Page 20 of Shattered King

Unknown caller.

I knew exactly who it was.

The day before, after I’d lost it and locked Lulu back up, leaving her to plot her escape in the bathroom, I’d used my contacts to get word out that I had her.

That information had obviously found its way to the right ears.

I picked up the phone. “That was quick.”

Silence, then, “I understand you have something of mine.”

The fucked-up monster inside me snarled. Not yours. Mine. Yeah, the sooner this was over and she was out of my life for good, the better.

My fingers curled around the cold coffee mug, hard enough I was surprised it didn’t shatter. “And I’ll be happy to give her back . . . for a price.”

“What do you want?” he said, not missing a beat.

Just the sound of Pierce’s voice, that superior fucking tone, like he still had a right to talk to me like the hired help, sent my rage through the damn roof. I refused to show him how much he got to me. I’d never give him that satisfaction again.

“Money,” I lied. “Compensation for the time I sent inside.” I rattled off a figure.

“Fine.”

As I suspected, he agreed easily. He didn’t give a fuck about much, but when it came to Lulu, I doubted any price was too high. It was hard to describe, the way he was with her. The job I did for Pierce meant I was only around them occasionally, but when I was, it was impossible to miss. I wouldn’t call it love exactly, more like she was his most precious possession, or favorite fucking toy.

“When?” I asked.

“I’ll need a couple of days,” he said smoothly.

I’ll bet he did. He needed time to crawl out of whatever hole he’d been hiding in and rally his henchmen. “Where?”

“I’ll text you the location closer to the time.”

I knew he needed money, which meant I had to be extra careful. Pierce had no intention of paying me. He’d be prepared to get Lulu back by any means.

“Don’t make me wait too long,” I said.

He was silent a beat. “Oh I won’t. I’m eager to get her back.”

The way he said that lifted the hair on the back of my neck. I shut it down, ignored the way his words put me on high alert. It wasn’t real. My head was all over the damn place right now. I couldn’t trust anything, not when Lulu was involved, not even my own instincts.

“If only you’d left her alone,” Pierce said before I could disconnect. “Things could have turned out so differently.”

Lulu

I woke to the sound of Hunter’s tense voice, muffled through the bedroom door.

Somehow I’d fallen back to sleep after what happened, after he walked out. I was still in the position he’d left me, flat on my back, in only a bra, shorts hooked around one ankle. I reached down and dragged them and my undies up, covering myself. My body ached in a way I used to love. Now it only made me feel like shit. He’d treated me like the whore he thought I was. Had used something that was once beautiful between us to punish me. And I’d let him.

The realization that I hadn’t panicked when we fucked last night hit me next. I’d wondered for a long time if that would ever be possible, if I could be with someone again and not flip out. But then Hunter wasn’t just anyone. I’d always been okay with him. A lot of things had changed now, though. Thankfully, he hadn’t pinned me on my back last night.

My emotions had been so raw that all I’d been able to think about was how much I wanted him, how much I’d missed him. There’d been no room for anything else. God, I’d been in denial when we first got together, in a messed-up kind of fantasy world, where Hunter was my hero, and the bastard who controlled me, hurt me, would never get the chance again. I’d pushed it all down deep, buried it, the memories, the pain, the fear. I’d convinced myself it couldn’t touch me, not anymore.

I’d been wrong. So damn wrong. There was no fantasy world, and there was no burying what happened to me. I’d learned that the hard way.

I shoved my hands in my hair and slumped back.

The conversation going on in the living room was one-sided, so I knew he was talking on the phone. I strained to hear, but couldn’t make out anything he was saying.