Page 153 of Hidden

My whole body went still.

There was a pause, then the chair scraped again, more violently this time, followed by footsteps moving away from the door and then back again like he didn’t quite know what to do with himself.

Another cough.

This time followed by a choking sound that made my stomach turn over.

The door crashed open, and we heard a vicious snarl. “You little bitch. What the fuck did you do?”

His heavy boots were on the stairs.

I looked at my mum.

She looked at me.

Neither of us said a word, but our eyes went wide with fright. I shuffled forward, protecting her with my body, waiting for him.

And then, the crash. The heavy thump of his body hitting the concrete stairs, followed by his grunts and groans as he tumbled down them until… Silence.

I crept to the door, peeking out from the small gap to see him at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes glassy and lifeless.

Now the escape began for real.

I nodded at my mum and slipped through the door. I stepped over the guard, muttering an apology he’d never hear.

I didn’t feel guilty. Not really.

Because this still wasn’t the most unforgivable thing I had ever done to survive.

Chapter 40

Vienna

Before

25 Years Old

“Brother!” Sunshine greeted me the second I walked through the door, thrusting a beer into my hand before I could so much as get both feet properly over the threshold.

“Alright,” I nodded back, accepting the bottle, though my nerves were still wound too tight for alcohol to touch them.

“Where’s the Mrs?” he asked, his words already beginning to slur together.

“Sunshine!” Dante snapped. “Crash has been spouting some bullshit about kicking your ass at pool—”

“Kicking my ass?” he interrupted with a savage growl, squaring his shoulders like he was about to march into war rather than across a room to a pool table. “I’ll fucking show him who kicks whose ass around here,” he muttered, already grumbling away to himself as he stalked off.

The second he was out of earshot, Dante turned back to me, his expression shifting. “Everything okay? I thought you were coming here with—”

“She said to meet her here,” I replied. “Sent me a text saying Natalie was dropping her off and that the meet point was no longer safe.”

“You believe her?” he asked with a frown.

“I’ve no reason not to, but…”

“But?” he prompted, already reading more in my face than I wanted him to.

“Something feels off, man. They did their best to hide, but I noticed a couple of Riders near our meeting point. Then she bails on me. I can’t help but think something’s gone tits up.”