook my head. “Why would cops questioning him make him think someone’s after him? He killed a person. The cops should be all over that.”

“As far as I can tell from talking to Rock,” Nick began, “he thinks someone’s running their mouth to the cops.”

My breathing was shallow. I could feel Nick’s accusation in his glare, but I didn’t know what it was.

“So,” I stretched it out, gathering my thoughts. “Does that mean it’s too risky? You’re calling it off.” I wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but something like excitement sparked in me.

Nick and Demetri traded glances and then Nick stared me down.

“No. It means you’re going to be watched even closer.” He leaned back with a sneer. “We checked into ya phone records and know ya been in contact with the police. Tell us about that conversation.”

I perched on the edge of the seat, ready to run at the first sign of movement. The already tense atmosphere collapsed into unbearable as what he was accusing me of sunk in.

“I only talked to a friend, a street cop, a nobody. I just wanted to see what he knew about my friend who was murdered.” I looked to Demetri, hoping he believed me. “You’ve had my phone this entire time. I haven’t contacted anyone. I wouldn’t.”

Demetri nodded to Nick. “True. I don’t think she’d set us up. What she say? She hired us to kill someone?” He shook his head. “She’s not devious.”

Nick and Demetri stared at each other for a moment, then Nick shifted back to me. “Fine. Maybe Demetri’s right. Maybe ya only talked to the cop before, but consider this a warning. We’ll know if ya contact the police. And I hate killing police officers, especially when they’re only involved because idiots don’t know how to keep their mouth shut.”

I gave a slight nod, acknowledging his words. Fear strangled me, fear for Anthony. He was another person I regretted ever knowing, because I don’t only hurt myself with my choices, I destroy everything and everyone I come in contact with.

“Ya can leave now,” Nick said, rising to his feet.

“Why didn’t you tell me what that was going to be about? You knew about the phone records didn’t you?” I questioned Demetri, my muscles shaking as my control slipped away.

Demetri scoffed, sliding his glasses from the top of his head to cover his eyes. “I don’t have to tell anything. That’s Nick’s conversation, not mine.”

I buckled my seat belt and sat back, trying to reign in my emotions, lock them away again.

He started the car and then turned to face me. “I told I believed you. I do. Don’t make me regret that.”

His words actually calmed me. Even if they were a halfway threat, they were also a halfway support.

“Gun range again?” he asked and I nodded. “After I have to go, more errands to run, unless you change your mind about going?” He smiled at me, and it looked out of place on his face.

“No. Not tonight.” I was beginning to think going on his errands might be a good opportunity to make money and cut ties sooner, but I needed sleep tonight. I had been getting very little since this man dragged me to this place.

Something woke me up a second before the door flew open, rebounding off the wall with the force.

I sat up, expecting to see Gage’s shadow in the doorframe, at first I thought it was. But before my eye could even adjust, rough hands yanked me from the bed, dragging me out the door.

Nick had my shoulder gripped by one of his large hands, pulling me down the hallway. My heart pounded, blood pulsing through me as I tried to stay on my feet and keep up with his pace. He hadn’t spoken, but I could hear the anger in his breathing and it fueled his movements and grip.

“What are you doing? Let go of me.” My voice caught up with the moment. I spoke loud, hoping Demetri would come out of his room.

He jerked me forward, knocking me off my feet but yanking me up by my arm in a burning grip as he pulled me down the hall. “Shut up,” he commanded.

I scrambled back to my feet as we reached the stairs. He didn’t care if I walked or was dragged, it didn’t slow him down.

The frigid night air hit my skin, my t-shirt and sweatpants did little to block out the cold. My bare feet burned. The rocky surface cut into my skin as he forced me over the fields to the barn that Demetri and I parked in the night before. The arm he gripped had lost all sensation as he jerked me around to make me keep up with his long strides.

My nerves fired and pulsed as he slid open the barn doors, never lessening his grip on me. The coppery sent of blood was the first thing to hit me, and then the ground as Nick tossed me down. My palms burned as they scraped the wood floor, catching myself. But the pain was quickly forgotten.

The world lost focus, the edges bleeding into darkness as I took in the sight in front of me. Laid on his back, shirt blood soaked, eyes wide open but empty, Demetri.

My hands moved over him, checking for signs of life, a pulse, breath, anything. But he was stiff, and cold, except the blood covering his shirt held warmth.

Tears burned my vision as I looked around for anything that might help. There had to be something.

Nick grabbed the back of my neck, forcing me to look at Demetri. “See what ya did? I want ya to see what talking does and what ya cost us.”

I couldn’t breathe. Shock, sadness, fear warred inside me, shattering any coherent thoughts. Nick continued to yell at me, shaking me as he pushed me closer to Demetri. Then, suddenly, he dropped me.

I landed on Demetri’s slick, sticky shirt, his chest unnaturally solid and hard beneath it. I pushed off of him, scooting away from his body.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” I wanted to run to that voice.

Gage stood with Rusnak at the barns entrance, and I could finally take a breath.

“She needed to see,” Nick seethed, taking a step back towards me.

“Stop,” Rusnak ordered, clear and emotionless, freezing Nick in place.

Rusnak walked over to me and stared down at Demetri, face blank. “He is not a message to be shown off.” His fists curled at his sides and he turned to Nick. “I need to hear what happened, but first,” he bent down, hands light on my arms as he lifted me to standing. His hazel eyes were soft but demanding. “Go back to your room.”

I nodded, a heavy relief dropping over me as he let me go, and I walked out without looking back.

I LIFTED MYSELF UP, STIFF FROM LAYING on the floor. The pillow and comforter did little to soften the hard, cold tile. My shoulder ached from the poor sleep and Nick’s rough treatment, but I paid little attention to it.

Not wanting another surprise attack, I locked myself in the bathroom for the night, but I knew I was going to have to face them. Now, faint noises were coming from the bedroom.

A knock vibrated the door as Rusnak’s soft voice spoke, “You in there?”

I should have run the minute I left the barn. Hearing his voice made me wish I had, but I knew I wouldn’t have gotten far and it would have only provoked them more. Instead, I returned to the room, washed away Demetri’s blood, and made a pallet for myself on the floor and tried to erase his face, grey in death, from my mind.

With a sinking heart, I opened the door. Rusnak stood tall, put together in suit and tie. He looked beyond me, at the pillow and blanket, then back at me. “Clean that up. Then pack up your things. You’re leaving.”

He walked over to the bed, to the suitcase laid out on it and unzipped it, pushing back the lid.

“You can use this.” He looked back at me. “When you’re done, come down to my office.” He didn’t look away until I nodded in agreement.

Scooping up the pillow and blanket, I breathed deeply, trying to rid myself of the nervous energy pulsing through me. I paused before stepping back into the room, Rusnak was still there.

He stood by the nightstand table, looking down at the bracelet he had given me. He picked it up with one hand and slid it into his pocket.

I took a backwards step, deeper into the bathroom and out of his view as he turned and walked out.

Only when I heard the click of the door did I venture into the bedroom. I went through the motions of packing and cleaning, my dread building and heart faltering as I walked out of the room.

Rusnak grabbed the suitcase from my hand and walked outside, wordlessly. I followed behind him, lightheaded with lack of oxygen.

He opened the passenger door to his Audi for me. When I got in he closed it. The slam of the door made me jump, every movement from him made me jump. I kept waiting for him to say something or do something, to blame me for Demetri, because I knew it was my fault. I had sent him after Damien and now he was dead instead.

If Nans death lit an angry fire in me, Demetri’s extinguished it, leaving me ruined with nothing. It all felt pointless.