Tell me not to go, I pleaded silently. Tell me to stay here, with you. Tell me you don’t want me to see him, that you don’t want me to be with anyone but you.
Colt turned. “You can take my car.”
“What?”
He shrugged, then moved to the other side of the office, pulled a file folder out of the cabinet and began looking through it. “I’m staying late,” he said. “I can get a ride home with Ava.”
I felt the sharp sting of tears against my eyes.
Disappointment filled my belly.
But I should have known better.
I should have known better than to fall for Colt’s act, his ‘Olivia, are you okay’ act, the way he’d been gentle with me, how he’d taken care of me last night, how he’d acted like he cared.
The truth was, he didn’t care.
He didn’t care about anything except that he’d gotten to fuck me.
He was like any other man I’d known in my life. They didn’t care about anything but their dicks, and as soon as they got what they wanted, they were just on to the next, ready to cast you aside like you were nothing.
So I did what I’d always done when something horrible happened to me, when something was so painful that I didn’t want to deal with it. I stuffed it down as far as I could, further and further, to a place where it would lie in wait until it would inevitably resurface at some point and make me want to cut myself.
“That’s okay,” I said. “I can get there on my own.”
He shrugged. “Fine.”
He turned and walked out of the room, and I felt myself start to fall apart.
Stop being weak, I told myself. Stop. This is your own fault. You shouldn’t have had sex with him, what is wrong with you?
I’d ruined everything, for a guy who didn’t even care about me.
I needed to get out of there.
I needed to get away from him.
I would go see Declan.
He would take care of me, and if he wouldn’t, well, then I could go back to the Walnut Street shelter.
Anything was better than this.
I grabbed the ten dollars that was sitting on the desk, the money Colt had given me this morning for lunch.
I picked up the iPhone and hesitated, wondering if I should I take it.
It would be stealing.
I would take it just until I got to Declan’s, I decided. Then I would mail it back to Colt.
I grabbed my bag and headed down the hallway.
The club was still dead at this time of day, and I didn’t run into Colt or pass anyone else.
When I got outside, I had that same feeling of relief that I’d had last night, like I’d escaped a bad place that was trying to pull me under.
A tiny shiver of anxiety slid up my spine when I remembered what had happened to me the last time I was alone in this neighborhood, when those two men had attacked me.
But the streets were busier now, with people going in and out of the stores and restaurants that lined the street.
I pulled up the bus schedule on my phone, studying it until I figured out which bus would take me to Declan’s neighborhood. There was a bus stop two blocks away, and the bus I needed was coming in about twenty minutes.
I ducked into a drug store to kill some time.
I picked out a bottle of water and then moved to the cosmetics aisle and browsed the nail polishes, sliding my hand over the row of bright colors, wondering which one Declan would like. I couldn’t believe I was going to be at his apartment soon.
I tried to conjure up the desperation I usually felt when I thought of Declan.
But I couldn’t think of anything but Colt.
Flashes of him pulsed through my body.
His kiss.
His hands.
His cock.
All of me, tangled up with him, the feeling of him buried inside of me, our bodies moving in perfect rhythm on that couch.
Longing and desire slid through me.
It was so strong it almost took my breath away.
“Hey,” a voice said next to me, and I turned to look. A man was standing there, giving me a friendly smile. He looked slightly familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
“Hi,” I said, smiling back and then trying to move away.
“Olivia, right?”
I turned around.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Caleb, from last night. My friends were being raucous assholes?” He looked sheepish.
“Oh,” I said, remembering him from the club, the guy I’d served drinks to, the one who’d given me a big tip to make up for his friends being rowdy. “Oh, right. How are you?”
“I’m good.” He ran his hand through his hair. “How are you?”
“Good,” I said, and then stood there awkwardly. I wasn’t sure how friendly I was supposed to be with a guy who’d come into Loose Cannons.
“Listen,” he said, “this might be a little weird, but do you want to grab lunch or something?”
“Oh,” I said. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I’m running late. But it was nice to see you again.” I turned around and rushed to the cash register. I paid for my water, making sure not to turn around, not wanting to give Caleb a reason to try to talk to me again.
Once I was outside, I still had a few minutes before the bus was supposed to come, and I wasn’t sure where to go, so I walked around the corner, looking for another shop or café to duck into it.
But suddenly, he was behind me.
Caleb.
“Olivia,” he said, his strides lengthening as he fell into step beside me. His voice was completely changed now, gone from friendly and flirty to serious and dark. “Don’t be scared. I need to talk to you.”
“I’m sorry, I told you,” I said. “I’m late.”
I began hurrying down the sidewalk, but he was able to keep up with me easily.
I quickened my pace, but I couldn’t shake him.
Finally, I darted into a restaurant, figuring if he was going to try to hurt me, at least there would be people around.
But I never made it past the lobby.
Caleb stepped in front of me.
He was holding something in his hand.
A badge.
“Olivia,” he said. “I’m with the FBI. I need to ask you some questions about Loose Cannons.”
“I don’t…what?” My head was spinning.
“Loose Cannons. We’re investigating the club. And you’re going to help us.”
END OF BOOK FOUR, Look for Book Five, Coming Soon!
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