Author: Teresa Mummert

My cell phone rang, jarring us from the moment.

“Colt,” I answered, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees.

“We are dropping by,” Whitey responded.

My eyes shot to Rose.

“What’s your ETA?” I asked as I pushed to my feet, and Rose followed suit, ringing her hands together nervously.

“I’m climbing your steps now.”

The line went dead and I stared at Rose for an extra moment before tossing my phone on the table.

“You have to go in the room.”

“I don’t want to go back in there,” she whined like a child.

“I don’t have time for your bullshit. Some very bad men are heading this way and I need you behind that lock.”

“How do I know someone isn’t on their way to rescue me?”

“Because you’re not a Disney fucking princess.” I bent over and grabbed her around the ass, hauling her up over my shoulder.

“I’m glad you still have your sense of humor while my life is one the line.” Her hands splayed across my back and I could feel her nails beginning to dig into my flesh. In any other circumstance, my dick would be rock hard, but there was a very real threat to Rose’s life.

“Retract your claws.” I sat her down gently on the mattress. She began to sob and part of me found some sort of sick, twisted pleasure in her fear. She had put me through hell without an ounce of remorse. It was time to return the favor.

“Don’t cry, Lily.” I sunk down on my knees and lifted her chin with my fingertips. “It makes you look just as ugly on the outside as you are on the inside.” She jerked back from my touch as I pushed to my feet and shook my head. I held my finger up to my lips to warn her to be quiet before backing out of the room and securing the lock. As I made my way into the kitchen to grab a beer, the front door opened.

“Whitey, nice of you to drop by.” I smiled as I opened my beer and tossed the cap on the counter.

“We need progress.” He slicked back his thick wavy hair exposing his tanned face.

“You need a drink. Beer?” I took a long pull from my bottle and Whitey made a face. “Everything is on track. Just like it always is.”

“You got the ball rolling on the money?”

“I’ve already initiated contact.”

His eyes flicked to the door and I took another drink, hoping he wouldn’t want to see her.

“I’ll be checking in later.” He turned and opened the door to the apartment. “Keep up the good work. Danny has his eye on you for the future.” He winked before leaving the apartment and pulling the door closed behind him. I let out a deep sigh and leaned back against the counter. Lily wasn’t Rose. Not anymore. I was going to end up getting us both killed because I couldn’t separate the two. She wasn’t being truthful, and that meant that any trust we had in the past was long gone. I needed to start playing this one by the book. People like Danny used guys like me for a reason. I had no problem shutting off my emotions and getting the job done.

I went to my bedroom to grab a T-shirt. I could hear Lily crying to herself as I pulled the deep-gray shirt over my head. One thing Rose was teaching me was that being a victim doesn’t make you innocent. She was going to try her hardest to outsmart me, and I would have to match her every step of the way.

“Lily?” I waited for a response, but she didn’t speak. “Want to come out and play?”

“Call my fiancé. Let me speak to him. I know he will pay whatever it is you’re asking.”

I laughed and shook my head.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, sweetheart.”

“You can. You just don’t want to.” She bit back.

“Something like that.” I pulled the keys from my pocket and undid the lock on the spare bedroom door.

Rose stood up and walked out of the door past me.

“I can tell you’re not like them. This isn’t you.” She looked back over her shoulder at me.

“Says the woman with a fake name. You left town and never looked back. Neither have I. I’m a different person now.”

“What would your mother think?”

I barely let her finish her sentence before I had her body backed up against the island with my hand gripping the base of her throat.

“Don’t talk about my mother, and don’t talk about the people we used to be. You have no idea who I am. It would be a big mistake for you to think otherwise.”

“I’m sorry.” Her eyes were wide as she struggled to calm her breathing. Her eyes fell from mine to my lips. Her mouth fell open slightly. I pushed back from her, running my hands over my hair in frustration.

“Two fucking weeks, Lily. Then you can go back to pretending I never existed.”

“I never tried to forget you.”

I turned back to her, rage boiling inside of me. I was in front of her again in two large strides.

“I want to forget you.” I searched her eyes with mine. I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to pay her back for all of the pain she’d caused me.

“You don’t mean that.” She lifted her hand and placed her fingertips lightly on my chest. I glanced down at her hand. I thought of the ring some other man had placed on it.

“Don’t fucking touch me, Lily. You don’t get to fucking touch me.” I closed my eyes, not wanting her to see the pure rage, the hatred, the wanting. “Go back in the room.” I took a step back from her.

“What? You can’t…”

“I need to go out. I can’t be here.”

I had to practically push Rose back into the room. I needed to get the hell out of this place. I needed to put as many miles between us as possible. After securing her, I pulled on my shoes and headed down to the parking garage.

As I sat inside of my car, I pulled up the number to Lily’s fiancé and copied it into the search bar. I needed to see what she was running from and why. As the list populated, I realized I had a bigger problem on my hands than Lily’s broken engagement. Her soon-to-be husband was a lawyer and a damn good one. I glanced over his website, memorizing his face.

I put my car in reverse and decided to go check him out for myself. As I put miles between me and my apartment, it became clearer that Lily’s being in that bar was more than just a coincidence. No one would travel this far to get a beer.

I pulled up outside of Miller and Johnson law firm and waited. An hour passed and I saw two clients enter, one leave. I sat up in my seat, squinting to see the man who had just come out of the office doors.

“That son of a bitch,” I said under my breath as Lily’s fiancé wrapped his arm around the waist of a redhead, pulling her flush against his body as her hands slid up to his neck. I clenched my jaw as I thought over the ramifications of my beating the piss out of this man on the street while his woman was locked up in my apartment across town.

One thing I wanted more than revenge was to know why Lily was in my bar that night. I started the car, revving the engine several times before pulling out into the street, swerving slightly toward the couple.

“Get your feet off my chair, Cole.” Rose rolled her eyes at me as she knocked my shoes off her seat in the back of social studies class.

“Why do you always have to be such a raging bitch?” I asked, evoking a smile from her.

“What can I say? You bring out the good side of me.” She laughed as she tossed her pen at me.

“You bring out the whore in me, Rose,” Tyler called from behind me. Rose hung her head and I could see that all playfulness had left her face. I sat up in my seat and turned to face him.

“Leave her the fuck alone.”

“You talk to her like that.”

“Yeah, but she likes me.” I laughed as I turned back around. Rose glanced over at me with a smirk.

The trip home was a blur as I tried to keep focused on the plan and not let my rage consume me. My world was falling apart. I needed to regain control or I was going to blow everything I had worked so hard to achieve.

Chapter Six

Face Down

I hadn’t calmed down at all by the time I set foot inside of my apartment. I pulled the lock from the door and kicked it open. Lily looked up at me through her hair. I strode across the room, grabbing her by the arm and yanking her to her feet as she squealed in protest.

“Why the fuck are you here?” I asked through clenched teeth.

“You — you brought me here,” she stammered. I pulled her from the room and into my bedroom. She stumbled backward as I kept my grip on her arm and my eyes locked on hers.

“You’re playing fucking games with me, Rose.” I pushed her back onto the bed.

“It was a coincidence, Cole. I had no idea you would be there.”

I shook my head as I pulled my T-shirt over my head and let it fall to the floor beside me. Her eyes danced over my chest and down my stomach.

“I missed you,” she said with a sigh.

“You want to see what I can give you? What I have to offer someone like you?”

She swallowed hard as she scooted back farther on the bed, putting a few more inches between us. I undid my pants and let them ride low on my hips as I stepped closer. I took a moment to take in how incredible she looked in my clothes. Her tanned legs tangled in my sheets caused my dick to instantly harden. I reached forward and wrapped my fingers around her ankle, tugging her toward me. I twisted my wrist, forcing her to turn on her side.

“Face down.”

I narrowed my eyes and she quickly flipped onto her belly.

“What are you going to do to me?” she asked, her voice shaking. I slowly slid my jeans down and lowered myself over her until I could feel the heat from her body, smell her fear.

“I’m going to make you regret wanting me.” My voice was calm as my breath blew into her ear and down her neck, causing her to shiver. I shoved her shirt up over her hipbones. My fingers looped in the delicate fabric of her white cotton panties, and I slowly tugged them down her thighs.

“Please let me look at you,” she whimpered, afraid of what I had planned.

“Want to face your fears, Lily?” I palmed her ass cheeks as I nestled my cock between them.

“Please,” she whimpered, clutching at the comforter. My hand slid from her ass to her hair, tangling my fingers in it and yanking her head back forcefully.

“The fun is just beginning. I thought you liked playing pretend.” I slid the length of myself against her as I kept my grip tight in her hair.

“I’m not pretending.” She struggled to keep her voice level. I was calling her bluff. If she could hold out it would prove me wrong. It could save her. Unfortunately, I wasn’t playing the same game. The rules didn’t apply to me. I hated what Lily stood for, and I wanted to destroy it, piece by piece. I didn’t deserve the life I was given. If she was fucking with me, I would call her out and if she wasn’t I would break her heart. Either way I would enjoy this. I propped myself on my left elbow as I released her hair, trailing my fingertips down her spine. Her back bowed like a cat eager to be scratched. Her ass pushed back against my cock. She immediately lurched forward, pressing herself flat against the mattress when she realized what she was doing. She was enjoying this and it made my dick ache as I became painfully hard. I gripped the base of my cock firmly in my hand and rubbed the head over her slit. She was dripping wet, which made me throb against her entrance. Whether she was fucking with me or not, she wanted me. No one could deny the primal reaction her body had to mine. A low throaty moan escaped her, bringing me back to the present. I wasn’t trying to please her. I wanted to hurt her. To scare her away. I positioned myself at her backside and pressed against her ass.

“No…” her voice quivered as her eyes shot wide like a doe.

“No?” I laughed sadistically.