Too Late

“I could never.”

I close my eyes, not knowing what Luke will think of my confession. But it feels good just getting it out—letting someone else know how much hatred I’m harboring. “Sometimes...I wish that just once...Asa would have to watch you fuck me. It’s the only thing that would kill what’s left of his soul. I sometimes wish he could somehow be forced to watch you take what he thinks belongs to him.”

Luke doesn’t respond for a long time. I start to grow embarrassed that I admitted that out loud. I don’t want him to think I have this fantasy that involves Asa watching us for pleasure. It’s far from that. With everything Asa has put me through, I know that this would hurt him more than anything. That’s all that fantasy is—a way for me to get the ultimate revenge on him.

“Sloan,” Luke finally says. “He did a lot to you that you didn’t deserve. So much more than anyone should ever have to endure. It’s perfectly normal for you to want him to suffer. Don’t ever feel guilty about that. Ever.”

I sigh with relief at his words. “What would be your ultimate revenge?”

Luke laughs a little. “My only revenge would be watching you get your ultimate revenge. I just want to see you vindicated. Justified. So I want whatever it is that would get you that.”

I love him. I really do. So damn much. I pull my face away from his chest and say, “I love you, Luke.”

He cups my face and says, “I love you too, baby.” Then we kiss.

But then we stop.

Banging.

Loud banging on the center of the apartment door. I immediately feel the terror, the chills all over my skin, the shaking return to my hands.

Luke is standing now. I don’t even know when he jumped off the couch. He throws me my T-shirt. He moves across the living room and grabs his gun off the counter.

More banging on the door.

He motions for me to get up and come stand by him. I do.

“Who knows we’re here?” I ask him.

“Just Ryan,” he says, walking to the front door. I follow him. He leans forward and looks through the peephole. He pulls back and presses his back to the wall by the door. “It’s Ryan.”

“Thank God,” I whisper.

Luke doesn’t move. His gun is still drawn and his eyes are boring into mine.

“What’s wrong?”

Luke inhales a quick breath, then releases it. “He’s not scratching his neck.”





Sloan’s whole face drops. She knows mine and Ryan’s non-verbal signal for when everything is safe. And she realizes now that everything is not safe.

I glance out the peephole again, hoping I just missed the signal. But he’s still not scratching his neck. And it’s four o’clock in the morning. Why would he be here?

“Open the door, Luke,” Ryan says. “I know you’re in there.”

Ryan is looking straight into the peephole. But I know him well enough to know that he’s hoping I don’t open the door.

If Asa is behind this, why would Ryan lead him here?

I look out the peephole again and I can see Ryan looking to his left, like he’s listening to someone give him orders. Ryan inhales, then stares at the door again. “He took Tillie. If you don’t open the door, he’ll let them kill her. He’s the only one who knows where she is.”

“Fuck,” I whisper, dropping my head against the wall. “Fuck.”

I can’t believe Ryan would put Sloan in this situation. I can’t believe he would bring him here. There has to be something else to this. Ryan would put his own life in danger before he would risk anyone else’s. I glance over at Sloan and tears are pouring down her cheeks. Her eyes are wide with fear. I look out the door again, just as Asa walks into the frame, pointing a gun against Ryan’s head. “Don’t forget to tell him who else I have,” Asa says, loud enough for me to hear him through the door.

Ryan closes his eyes regretfully. “Luke,” he says. “He has someone parked outside my little sister’s house. I’m sorry, Luke. I’m so sorry.”

I close my eyes. Ryan’s little sister is the one thing he would protect more than anyone in this world. It makes sense now. And the fact that Asa was smart enough to pull that off makes me scared for Sloan’s life. I reach for my phone to dial 9-1-1.

“If you call the police and have me arrested, they’re both dead,” Asa says. “Tillie. Ryan’s sister. And Ryan. My guys have strict orders. I’m giving you three seconds to open this door.”

Sloan is crying hard now, shaking her head, begging me not to open the door. I take two steps until I’m standing right in front of her. I brush my thumb across my bottom lip and whisper, “I’m so sorry, Sloan.” Then I grab her arm and pull her to me, press the gun against the side of her head, and open the door.

Asa looks at Sloan first. Then his eyes meet the gun I’m holding to her head. “Son of a bitch,” he says.

I back us both into the living room as Asa makes his way inside, holding the gun to Ryan’s head. “Looks like we have a predicament.”

I shrug. “Not really. What you have of mine is disposable. What I have of yours is not.”

Sloan is shaking so hard against me, and it fucking kills me that I’m doing this to her. But she knows she’s the only bargaining tool we have to work with. He would never want her dead, so I hope she realizes that this may be our only way out of this.

It’s a risk, but we’re out of options.

Asa’s eyes are hard on mine. “Let her go, Luke. I’ll release Ryan, Sloan and I will leave, and things can go back to how they’re supposed to be.”

I’ll never push her into Asa’s arms. Even if he has to kill me first.

“Asa,” I say, backing her away from him. “Do you remember the last time we were locked up in a room together? You were very curious about the details of my first time with Sloan.”

He swallows hard.

“You still interested in hearing about it?”

Asa cocks his gun in a threatening gesture, pushing it beneath Ryan’s chin, forcing his head up.

I do the same to Sloan. It makes her cry even harder.

“The first time I kissed her was in your bedroom,” I say. “Right next to your bed.”

“Shut your fucking filthy mouth, Luke,” Asa yells. “I’ll blow his fucking brains out all over this apartment.”

I nod. “If you do that, you’ll see exactly what Sloan looks like on the inside.”

He winces. I’m getting to him.

“You think I care if she dies?” I say. “There are a million more girls just like her, Asa. She doesn’t mean shit to me. She got me closer to you and that’s all I ever cared about. She’s a white-trash cunt who used you for your money. Do you really think I would take a girl like that home to my mother?”

Asa lowers his head until his eyes are narrowed in my direction. “You think I believe that? Nice try, Luke. I know you want to keep her all to yourself or you wouldn’t fucking be here with her. Now tell me what it’ll take for you to give her to me. Alive.”

“I can’t do that yet, Asa. You’re right, I don’t want to give her up. I’ve only been able to fuck her once. She owes me a good fuck or two.”

Asa pops his neck. I can see his focus changing more to me and less on Ryan. I push him a little further.

“You want to know what it was like the first time I fucked her or not? Last chance.”

Asa shakes his head. “Not particularly. What I’d like is to not have to fucking kill you or your partner. What I’d like is for you to hand me Sloan so we can move on with our lives.”

“You were passed out in your bed upstairs.” I press my cheek against Sloan’s, rubbing my face against her. I can feel her tears and my fucking heart is regretting every second of putting her through this, but I have no other choice. “Sloan had just gotten out of the pool. Her bra and panties were soaking wet. Nipples were hard as fucking rocks. You know what she did, Asa?”

He doesn’t respond, so I continue.

“She walked right up to me, pressed those hard nipples against my chest, and then she called me out on my bullshit. Said she knew I was undercover. She threatened to tell you. So I did what any guy would do in that situation. I pulled her to the side of the house, shoved her against the wall, and kissed her to shut her up.” I force a smile. “She loved it, Asa. Moaned so loud I was afraid she might wake you up. Then she wrapped her legs around me, letting me know how much she wanted it. I carried her to my car and she straddled my lap. She fucked me in the backseat of my car while you slept upstairs. She fucked me, Asa. She didn’t fuck Carter. She fucked Luke. The cop. She fucked me, knowing I was there to bring you down.”

I push Sloan forward a step, getting just a little bit closer to Asa, digging that knife in a little bit deeper. “How does that make you feel? Knowing it turned her on more to know that I was an undercover cop building a case against you than it did when she thought I was just another dealer like you?”