CHAPTER 2
I’m hauled away and shoved into a car. They abandoned the box. I have no idea where it went. It wasn’t in the stairwell when they carried me out. Whatever they shot into my arm makes my eyelids feel like they weight a million pounds. They keep trying to close, but I force them open again.
Time is screwy. I don’t know how much has passed or what’s going on, but I recognize the building in the city. It’s early in the morning by the time we get there. We head up to Miss Black’s office, where I’m told to wait until she comes back.
When the other man leaves, Gabe points to a chaise in the corner. “Go lay down.”
“No.” My arms are folded over my chest. I’m sitting in a chair, staring straight ahead.
“If you were my kid, I’d slap you.”
“Oh, please. If I was your kid, I wouldn’t be here. You would have killed every single one of them for looking at me funny. Let’s not play games anymore, old man. Why am I here?” I can see him shake his head out of the corner of my eye, but he doesn’t speak. “I’m dead, right?” I ask because I have to. My heart slaps into my ribs once and then goes back to its slow, drugged beating.
“Avery, listen to me. You’ve got no friends, no backup, no nothing. The only person batting for you on this team is me, and you don’t pay attention.” Sighing, he grips his forehead like he has a massive headache. When he glances up at me, his voice is softer. “Listen for once in your goddamn life, and listen closely. Black is full of shit. Watch what she says. Don’t take her word over Ferro’s. They’re both liars, but one of them is two steps ahead of the other.”
I’m still too out of it to grasp what he’s saying. “What are they doing? And which one is two steps ahead?” I turn and look at him.
“I don’t know, but the playing board is much bigger than you think.” Gabe disappears without further explanation.
I never felt so stupid in my entire life. I can barely think with this stuff in my veins and I wish that I’d never met Black. My life has totally fallen apart. I’m chasing a mental man that I can never have. No matter what I do, Sean will always be haunted by the memories that hide behind those beautiful eyes. Black is equally ruthless and scares the shit out of me. I have no doubt that she chopped up other girls who gave her trouble and planted them like daisies at the arboretum.
I need to get out of here, but I have nowhere to go—no one to hide me. Gabe is right. I’m alone. I bury my face in my hands and let out a rush of air. I’m f*cked. How do I get out of this?
At that moment, Black walks in the room. She slams the door shut and tosses her purse on the desk, nearly hitting me in the head, before sitting down in her chair. “Do you have an idea what you’ve put me through?”
“You’re not my mother, so don’t pretend to care.” I glance up at her slowly. My words are sharp, but steady. My speech doesn’t slur the way I expect it to. The buzz seems to be wearing off.
Miss Black’s red lips curl into a sneer. “I don’t care in the slightest what trauma you’ve been through and if you ever equate me to your mother again, I’ll make you beg for death.” Her eyes narrow as she speaks and I know without any doubt that she hates me. “The only thing I care about is this company and your little stunt at the hotel put it in jeopardy. Where is Mel?” Staring her in the eye, I shrug. “Fine. You want to play it this way, then we’ll play.”
Black grabs a pair of sewing sheers from her desk. They’re silver with long blades. She stands and walks around behind me. Before I know what she’s doing, the crazy-ass woman slices open the back of my shirt. It falls forward and tumbles into a lump in my lap. “There are only so many things to cut before we get to skin, and from the looks of it, you already have a scar. Why add more?”
I’m ready to start a hysterical rant, but I shove it down. I need to be able to think. Miss Black is all about logic. I decide to give her the information she wants. “Mel is fine. She’s hiding. The last time I saw her was last night on Long Island. She’s not coming back until they find out who killed the look-a-like in Mr. Ferro’s hotel room.”
She laughs lightly. “Ah, are we back to formalities with Sean? Very well. It’s all for the best, because you couldn’t marry him and work for me.”
“I don’t want to work for you.” I sound rather dignified for someone sitting in a bra and jeans.
She smiles and slips up onto her desk, and crosses her legs. “Ah, that’s where you’re wrong. I have a new job for you, one you’ll adore. And since you’ve taken your previous career plans and sent them straight to Hell, I thought this would interest you.”
I glance up at her. “Nothing you can say will interest me. I’m done. I’m walking away from this. I didn’t see anything and I won’t say anything. There haven’t been any cops following me and nothing from the night at the hotel points back to you.”
“Ah, so they didn’t find a bracelet. Funny, because I thought they did.” Miss Black smirks. “Avery, my dear, you’re not going anywhere, not for a while. And like the rest of the girls, you work when I tell you to.”
“No, not me. I’m done.”
“So, tell me—where are you going to live? How are you going to pay for food? What about your bills? Do you have a secret trust fund that I’m unaware of, or do you really think you can make it on your own working at the steak house? Because that life wasn’t one you wanted, if I recall correctly. This is easy money, Avery. There’s a nice house with manicured grounds, a pool, and then there’s the money, but you don’t need that.”
Black slides off the desk and walks to her closet and continues talking. “Ideals won’t feed you and keep the rain off your back. They don’t protect you either, and like it or not, men want you. You have something that makes them come back for more, over and over again. It took me a while to see that I have you in the wrong position.”
I turn in my seat, holding my wadded, torn shirt in my hand. I’m so tired that I can’t think straight. For once, I just want to lay down and be left alone. Black’s words sound like noise in my ears. “What are you talking about?” I shouldn’t ask. I know I shouldn’t, but I’m screwed. I’m screwed and I know it. Graduation will come and go and I’ll get kicked out on my ass. I’ll be homeless.
Unless, I go beg Marty for a bed, and god knows how awkward that would be since he has a mad crush on me. I could share his bed and camp out over there when I thought he was gay, but not anymore. Too many things have happened, but I still yearn for his friendship. What the hell does that mean? I seem to only attract guys that suck. They lie to my face over and over again, and yet I can’t let them go. I’m too afraid to let anyone go. It feels like my life has shattered, the shards have been crushed to dust and are blowing away. I can’t stand it anymore.
“It’s not a complicated notion, Avery. As much as I detest you, there is something about you. Add in that desperation to survive and the job is perfect for you.”
“Again, what are you talking about?”
She smiles kindly and the floor of my stomach goes into a freefall. I shouldn’t have asked. The back of my neck prickles, as if whatever she’s going to say will change my life. “I was like you once—alone and desperate—forced to do things that I didn’t want to do.” She leans back in her chair and steeples her fingers. “Then I became a madam and my entire world changed. My employer made me the offer once, just as I’m doing for you. Do you understand what I’m offering?”
I stare at her. This is unreal. It can’t be happening. All I can manage is, “What?”
Black stares back, her dark eyes utterly unsympathetic. “You heard me.”
I have no idea what to say. After a few moments, I lick my lips and say, “Let me get this right. You kidnapped me and brought me here to ask me to take your place?” My voice has a have-you-lost-your-mind tone.
Black laughs lightly and it sends a chill down my spine. “No one can take my place, but I’ve realized I’m not utilizing your skill set in the best way possible. You’d be a madam in the location where I install you. You still answer to me, but you no longer earn your living laying on your back. Other women will do that and you’ll be in charge of them.”
I laugh, because I think she’s joking. “Yeah, right. Very funny. When are you going to shoot me and dump my body at Captree? This is getting old.” I’m tempting her to shoot me. Maybe it’s not my brightest move, but I’m too exhausted to think.
Miss Black pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs, before pressing a button under her desk. A moment later, Gabe opens the door. “Yes?”
“Miss Stanz requested that her body be dumped at Captree after her disposal.”
Gabe’s wrinkled face turns white, but his old eyes remain lifeless. He nods, saying, “Yes ma’am.”
She asks Gabe, “Or would you rather have the previous job I mentioned?”
Gabe’s expression is stern. “The previous job, Miss Black.”
“So convince you’re annoying friend to take it and thank me.” Miss Black gets up and leaves the room, as if she can’t stand the sight of me.
Gabe lets out a rush of air after the door closes behind her. His shoulders lose a little bit of tension as he lowers his huge body into the chair next to mine. “You told her no?”
“Gabe, she wasn’t serious. She hates my guts. Why would she offer me something like that?”
“Because that’s what she does. Black’s business touches this country from coast to coast. Periodically a girl comes along that has that added appeal—like you—where guys can’t get enough of them. Then, BINGO, she’s found her needle in the haystack. The other women jumped at the chance, and you…” he shakes his head before lowering it in his hands.
I can’t take it. Turning toward him, I grab his arm and tug his hands off his face. He looks up at me with those silvery eyes. “Gabe, tell me what the hell is going on. I can’t stand this. Someone is trying to kill me and Black is talking jobs? Has she lost her goddamn mind?” I’m practically screaming by the time I finish speaking.
“Shh,” he snaps and tugs my arm, so my ear is closer to him. “Don’t think you’re not expendable to her, because you are—job offer or not. All this shit isn’t what you think and I’m not the person that should tell you. Ask Ferro. Ask Black, but not me.”
“No, you tell me. Why’d you take me from Sean?”
“I told him to clue you in. He obviously didn’t. Ferro didn’t want you to be there when the killer shows up. They had to make sure the person saw you go into the room and know that you were there, so we couldn’t let them see you leave. That’s why we tossed you in that box, or tried to. The entire plan was probably shot to hell, because we had to carry you out when you pitched a fit.”
I glare at him. “You stuffed me into a box.”
“Touché.”
I make an annoyed sound. “Gabe, this makes no sense. So Sean is working with Black?”
Gabe laughs like that was the stupidest thing he’s ever heard. “Nah, Black is the lesser of two evils. Ferro didn’t want you in the room. He’s protective of you and the only person who could keep you safe is Black. Ferro can no longer trust his staff, so he’s f*cked. He asked Black to keep an eye on you. I seriously doubt he knows what she wants from you. Black has her own agendas and some of them clash with Ferro’s.”
“So, I’m safe?” Gabe nods. His confirmation releases a slew of emotions that I’d been holding under lock and key. They bubble up and I start shaking before clutching his arm. “I thought he turned on me. I thought you guys were going to—”
Gabe doesn’t let me fall apart. “Pull yourself together. Don’t drop your guard, kid. We still don’t know who is trying to take you out or why. Ferro and Black have been discussing it, and I don’t have any theories either. The best they’ve come up with is that it’s someone trying to get even with Ferro.”
“Like Henry Thomas?”
“Exactly like Thomas. But Ferro has too many enemies. We can’t track all of them and Black is saying its Ferro’s problem, not hers. They agreed on a temporary truce so Ferro could take care of the problem and keep you safe.”
“Except the killer never showed.” Sean is standing in the door. There are bags under his eyes like he’s not slept in days. His dark hair is a mess and his jaw is covered in stubble. Sean walks in without looking at me and sits on Black’s desk before addressing Gabe, “Out.”