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CHAPTER 22

Author: Chloe Pratt
last update Last Updated: 2023-10-28 02:01:18

I put a smile on my face and drag my eyes away from the back corner. "I am okay."

Before he can say anything, another couple walks into the bar and makes their way to one of my tables. He frowns.

"Clients," I utter. "I ought to stop by."

I immediately turn to leave Dan and the man, who I find unbearably offensive for having flirted with Sam.

Please make sure we're so busy tonight that I forget he's here.

Jade

With a menacing grin, I follow the man as he weaves through the bar. Since he entered Cerberus's entrance a few minutes ago, his attention has been focused solely on one thing.

Lily.

It isn't her actual name, though. Not based on Dan's texts, which became increasingly tense when I didn't respond.

She doesn't resemble a Lily at all.

Whatever her real name is, it will have more weight. More difficult.

Now, most of the tables are occupied. In her area of the bar, anyway.

She bends to put a drink down on a table, and his eyes follow her back until they land on her ass. I realize then
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    After one look at my wrist's swelling—which was so severe that the bandage was slicing through my skin—I decided to take action. It was time for me to head home after my shift.Dan won't allow me to bring the tray over if any of my patrons order something heavier than a pint of beer."He simply is," I mumble.His hazel eyes are glowing with a smile, but I can see he won't be changing his mind, and I kind of like that.I appreciate how much he worries about my wrist and that he understands that I should be doing something more than spending all day and night in his flat. After my shift, he'll accompany me back to his flat, staying just long enough to make me feel less alone but not too long before it becomes awkward.I have endless time to ponder about Darius, Nathan, and everything else when I'm alone myself.My only thoughts while working at the bar are about who's going to get the next drink and how much tip I can get in three hours. I've never made more than $100 in tips a night, t

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    Jade.I'm staring at the hound Jade.My heart slows down sufficiently for me to breathe in between the last panic attack.His beauty isn't the kind you see in a glossy magazine. Not as attractive as Dan, but the kind you won't soon forget. terrifying. likewise depressing. He doesn't look like a brawler, even though Dan called him that.Is this his constant hiding place?His attention suddenly shifts to me, as if he's just become aware of me.His grey eyes pierce through me as he stares. I can't read anything in his blank, unreadable look, but I know there's a lot more going on there. I want to take off the layers and spill all of his thoughts onto a table for me to see.My head is filled with thoughts of him every night. Try convincing my body that this isn't the right moment or location to be fantasizing about fucking, yet it is. Though it's never occurred before, my pussy trembles with memories, almost as if it recalls having him inside.Then again, he blinks.And here I am, peering

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    My laugh is a harsh sound, one that settles here amid this rubble. "Pardon me if I don't think you're real.""Assaf, they won't—"They'll do so. More loudly than I had planned, my voice comes out. I whisper, "I know them," as the memories that I'm trying not to think about come flooding back. "I am aware of everything they would do to me."Perhaps they will bind me to a wall like Darius would or tie me up and beat me like Felix likes to do. Perhaps they will throw a party for their guests and force me to crawl around them in my pants while carrying a platter of refreshments on my back.Like a canine.They might even force me to bark.Once more.Or worse, I make an effort not to consider. Never.My knees are being slashed, and I'm having trouble breathing.I have a damp face. Do I have blood? Is this something else, or what?Even when an arm slides between my knees and across my shoulders, it still feels like something else is happening to me."I won't be taken back. Just murder me, I

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    I wait for the door to close behind him so that I can enter the flat by myself. That's when I get out of bed, find a pair of tennis shoes that fit me terribly, cram my feet into them, and go to the bathroom.My heart is racing the entire time I'm climbing out the window and descending the fire exit, which take only a few seconds each.I take off running the instant I reach the bottom.FINNIn the light of a fresh day, the devastation is tenfold worse.My gaze sweeps across the bar that we invested thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars to make the best we could. You wouldn't owe the kind of individuals from whom we borrowed the money if it hadn't succeeded, right? You would have had to repay it plus interest.And just like that, it's all gone.Not a single bottle made it. The majority of the tables and chairs need to be changed out. The DJ zone, too? The likelihood of salvaging some of the equipment is not good, but it is still possible."Jade, what the hell is wrong with yo

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    As I'm about to start over, assuming that Jade still sleeps in one of the first apartments I tried, I see a man approaching me through the glass door. He is carrying a black radio and is dressed in grey short sleeves and jeans.Guards!.B*tch.An apartment like this, all glass and steel, would naturally have security. The only person to answer the buzzer is exactly who had to have called him and told him about me.I stab at the keypad faster as he gets closer, mentally yelling at Jade to wake up from whatever whisky hangover he must be suffering.I begin to back away as the glass door opens, and he is touching a silver button next to it."What are you doing, hey?""I came here to see a friend."His gaze tightens. "Whom?"My eyes dart to the little circular speaker situated directly beneath the keypad. "Jade."Which flat number is it?Since I don't know how to respond to him, I take an additional step back in case he tries to seize me."What is the question I asked you?"Who the fuck i

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    AMANDATaking a deep breath, I hold it for three seconds before letting go and raising my hand.I bang my knuckles on the metal door. Three sharp taps that hurt like hell on my wrist. After that, I wait with my arms by my sides as stress keeps me from moving.My face gets blown into my hair by an unexpected gust of wind. I lift my arm and tuck the flyaways behind my ear.My eyes are drawn away from the road by the metallic clang of a lock, and I'm grateful that it remains as deserted as it was just a few seconds ago. The door is made of black steel and swings open. I control my breathing.Peering down at me is a dark-haired man who must be a foot taller than me, with huge, hefty muscles barely covered by his soiled black shirt. His eyes dart over my right shoulder, as though he thinks I'm going to find someone.Finn.I informed him, "I'm alone," even if it wasn't necessary.He looks back at me with an emerald stare, yet he remains silent. Similar to Jade, I try to see the wolf in him,

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    "Today."I quickly turn to look to my right and see Finn resting against a bar corner, spilling the contents of an amber drink from one of the few glasses that has survived. I don't think of him as the kind to drink during the day. He seems too serious and solemn for that. However, given what transpired, I believe now is the right moment for a morning drink.He asks, "Why are you here?"Why does it seem like he's talking about something other than today?He drops the empty glass on the bar next to a half-empty decanter, and I have to push myself to look him in the eye. "I realize I'm not entitled to much because I only worked a few hours, but—""Hold here."I watch him as he stalks across the floor, avoiding the many obstructions with a level of elegance that I could never match. He must be the one responsible for the little piles of shattered tables and chair parts, but if he's doing this all by himself, he's going to have a busy day.He doesn't make me wait very long, which would ha

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    Finn is acting in this manner. He's trying to stop his shift, but it's not succeeding based on the loud growls coming from his chest and the tremors shaking his body.Why is he unable to quit shifting?"Go now." The voice seems inhumane, so deep that I can hardly understand what it's saying.After that, I do.I turn on my heel and dash for the door. A roaring, angry wolf growls behind me.I turn my head abruptly. His skin is covered in white fur, and his torn garments are strewn all over the place.Two moments. He turned into a wolf in less than two seconds at most.I bump into something, bounce off of it, and feel like I'm being held tightly.Whipping my head back to face front, I look up at Jade, who is wearing only sweatpants. That man with the thick lids and the whisky hangover is long gone. I'm not sure when he arrived, but seeing him has brought me greater relief than before.His intense, unwavering gaze is fixed on my shoulder. with Finn. The tightness tightening his jaw and cr

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    We tripped over each other to follow as they rushed him out of the attic, the house, and finally into a flashing ambulance waiting outside.“Sorry, no room,” they said when we moved to follow.None of us dared argue. Not when Dan’s heart could stop again any second.So we let the bland-faced EMTs who’d shocked Dan’s heart into beating call out a hasty direction for the hospital, slam the door shut, and then they were just…gone.A hand closes high on my right arm.I startle, whipping my head that way."Angel?” Jade’s gray eyes search my face as I search his.Dan once said he looked like a brawler, and he does. I study him, taking my time. Shaved dark hair. Intent gray eyes which dare you to look away first. A nose with a tiny bump on the slope from a break that didn’t heal right. His raw strength makes me feel stronger in a way that shouldn’t make sense, yet it does.“He’s a fighter. Like you. Like all of us. He will survive this.”I wish I could believe you.“Darius is a killer.” I an

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    "What makes breathing so important?" I inquire, disregarding the aching in my left arm. It's only been a minute, yet I'm already trying to stay up."You could have lined up the most perfect shot in the world, but what if you get excited and your breathing changes?"I thought for a moment, but I didn't have a response for him. "No."He takes two deep, leisurely breaths. But his third breath is a bit faster, and the cannon slips to the left by about half an inch. "Did you notice that?"I nod. "Breathing made you move.""Move it just enough to throw off your shot." With a body shot, you can get away with it, but with a headshot, you can miss it entirely. "Calm and control will save the day here.""Are you not angry?" I inquire, intrigued by this aspect of Dan. I had no clue he knew how to shoot, much alone be so enthusiastic about it."There is a time for rage." Isn't it when you have a pistol in your hand?" He softly presses down on my finger. "This is exactly how it should feel. Breath

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