Page 97

My heart stops.

Thad smiles. Not the way any normal person smiles when they're happy but the smile I recognize with another cold zap of unease. The one that says things will go well if I fall in line. Do what I'm told. Otherwise?

There will be consequences. For me, anyway.

"My beautiful wife. Look at you. Quite the glow-up."

I can't move. I hate that the most. My feet are locked. My body clamping down like every muscle and tendon and nerve have frozen solid because it remembers him. My mind struggles to keep up, to stay in the moment and not go to that quiet place where he can't go. That place where I'm safe.

Focus.

I am not her anymore. I am not that person. I'm more. More than his ex-wife. More than a woman standing in an alley with the man who made her fear for her life more than once. There is so little he can do to me that he hasn't already done.

And with that awareness, the fear gripping me eases. Just a little.

Havoc growls, and the sound yanks me back from the darkness threatening to pull me under. To pull me in so I can hide from the danger I currently face.

I take a breath and then another.

"What, no hello? How are you? How was prison?"

I blink at the inane questions. "What did you do to Sully?"

"Well, at least you asked about him first. He might like that if he wakes up."

If he wakes up? My heart stops and then picks up speed. I shake uncontrollably. "Thad, what are you doing? Why are you doing this?"

"Tie the dog up or put him inside. Otherwise, I'll take care of him myself."

My blood boils at the threat, and Havoc senses my anger and growls again.

"Careful. I'd hate to see such a nice-looking dog get hurt because you didn't do as you're told again."

His words hit like a punch, and with them, I'm back in that house. Back with him. Flinching at every noise. Every angry put-down. Every time a single touch meant sex and nothing more. No affection. No hugs. No reassurance or love.

Not like Sully.

I hear a groan. So does Havoc, because his growls increase in volume.

"Do what I say before I put him down."

I slowly move to the door of the bar and point. "Havoc, guard."

Havoc looks so concerned with the order I falter. But I need him to be the trained tool Lawson loves so much. Havoc knows what to do. Knows that Sully is on the other side of that door. He knows. "Havoc, guard," I say again.

"Get over here."

I swallow hard and force my shoulders down from my ears, reciting Lawson's instructions as I edge closer but stay just out of reach.

"There's my girl."

"No," I bite out, the words sending me over the edge. "I'm not yours." I'm Sully's. With every breath in my body—however many are left—I know that I am his. That I will always be Sully's girl.

"You think your boy hero can save you?" Thad laughs. "He can't even get off the floor."

How badly is Sully hurt? "Leave, Thad. No one has to know you're here. Go away, and leave us alone."

"I can't do that. You see, you ruined my life, dear wife. You stood in that courtroom and⁠—"