Текст книги "Blindfold "

Автор книги: M. S. Parker

Соавторы: Cassie Wild
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Chapter 9

Ash

The door closed softly behind my sister, but the sound echoed in my head.

I was still sitting on the stairs, looking at absolutely nothing when somebody came out. My head jerked up and my heart leaped.

I was half-way to my feet when I realized it wasn’t Toni. Isadora bore down on me with a look of complete and utter disgust on her face. The sight of something so foreign on her face caught me off guard, and I found myself backing up a half step before I realized what I was doing.

“You’re an idiot. And an asshole!”

I almost looked around, sure that my baby sister couldn't be talking to me like that. Her voice was harsh, almost unrecognizable, and I suddenly realized that her eyes were glittering with tears.

Shit.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

“Iz...”

“You know what, just don't.” She held up her hand. “Do you know what she’s doing in there? She’s leaving, Ash. Leaving. She's putting herself in danger because she can’t even stand to be around you.”

“Like hell she is!” The words popped out of me before I could stop them. I started to step past Isadora.

“You can’t stop her,” she said as she grabbed my arm.

“If I have to tie her to a fucking chair–”

“Like they did to me?” Isadora said, her voice flat.

I went still, shock freezing me. “No...” I had to clear my throat. “Iz, no. Not like that. I just...I want her safe. I need her safe.”

“And she wants her family safe. You can’t control everything, Ash. But because you can't seem to get that through your thick head, we're going to lose Toni.” She glanced back toward Toni’s closed door. “Look, I know you never got over Lily leaving you like she did. But Toni isn’t Lily. Nobody is.”

“Iz, don’t.” I shook my head. I didn't want to think about Lily.

“Look, I know she broke your heart, and that you hate not knowing what happened to her. I tried to find her for you, tried to find out why she'd...”

“She didn't love me.”

Isadora shook her head. “You don't know that. I found out that her things were moved out of her apartment by a moving company. No one's seen her since...”

“She wrote me a letter.”

My sister's eyes widened, then narrowed. “She what?”

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. “A couple weeks after she left, I got a letter in the mail. No postmark, nothing I could use to try to find her. But after I read what she wrote, I didn't want to find her.” I worked to keep my voice flat, emotionless. “She said that she couldn't lie to me anymore, that she didn't love me. She never had. She was just using me.”

Isadora was silent for a moment, and then her expression hardened.

“So what?”

I blinked.

She continued, “You’ve judged every woman you’ve met based on Lily and what she did, and it’s unfair. You’re going to lose the best thing that's ever happened to you because some woman broke your heart years ago? You're not just an asshole. You're a stupid asshole.” She took a step towards me and poked me hard in the chest. “If you lose Toni because of Lily, you deserve to spend the rest of your life alone and miserable.”

Before I could recover, the door opened and Toni stood there. I sucked in a breath at the sight of the suitcase in her hand. Her gaze flicked past me to settle on Isadora and she nodded at my sister while ignoring me completely.

“I’ve got a cab on the way. I’ll call when I get settled.”

Isadora’s mouth wobbled before firming into a smile. “Okay.”

Toni started toward the steps and my head spun, desperate for something, anything, to keep her from going.

“Don’t go,” I said, the words coming out through stiff lips.

She didn’t even pause.

“Toni, wait.”

She kept right on walking.

Getting desperate, I moved toward the railing as she started down. “Dammit! Toni, please.”

I didn't remember exactly when the shroud of ice had settled around my heart, but I did remember when I decided to never allow myself love anybody again.

It had been one month to the day after I'd planned on proposing. I’d been trapped inside the office buildings of Phenecie-Lang while a miserable snowstorm had raged outside. Isadora had been safe at home with the staff and I'd been alone. As I’d stared out into the blowing wind, I’d decided that Lily leaving had been a good thing. Love, after all, made a person vulnerable. Better to protect myself. Isadora would be the only person I'd let myself love.

Now, with each step Toni took away from me, I could feel my heart breaking despite myself. It didn't matter that I tried to push her away or that I'd never said the words out loud.

I could almost hear the ice in my chest cracking, thawed by a warmth that had nothing to do with temperature. It was her. All her.

I couldn't go back to that again.

“I love you.”

She hesitated for a fraction of a second, and I grabbed at the chance.

“Please, Toni, I’ve fucked this up so many times and I know that. But please. Please, baby. Please don’t leave me. I love you.”

Chapter 10

Toni

I could feel hysterical laughter bubbling up in my throat, and fought to keep it back.

Was he fucking kidding me?

I love you.

I told myself to keep going. That was all I had to do. Keep walking. Down the steps. Out the door. Out of his life forever. Dazed, I took another step, then two more.

“I love you, Toni.”

He said it a third time. My hand tightened convulsively on the handle of my suitcase, and I sank down on the stairs, setting my suitcase on the one below me. My legs simply wouldn’t hold me anymore.

I closed my eyes. Don’t listen to him. Don’t listen.

Not a single stair in the whole Lang house would dare squeak, not a single floorboard either, but I still knew exactly when he came up to stand behind me.

“Don’t do this,” I whispered. I told him before that I didn't beg, but I was begging him now. Begging him not to hurt me again. “Every time I try to pull myself free, you do or say something that sucks me right back in. You keep hurting me or twisting me up and I’m tired of it. I'm so tired.” My voice cracked on the last word.

I sucked in a breath as he put his hand on my back. As he began to move it in soothing circles, I struggled not to lean into his touch, to take the comfort he was offering. I knew all too well that his comfort came with a price.

“I'm so sorry, baby,” he murmured. “I’m not a nice guy, Toni, but you’re the only person who makes me want to be better. Please, stay. We can talk this out. You were right. I shouldn’t be the only one making the decisions.”

Hesitantly, I looked up at him. Was it possible that he really understood the deeper issue here?

“We’ll call the FBI,” he promised.

“It’s already done.”

At the sound of another voice, both Ash and I looked up. Or, rather, down. Colton was at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes hooded and expression grim as he looked up at us.

Ash tensed.

Sensing the explosion, Colton took a couple steps up to bring him closer to us. “Toni was right. Your family's not the only one involved.” He ran his tongue across his teeth before he added, “I didn’t get a letter, but there was a picture of my dad shoved under the windshield wiper of the truck I drive for the plant sometimes.” He looked past us to where I knew Isadora was standing at the top of the stairs. “You don’t trust the cops, Ash, and I get that. I don’t always trust them either. But if we go running around like a bunch of kids playing junior detective, somebody will get hurt. I want my family safe. And even if you don't like me, that includes your sister.”

Isadora came down the stairs, not looking at Ash or me as she stepped around us. As she wrapped her arms around Colton, I waited. My insides felt strangely hollow, like everything had been scooped out of me.

“You’re right,” Ash said finally. “You’re all right.”

He might've said more, but the doorbell rang and we all stiffened. A moment later, Doug came to tell us that Agent Marcum was waiting for us in the main sitting room.

Ash helped me to my feet and put his hand on the small of my back as we walked down the stairs. I didn't pull away, but I didn't encourage him either. My head was still spinning from everything he'd said. I needed time to process, but I knew I didn't have it. The FBI was waiting and I needed to focus on that. Once Agent Marcum was done, I could worry about everything else.

It was a long and frustrating two hours before she finally left.

After Agent Marcum departed, Isadora and Colton quickly made themselves scarce. As they walked out, Doug came in.

He glanced at Ash, but directed his question to me. “Should I call another cab, Miss Gallagher? I sent the other away because you were busy with Agent Marcum.”

Woodenly, I stared at the floor. It was the smart thing to do, and I was supposed to be smart. Walk away. Don't look back.

“No, thank you,” I said without looking at Ash. I needed to see this through, to see if he meant anything he said.

Once the two of us were alone, however, I had to fight the urge not to change my mind. The tension between us was thick, uncomfortable, but I didn't want to be the one to break it. I wanted to know if he was willing to step forward, to take responsibility, without me feeling like I was talking him into it.

I shifted my gaze from the floor to my hands, studying my fingernails without really seeing them.

“Are you going to look at me?” he asked finally.

“I know what you look like.” Despite my words, I turned my head. I knew it'd be childish of me not to, and what I said had been juvenile enough. I needed to be a grown up about this. I wasn’t five and I wasn’t being scolded by my mother for putting itching powder in Vic’s shoes or tying all of Franky’s socks into knots.

Not that I’d done any of that.

Ash looked awful. It was as though he’d aged decades in the past couple hours. His face was hollow, eyes dull. Somehow, in the hours that had passed between his declaration on the steps and now, the light that had been inside him seemed to have died out.

I felt the same way myself. Empty. “What do you want, Ash? Why are we still doing this?” I asked. The sound of my own voice made me flinch, but I kept going, saying all of the things I'd reminded myself of over the last couple hours. All the reasons why this wouldn't work. “Nothing's going to change. You want to control, to dominate, and not just in the bedroom. You told me that in a Dominant / Submissive relationship, there has to be trust, and that's the problem. You expect trust when it comes to sex, but you won't give it anywhere else. And that's fine if all you want is sex, but I'm not wired that way. Part of it's my fault for thinking we could have that in the bedroom, and at least be friends outside of it. But even that doesn't work with you. You don't respect me.”

His jaw tightened and I knew I was hurting him. I could see it, and I hated myself for it, but I wasn’t going to lose myself to him.

My voice hitched as I continued, “You don't love me, Ash. You want to possess me. And, sooner or later, it will break me. And I'll hate myself. I'll hate you.”

“I don’t want to...” He looked down, rubbing at the back of his neck. Shoulders slumped and head bowed, he looked defeated. “You're right. I'm a control freak. And I don't trust anyone. You know about Lily...”

“No,” I snapped, irritated. Shaking my head, I got to my feet and started to pace. “I don't want to hear about how your ex vanished and that's why you can't–”

“She sent me a letter,” he interrupted. “I never told Isadora because I wanted her to remember Lily as a good person, someone who loved us both.” He turned slightly so he wasn't facing me. “But she hadn't loved both of us. She'd never loved me. It'd all been a lie.”

My heart broke, but not only for the man standing in front of me. It broke for the young man who'd given up everything for his sister, who'd thought he'd found a ray of happiness in all of the grief. And then found out that it'd been a lie.

“I never wanted to be hurt like that again, so I closed down,” he said quietly. “I threw myself into my work, into raising Isadora. I told myself that she was the only person I could love because I knew she'd never betray me. She was the only person I could trust. And for years, she's been the only person I've ever wanted to let close.” He turned back towards me, eyes intent. “Until I met you.”

I swallowed hard. I wanted to believe him. I was tired of fighting with him, of being hurt by him.

“I tried so hard to not...I thought if I reduced what I felt for you to just sex, it'd go away. But it didn't. I couldn't stop thinking about you, wanting you. Yes, I want to control, to dominate you. I want to possess you because it's the only way I know how...” He swallowed hard. “I'm desperately in love with you, Toni.”

The baldly stated words made my heart clutch and I wrapped my arms around my middle. He came towards me and I wanted to run. I wanted to run as fast and far as I could and never look back. What I felt for him was too big, too scary, and I'd meant what I said. He had the power to break me, and if he did, I'd hate myself. And him.

When he reached me, he went to his knees in front of me and I stared down at him. He put his hands on my hips and gently coaxed me down to sit on the chair. We were the same height now and it took all my self-control not to look away. He slid his fingers into my hair, cupping my head in his hands. “You're the only woman I'll go to my knees for. I'll beg, if that's what it takes. Just tell me. Please, Toni. Just tell me what to do.”

Fuck.

I was still a novice to all this Dominant / Submissive thing, but I knew Ash, and I knew what it cost him to say those words, to ask me to tell him what to do. His fingers moved to cradle the back of my head and I fought a groan when he began to massage my scalp. Reflexively, I let my head slump forward, resting high on his chest.

“If you don't love me, if you don't want me, just tell me, please,” he said into my ear. “And I'll get up right now, and leave you alone. Doug can arrange for your safety, and I won't bother you again. But you have to tell me that you don't care about me.”

Damn him.

“I can't,” I whispered.

He tilted my head back until I met his searching gaze.

“You can't?” The vulnerable hope in his voice was my undoing.

I shook my head. “No. Because it wouldn't be true.”

The feel of his mouth on mine sent a shock through me and I shivered. His hands slid down my back and my arms moved to circle his neck. When he tugged me down onto his lap, I went slowly, although I couldn't say reluctantly.

He paused as he slid his lips down the line of my neck. “Do you want me to stop?” His breath was hot against my already over-heated skin.

My body definitely didn't want him to stop. Ever. But my brain was still looking out for my heart.

I pushed myself away from him and stood. It was easier to do this if he wasn’t touching me. “You need to understand something,” I said. “I'm done with the back and forth shit. I'm not expecting an overnight change, but if I don't see you trying to do better, if you aren't respecting me and my opinions, I’m gone, Ash. I'm not going to give you a warning, and I'm not going to let you in the next time you come around. It'll be over. For good.”

He nodded his understanding. “I will do better. And when I start to be a domineering asshole – outside of the bedroom…” He canted a grin at me. “Then I want you to call me on it. I’ll listen.”

“Will you?” I wanted to believe him.

He stood in front of me, his expression serious. “I will.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. This time, the kiss was deeper and...different. Hotter, sweeter, more intimate. It was almost like he was kissing me for the first time.

When he lifted his head, I was shaking, my body swirling with myriad emotions. My knees were weak, but his hands were on my hips, holding me up, giving me strength.

He pressed his mouth to my ear. “I want you naked.”

The words were soft, more like a question than an order. With a start, I realized he was waiting for permission.

“Since when do you wait for anything?” I asked him.

“Since I'm trying to prove to you that I can be different.”

My stomach clenched. He was serious.

“I never said I wanted anything different in the bedroom.”

His eyes darkened and, for a moment, he didn't do anything at all. Then he moved with a speed that left me breathless. He scooped me up into his arms and headed straight for the stairs. I had a feeling that if the sitting room had a door, he wouldn't have even bothered taking me upstairs.

He went into the first door he came to and kicked the door closed behind him. I looked around, surprised that we weren't in a bedroom, but what must've been some sort of small sitting room or reading room. He carried me over to a fat, over-stuffed love seat, and put me down on the heavily padded top before fumbling with my jeans.

Precariously perched there, I swayed a little as he dealt with my shoes, and then tugged me down so he could get me out of my jeans.

“One of these days,” he said against my lips. “I'm going to make love to you slow and easy.”

I could have told him that I didn't want slow and easy, but then he was lifting me onto the top of the love seat again. A moment later, he buried himself inside me, and I cried out his name. His fingers bit into the soft skin of my ass as his cock stretched me wide. I whimpered at the conflicting sensations of pain and pleasure. It happened so fast, my body wasn't prepared, no matter how much I wanted it.

He rested his forehead against mine as he held himself still inside me. “I love you, baby. Please, don't leave me.”

I strained against him, gasping when I felt his body rub against my clitoris. He shoved his hand under my shirt, cupping my breast through the material of my bra. He teased first one nipple, and then the other into hard, demanding points. I writhed against him, desperate for him to move.

“I love you,” he said again, the words fiercer this time. With his free hand, he yanked on my hair, forcing my head back so that we were staring at each other. Staring into his eyes, I realized he was serious. He meant it.

I let go of his shoulders and reached up to cup his face. Drawing him down, I brushed my lips against his. Only then did he begin to move, harsh, demanding strokes that drove deep inside me. I squeezed my eyes closed and pressed my face against his neck. Every thrust sent a shudder through me as he reached places inside me that no one else had ever been. And it wasn't just physical I forced myself to admit. I could feel the difference. He wanted my pleasure, but not for him. He wanted it for me.

As if sensing some of what I had inside me, the demanding pace of his strokes slowed and Ash eased his grip on my hair.

I kissed his neck, tasting the faint tang of salt. My lips brushed over his skin as I spoke, “I love you.”

His entire body went rigid.

And then he surged upright against me, hard and fast three times. He said my name as we came, clutching me against him. As he pulsed inside me, I came too. I clung to him, riding out my orgasm as I listened to him whispering over and over again.

“I love you. Please, don't leave me.”

I loved him too, but the words in my head weren't me asking him not to leave me, so I didn't say them out loud. That didn't stop them from repeating in my mind though.

I love you. Please, don't hurt me.

Chapter 11

Ash

Isadora wisely kept up a running banter in the room. She almost sounded like her old self, but I could tell the difference. And I hated it. It made it that much more important that we find Trask and stop him. Personally, I wanted to be the one to find him. Find him and beat him to death with his own spine, but that wasn’t looking very likely.

Marcum had called with an update while Toni and I had still been...occupied upstairs. We'd moved from the reading room to my bedroom and I'd finally been able to take my time with her.

It still hadn't been enough time. I knew as soon as I'd brought her to climax again and again, felt her writhing in pleasure beneath me, that all the time in the world wouldn't be enough.

And then Isadora had been at my door, saying Marcum was on the phone and trying not to sound smug.

It had been only three hours since she'd left, and I hadn't been expecting a call any time before next week, especially after she'd told us to be patient. But then she’d called and sounded excited, said her partner had something. She’d be in touch.

I didn't know what that meant. He had something? What was it? What were they going to do about it? Would it lead them to Trask?

“You’re brooding.”

Toni’s soft voice, spoken directly into my ear, went straight to my cock. I had to fight the urge to turn to her and pull her closer. Kiss her. Lose myself in her. This wasn’t the time or the place, but I had too much tension built up inside me and I could think of only one way to burn it off.

Hell, I would've wanted her even if I hadn't been tense.

I still kept seeing her walking down the stairs with her suitcase in hand.

Nothing would erase that memory from my mind, but maybe if I had her wrapped around my cock for a good two or three hours a day for a couple weeks, a month, a year, the impact of what almost happened would lessen.

“Not going to talk to me?” Toni teased quietly.

“Too busy brooding.” I tried to smile, but didn’t do a very good job of it. Shooting a look at the clock, I muttered, “Why didn't she just tell us what the hell she had?”

Toni squeezed my hand. “If you keep staring at the clock, it’s going to make time go very, very slow.”

I brought her hand to my lips and kissed it before letting go. I leaned towards the table, glaring at my laptop as it sat open in front of me. Toni had sent me everything she'd gotten from her brother, but I didn't know why I bothered staring at it. I wouldn't find anything.

Trask had left the country after he'd gotten out of jail. If he wanted revenge, why hadn't he gotten it then? Had he only come back now because he was broke? Had he kidnapped Isadora to get money?

“He gets arrested fifteen years ago.” I was barely aware I was speaking out loud. “Gets out of jail ten years ago and moves. Comes back just as Isadora gets taken.” I ran my hand through my hair. I was overdue for a cut. “There's a record of him coming into the country, but nothing since.”

“Your mumbling is going to drive me crazy.” Toni ran her hand along my arm, and, for a moment, I let myself enjoy her touch, but then I focused back on the keyboard, trying to jog my brain into working.

Why couldn't we find him?

It hit me.

They hadn't been able to find the money he'd taken either.

“Son of a bitch.” I did a search of Trask's name, and pulled up everything I could find about the trial. I'd been a teenager when it first happened, but there was something I just remembered. “He had a partner. Or, at least, everyone had assumed he did. Reuben Stefanos. They never found him. Search warrants are still active.”

But what if there'd been no Reuben Stefanos? What if the name had been an alias Trask had used to hide his funds?

And what if he was using part of that alias now to stay under the radar?

The first combination – Reuben Trask – was a bust. I tried Stefan Trask next. Nothing. Stefanos Reubens. Stefan Reuben. Jackpot.

And then I started to read.

“Son of a bitch,” I breathed.

“What is it?” Toni asked.

I glanced over at Isadora. I didn't want to say it, not with her here. It would break her. Her eyes narrowed as she came over to where Toni and I were sitting.

“What is it, Ash?”

I wanted to tell her not to look, but I knew my sister. That'd just make her more determined to see it.

“When Daniel Trask was arrested, the FBI thought he had a partner named Reuben Stefanos, but nothing was ever found. I was just thinking that maybe Trask was using versions of those names as an alias.” I explained it as quickly as possible so she wouldn't be completely shocked when she saw it. “He was. Stefan Reuben.”

“And you know it's Trask because...” Her voice trailed off as she got close enough to see what was on my screen. “Son of a bitch.”

“Will someone tell me what's going on?” Colton came to stand behind her.

“It's a fucking picture of Daniel Trask.” Isadora's voice was shaking as she read the caption next to the picture. “'Stefan Reuben enjoys local BBQ with wife, Caitlin Holmes, and step-daughter...Lily.”

I read it and I was looking at the picture, but I still didn't believe it. Not even hearing Isadora say it. But there was no doubt. The picture was on the grainy side, but it was clear enough for me to identify the man as Daniel Trask.

And the teenage girl next to him as my ex.

“She was...” Isadora sank down next to me. Her face was pale, her eyes wide. “Do you think...no...I mean...”

“I told you what her letter said.”

Toni wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her chin on my shoulder as I spoke. I put my hand over hers and squeezed, letting her know I appreciated the comfort.

“You think Trask had Lily dating you?” Isadora asked. “That she was spying or something?”

“I don't know,” I answered honestly. I didn't know. But I sure as hell had my suspicions.

“Who's Lily?” Colton's voice was low.

In a hurried, hushed tone, I heard Isadora give her boyfriend a quick summary. Colton uttered a low oath, and I thought I might end up liking him after all.

“Do you think Lily went to Monaco?” Toni asked softly. “After she...left.”

“Where's her mom now?” Isadora asked suddenly.

“What?” I looked over at her.

“Lily's mom. Caitlin Holmes.” Isadora leaned closer to me and gestured at the screen. “She told us she didn't have family. Was she just keeping us from her mom because her mom didn't know what Trask was doing?”

I scrolled further down, and sucked in a breath. “She died.” I felt Toni stiffen behind me. “Caitlin Holmes died two months before I met Lily. Suicide.”

“Can you find the exact date Trask was released from prison?” Toni asked.

I threw a curious look over my shoulder.

“I have a hunch,” she said.

It took me a couple of minutes, but when I found it, I swore again. “He got out the same day Lily disappeared.”

Toni nodded grimly. “That's what I thought.”

We all turned to look at her.

“Share.” The word was terse, but I squeezed her hand to make sure she understood it wasn't because of her.

“I'm just guessing here,” she said. “But I think at some point, Trask told his family who he really was, and when Caitlin committed suicide, he convinced Lily that your family was somehow at fault. He used that to convince Lily to spy on you guys.”

My heart squeezed in my chest. I didn't want to believe what I was hearing, but on some level, it made sense.

“I think she ended up caring about you,” Toni continued. “And when Trask got out of jail, he wanted her to help him with something.” Her eyes slid to Isadora and then back to me. “Maybe a kidnapping.”

“Shit,” Isadora breathed.

“I think she refused, and that's why she left.” Toni let the statement sit for a few seconds before she added, “She wrote that letter and then she...vanished.”

Silence fell for nearly a full minute.

“You don't think she simply moved away, do you?” Colton asked the question I knew everyone was thinking.

I answered it, “Trask killed her for not doing what he wanted.”

“Fuck.” Isadora sank back against Colton.

“Yeah,” Toni agreed. “That about sums it up.”

I couldn't have agreed more.

“We don't have any proof,” Colton said. “But this is probably something Marcum might want to know.”

“I don't want to distract her.” I turned back to my computer. “Not until we know for sure that we have something.”

Eyes turned to me and it was Isadora who asked the question. “How do we do that?”

I pulled up two more browser windows and put searches into all three. Isadora and Toni each leaned in from either side, so I didn't have to explain. They saw it only a few seconds after I did.

An apartment registered to a Lily Trask.

Fuck me.

“I’m going over there,” I said abruptly as I stood.

I hadn't gotten more than two steps when Isadora was right there. “No!” She caught my arm and shook me. “You are not! Didn’t we decide we were going to be smarter than that?”

“We are.” I turned to face her, catching her hands and lifting them to my lips to kiss them gently. “I want you to stay here with Colton and Toni. The security system's been upgraded since they got in before. I have double the security and everyone is working in pairs.” I glanced up at Colton and he nodded at me, knowing what I was going to say next. “And I know Colton's not going to let either of you out of his sight. But I have to go over there.”

“And do what?” She stared at me, terror in her eyes. “You won’t find anything that can help you figure out what happened to Lily.”

“I’m not looking for Lily.” I hugged Isadora without looking at Toni. “You have to understand, sweetie. It’s not about her. It’s about you. It’s about Toni. These sons-of-bitches have done enough. But if they did hurt Lily too...” I didn't want to go there. “Look, I just want to know if they are there, okay? If I see anybody or anything, I’ll back off and call the cops.”

“I don’t want you going over there alone.” She pressed her face against my chest.

“He won’t.” Toni was already on her feet, and pulling on a battered jacket. “Let's go.”

“Wait...no.” I shook my head as Isadora took a step back. “You’re staying here.”

Toni shrugged. “I will if you will.”

“No.” I almost had to force the word out through gritted teeth.

“It's not up for debate.” She twisted her hair into some sort of quick knot, securing it with a band she pulled from her pocket, staring at me all the while.

“No. This could be dangerous.” When all she did was cock her head at me, I had to keep my jaw clenched and count to ten before I responded with one of my usual asshole comments. “It’s not all that likely, but what if they're there? Trask and whoever he's working with are smart. The cops never even found this place.”

“That you know of,” Toni pointed out. “And for all you know, this isn’t anything. But, on the off chance it is? You’re right. They are dangerous. That’s why you’re not going alone.”

“That’s why you’re not going at all!” I barely managed to keep myself from shouting it.