It was the only light. The only source of safety and it illuminated the exit, leaving the entire alleyway drenched in shadows. To the right, a light flow of traffic passed by the opening leading onto the street. The left led into the staff parking area around back and sat in absolute darkness. The hotel didn’t much care what happened to its night staff. There were cameras, but none of them worked. The lights were few and far between. Most of the women left at night in packs. But Juliette had no car and thus no reason to go anywhere near the parking area.
She turned right. If she hurried, she could reach the bus stop at the end of the block and be home before four AM.
“Beautiful night for a walk, eh, Juliette?”
The familiar voice snapped through the silence like a whip. It ripped through Juliette. She staggered to a stop and whipped around. Her hand almost instinctively went to her purse, even though it was useless. Her heart scuttled up into her throat while her mind tried to put reasoning to Arlo’s presence at her work.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, struggling to keep her voice calm.
Like a demon from a horror movie, Arlo pulled away from the shadows and descended upon her with slow, even strides. The thump of his boots echoed off the slimy walls, the sound almost deafening.
“I came to see you, Juliette,” he said simply.
“No.” She staggered back a step. “We’re done. You got your money.”
He chuckled and it was cold and brittle. “I got McClary’s money,” he corrected. “But that’s not why I’m here.” He paused when there were three steps between them. His closeness drove against her sanity. “We had so many years together. It wouldn’t have been right if we just parted ways without a proper goodbye, would it, Juliette?”
“What do you want?” she said.
His hands vanished into the pockets of his jeans. The posture was relaxed, unhurried.
“I want to know why you betrayed me. I thought we were friends.”
Anger rode over the rational voice telling her to stay calm. It knotted her in its fiery grip until all she could taste was the need to sink her nails into his face and tear off his skin. She wanted to stab him until he stopped moving. Seven years she fought to get away from him, to never again see that vile face of his and finally … finally she was free and he was still terrorizing her. He was still finding ways to make her feel two inches tall.
“We were never friends!” she hissed. “And you need loyalty and respect in order to betray someone. I have neither for you.” She swallowed past the desert drying up her throat. “We are done. I owe you nothing. My family owes you nothing! So stay the—”
His hand whipped out with the strength, speed and viciousness of a coiled cobra and closed around her throat. It wasn’t hard, but there was enough force behind it to warn her not to struggle. There was enough bite to render her silent. Beneath his fingertips, her pulse quickened.
“Do you think that just because you’re McClary’s whore you no longer belong to me? That I won’t continue to use you in whatever manner I see fit?” His fingers tightened until she cried out. “You’re mine for the rest of your life, Juliette. It doesn’t matter how much he paid for you.”
“You can’t touch me!” she bit out with what little remaining courage she had left. “Killian will—”
“Will what?” His fingertips gouged into her esophagus, cutting new bruises over the old ones. “Kill me?” He snickered. “He can’t, not without starting a war. Most he can do is rat on me to my dad, but what is he going to do? Spank me and send me to my room? You’re nobody, Juliette. I could kill you right now and no one would care. You’re a filthy whore that no one will miss.”
“What do you want?” she asked yet again for the third time. “You got your money.”
Arlo’s blunt fingers loosened and she sucked in a quick breath to sooth the burn in her lungs.
“It wasn’t just the money between us, Juliette,” he said, sounding genuinely hurt. “I thought we had a connection. I know I always thought very highly of you.” He sighed when she said nothing. His hand fell away from her esophagus and he took a step back. “I came to warn you. You made a big mistake taking McClary’s side.”
Rubbing at the fresh bruise staining her throat, Juliette stared at him. “Are you threatening me?”
Arlo rolled his eyes. “I’m warning you. Didn’t I just say that?” He shook his head slowly as though she were stupid. “You have no idea what kind of guy he is.”
“And you’re suddenly all about protecting me?” she shot back. “You gave me to him.”
“That was business!” he retorted. “I never thought you’d be dumb enough to become his full time whore.”
“Why do you care?”
“Because I consider us friends and friends don’t let other friends get in bed with the enemy.”
There was so many things fucked up about the whole scenario that Juliette couldn’t think of a single thing to say for a moment. Instead, she stood there and stared at the man who had basically sold her for his own profit, who had beaten and abused her and had threatened her and her family. Just to name a few things. In no shape or form did she believe for a second that he had her best interest at heart. For one, Arlo didn’t have a heart.
“Fine. You’ve warned me. Thank you.”
She started to turn away.
“He’s dangerous,” Arlo called after her. “He’s worse than I am.”
No one is worse than you are, she wanted to say.
“He’s been nothing but kind to me,” she said instead.
“He’s a killer,” Arlo cut in. “He’s not called the Scarlet Wolf because of his sparkling personality.”
The image made her blood run cold. It made her stomach roil and her mouth go dry. But outwardly, she fought hard to remain impassive.
“I don’t believe you.”
Truth was, she wasn’t sure what to believe. She didn’t know Killian. Not really. Arlo could be telling her the truth for all she knew. But for whatever Killian was, for whatever he’d done in the past, he had saved her life. He had done so when he had no reason to. He had given her a future, one free of pain and suffering. He may not have yet earned her respect, but he had her trust and her loyalty, and both went a long way with her.
“Ask him,” Arlo said with a shrug. “Or don’t. I really don’t care. I have cleared my consciences. Have a good life, Juliette.”
With a salute, he spun on his heel and disappeared back the way he’d come. Several minutes later, she heard the slam of a car door, followed by the roar of an engine. She didn’t wait to see him come out. She didn’t wait to see if he would run her over. She turned quickly and ran towards the opening just as piercing headlights exploded behind her as the Bentley turned down the alleyway after her. He didn’t stop or slow down. He hit the street and swerved left. Juliette watched as the car hit a bump and disappeared from sight down the next street.
“He’s a stone cold killer.”
Those five words looped through her mind the whole way home. It wouldn’t stop even when she showered and got ready for bed. The whole time, she kept asking herself what she’d gotten herself into and what was she going to do to get out.
But did she want to get out? Had she not already owed Killian her life, had he not already paid a small fortune for her freedom, would she want to get away from him? It was insane, but the answer was always no. It didn’t seem to matter how much logic and reasoning she threw at herself, how many times she tried to discourage the unwavering force that had become her resolve where Killian was concerned, her answer was always the same.
She didn’t want to go back on her promise to be his for a year. She didn’t want to stop seeing him, maybe even after the year was up. And it wasn’t even because of what he’d done or how good looking he was. Those things were remarkably insignificant compared to the fact that she just wanted to see him.