Page 26 of Shattered King
I had no idea how long I’d been in this room, but it felt like a week. The silence was getting to me. Any minute, Hunter could come back through that door and fire his accusations, his pain and anger, at me.
Tell me why you chose me, why it was me you decided to fucking destroy?
His words had echoed through my mind all night and all day. His anger toward me was so thick it was suffocating. And all I could do was sit and wait for his next move. Surely, they couldn’t keep me here much longer? I needed to get Josh and get the hell out of this city. I needed to find somewhere safe, somewhere far away from Pierce, from Hunter, from the memories and the pain.
The lock rattled and nerves bombarded my belly as the door swung open. Ruby walked in with a bottle of water and a burrito.
She held them up. “Dinner.”
I slumped against the wall. My emotions were already all over the place. One more confrontation with Hunter like last night and I didn’t think I could keep it together. “Thanks.”
I took them from her and sat on the edge of the bed. At least they hadn’t decided to torture me into talking through starvation.
She dumped a bag on the bed. “I bought you a change of clothes. Thought you might like a shower?”
I was desperate for one. I felt disgusting. “Thanks.”
“I’ll take you when you’ve finished eating.”
Ruby waited while I ate my lunch, then led me to a door own the hall.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
“Out on a job. But don’t get any ideas.” She held up a Taser. “I will use this if I have to.”
“Right.” I didn’t doubt her for a second. The idea of getting a hit by God only knew how many volts of electricity wasn’t something I’d like to experience. Didn’t mean I wouldn’t try to get past her. I had to do something. This could be my only shot to escape.
“What do they actually do here?” I asked, stalling, mind racing, trying to come up with a plan.
She glanced at me, a small grin curving her lips. “A bit of this, and a bit of that.”
“P.I work, right?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, and . . . other stuff.”
Ruby didn’t need to elaborate. I knew exactly what Hunter was capable of. Van and Neco, too. They were hard, and they were ruthless. I’d seen Hunter in action when he’d worked for Pierce, had just experienced it for myself.
Ruby motioned me forward. “This way.”
We walked through a large room. It had been set up like a gym, with treadmills and weights. I thought about using one of those weights as a weapon, but quickly changed my mind. Something like that could do a lot of damage and the idea of hurting Ruby that bad didn’t sit well with me. She was only doing her job, after all. We entered a small locker room with “Women” written on the door.
“Since I’m the only woman here, this bathroom is all mine.” She motioned to a shower stall across the room and handed me the bag. “Hopefully they fit.”
I was still contemplating my escape plan, when she held up the Taser and shook her head. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t. I may be small, but I can kick ass.”
For some reason, I believed her. She backed to the door, opened it, and slid out, shutting me in. I heard the lock slide into place.
“Shit.”
Might as well take a damn shower. By the time I’d finished, I’d decided the only thing for it was to rush her. Come at her with everything I had. I was bigger than her, definitely outweighed her. If I could just knock her down, I could lock her in and give myself a decent head start.
I quickly dried off and pulled the clothes Ruby had given me out of the bag, yanking off the tags. Panties but no bra. I put my own back on, tugging the plain blue T-shirt over the top, and dragged on the black tights. I’d squeezed the moisture out of my hair, but I could feel it dripping down my back, soaking through the fabric, making me shiver.
You can do this.
I slid back on my shoes and went to the door. “I’m done,” I called out.
I heard footsteps approach, so I moved to the side. If I knocked her off balance when she opened up, maybe I could shove her into the bathroom and lock her in the gym? My nerves shot higher. God, I hoped so.
