Shattered King Read online

  Van shook his head. “Since no one will listen the fuck to me, let’s go get this done.”

  Zeke pushed away from the wall and left without a word. He needed to get to the drop off before the meet. Take point and wait. The rest would follow and take position out of sight before Lulu and I arrived.

  A short time later, after everyone had left, I took the stairs to the holding room. After today, Lulu didn’t exist for me. She’d be a bad memory. Nothing she could say to me could make up for the years I spent inside, but I still wanted an answer from her, wanted to know why she did it. If she’d done it for money, that was something I could at least get my head around. People did shady shit for money all the time. But from what I’d seen, and the small amount of intel Neco had dug up since she surfaced, she hadn’t been living large. The opposite. She’d been working for her money. Going by the Hooters tank she’d been wearing when I picked her up, they weren’t well-paying jobs.

  I didn’t get it and, fuck me, I needed to before she walked away for good, for my own piece of mind.

  I entered the code, pushed the door open, and froze.

  Lulu was lying on her side, body still. Her legs were bent, knees tucked into her chest, hands together under her cheek, like she’d been praying and had fallen asleep again. My gaze lifted, against my will, to all that thick red hair fanning out across the pillow.

  Fucking beautiful.

  She was my drug, my poison.

  The best, and worst thing that had ever happened to me.

  It was time to end this, for good.

  Lulu

  I blinked several times, working the heaviness from my eyes. Somehow I’d fallen asleep, locked in this room, surrounded by people that thought I was lower than dirt. God knows how I managed that, especially after what happened in that bathroom. I shivered. Every time I thought about it, my body heated. I was more screwed up than I thought.

  The light in the room was diluted, gray. I guessed sometime late in the afternoon.

  I froze. I wasn’t alone.

  Hunter. His volatile energy filled the room, saturated it. My skin prickled and I sucked in a sharp breath. I didn’t move, stayed right where I was. I had no desire to find out what came next. I was still here for a reason. I didn’t know what that reason was, but considering the way he felt about me, things were not looking great.

  “I know you’re awake.”

  His voice was rough, low, but not angry for once. Something else, something I couldn’t name, set off little zaps of electricity in my lower belly. I’d decided before I fell asleep that I was done talking. Every time I opened my mouth, I pissed him off. And since he didn’t believe a word that came out of it, I was going to save my energy. With that in mind, I sat up, shoved my hair back from my face, and waited.

  He was standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed over his wide chest, chin dipped, head tilted, eyes locked on me. I couldn’t read his expression. But he was studying me in a way that made me want to squirm.

  His jaw tightened, not much, but enough that I saw it. That gaze got more intense, so intense I couldn’t hold it any longer. I picked at the hem of my T-shirt, fidgeting.

  “Why?” he said into the quiet room.

  That’s it. That one word. I knew what he was asking. I’d heard that one word, Hunter’s voice, echoing in my head, for three years. The pain and anger distorting it as he was dragged away by prison guards.

  I had nothing.

  Nothing I was prepared to give, anyway. I made myself meet his gaze. It wasn’t easy. God, how I wanted to tell him everything, but I couldn’t and clamped my mouth shut instead. I refused to put Josh at risk just to appease my guilt. No good would come from telling him what happened, not now. Nothing would change. Nothing would make any of this all right. If I knew without doubt that Josh was Hunter’s, maybe I’d open my mouth. But I didn’t know that. Telling Hunter would only turn a spotlight on my little boy. It would make him a target, if he weren’t already. I’d die before I did that.

  Hunter’s expression hardened. “You fucking owe me an explanation.”

  I didn’t move, didn’t blink, just kept my eyes locked on his and my mouth shut.

  He shook his head. “What did I ever do to you, Lulu? To make you hate me so damn much?”

  I jolted, a full body spasm. Oh God. It was him. There he was. My Hunter. Just a glimpse of the man I loved beyond reason. It hurt to see him again. I wasn’t prepared for it. I looked down at my hands, tears stinging my nose, the back of my eyes. I swallowed down the lump threatening to choke me. My tattered heart couldn’t take much more of this.

  I felt his gaze hot on me, waiting. Hoping I’d give him what he needed, give him the answers he wanted. I couldn’t do it.

  Finally, after what felt like forever, he hissed through his teeth.

  I looked up, couldn’t help it. His eyes were back to that cold, dead stare. He was gone again.

  He tilted his head toward the door. “Time to go.”

  I wanted to ask where, but since I’d just made a point of not talking, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut. I stood as he opened the door and followed him back upstairs. I must be demented, because my eyes drifted to his butt. As always, the worn denim hugged it just right. When we were together, walking down the street or waiting in line at the movies or whatever, I’d slide my hand in his back pocket, and his arm would come around me, curling around my neck. I’d loved it. Making sure everyone around us knew that I was his and he was mine.

  We took the elevator to the underground parking lot, then into his waiting car. Hunter remained silent as we headed across the city. He’d obviously given up trying to make me spill my guts, and I was thankful for it.

  I tried not to get my hopes up, but I’d gone four nights without seeing Josh, and I was aching to wrap him in my arms, to snuggle beside his little, warm body and just breathe in his scent while he slept. It hurt how much I missed him. I hated to think he was missing me, wondering where I was.

  But I knew Hunter wouldn’t just drop me at my aunt’s and let me off the hook. Why would he do that? It didn’t make sense. He’d gone through all this trouble. Kidnapped me. Locked me up. No. He had plans for me. I just didn’t know what.

  We eventually left the city and headed out a little ways. It wasn’t an area I’d been to before, and it was seriously rough. Run-down buildings, graffiti, burnt-out cars. My nerves steadily rose the farther we went. He took a left, the street all but abandoned. No one. Not a living soul in sight.

  Then he rolled to a stop beside an empty lot. There’d been a building there once—I could tell by the large concrete patch covering most of the ground. It was cracked, and straggly weeds had broken though, desperate for sunlight.

  Whatever we were doing here, I knew I wouldn’t like it, not one damn bit.

  Adrenaline spiked through my veins, my pulse thudding erratically as I scanned the area around us frantically.

  I turned to Hunter. He wasn’t looking at me.

  He pulled out his phone, punched in a number, and held it to his ear. “We’re here.” He was silent a beat. “Zeke in position?” He glanced out the window, to the right. “Good.” Then disconnected.

  The only sound in the car was my heavy, panicked breaths exploding past my lips, and the rush of blood in my ears. I stared out the window, straight ahead, trying to get my shit together, trying to calm the hell down. A car appeared in the distance, coming toward us. As it got closer, I could see it was shiny black, sleek, expensive. It stopped about three or four yards away.

  Hunter went still, unnaturally so, letting off that scary-as-hell vibe again.

  I went still as well. I didn’t know what this was, but every instinct I had told me to run. To get as far away as I could and never look back. Nothing happened for a while, and then the door opened and a guy in a dark suit stepped out. His hair was slicked back, his prominent, pointy nose sticking out like an arrow from the middle of his face. He had beady eyes that were a little too close t
ogether. The kind of face you didn’t easily forget.

  He was one of Pierce’s men. Derek.

  I’d seen him in our house plenty of times. Pierce never liked to go anywhere without at least two men covering his ass, and the guy in front of me was always one of them.

  I started to shake, uncontrollably.

  Hunter was handing me over to Pierce.

  My fingers curled into fists, anger flooding me. Anger and indescribable fear. For some fucked-up reason, deep down, I’d believed him when he said he’d let me go.

  I wanted to scream because Hunter fucking knew me. He knew me. He should have worked it out. He should have known I would never willingly betray him. He’d been my everything, and I’d been his.

  And he was going to just hand me over to that monster and never look back.

  The guy in front of us put his phone to his ear and half a second later Hunter’s rang.

  He hit the call button, listened for a few seconds, then, “Yeah, I have her. You got the money?”

  Pain lanced through me. Money? This was about money? All of it?

  I guess Hunter wasn’t the only one wearing blinders. I obviously didn’t know him either. Because as it turned out, he was just another asshole taking his pound of flesh from me. Did he have any idea what would happen to me? That at best I’d be a prisoner, and at worst . . .

  I shuddered.

  “Told you, I fucking have her,” he rumbled into the phone. I could see Derek’s lips moving, still talking. “Fine,” Hunter said, “Here’s your proof.” Then he hit a button on the dashboard. The windows of the car were tinted, giving them a grayish appearance from the inside. When Hunter hit the button, they lightened, cleared.

  Pierce’s man lifted his head, stared directly at me, and a grin curved his lips. Hunter punched the button again and the windows darkened, hiding us from sight.

  I wanted to throw up.

  Disbelief and, yes, betrayal pounded through me. I might not survive whatever happened next. I may never see my little boy again.

  My mind roared.

  This wasn’t happening. I wouldn’t let this happen. I’d rather die than be Pierce’s prisoner again, his creature. Blood thundered though my ears as I reached for the door handle. I had no plan, nowhere to go. All I knew was I had to get away. I had to get away from here.

  Yanking the door open, I dove out and took off running as fast as I could.

  Shots rang out behind me, the sound of bullets drilling into the side of Hunter’s car, echoing down the street. Boots pounded on the road behind me. Tires screeched. Someone hooked me around the waist, jerking me off my feet. Then we were on the ground and I was being shoved down. Hunter was covering my body with his. I heard him on his phone barking orders.

  “Stay down,” he said in my ear.

  There were more shots and the sound of an engine revving. Hunter returned fire. My ears rang. My heart tried to pound right out of my chest.

  Then everything stopped, the street becoming eerily silent.

  Hunter moved, climbing to his feet, dragging with him. Van was walking toward us, Neco at his side.

  “He got away,” Van said.

  Hunter cursed and grabbed me by my shoulders. “You could have gotten yourself shot.” He shook me. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  I lost it. Just flipped the hell out. I shoved at him. When he wouldn’t let me go, I punched and fought and bit and scratched. “Let me go!” I screamed. “Let me the hell go!”

  Hunter shook me again. “What the hell is going on? Why are you afraid of Pierce?”

  I fought harder. Not caring if I hurt myself in the process. I needed to get to Josh. I needed to get out of this city.

  “Tell me.” he barked. “Fucking tell me.”

  I didn’t stop fighting, shaking my head, desperately trying to pull free.

  “Hunter,” Van’s deep voice cut through the air like a blade, through my hysteria.

  I stopped fighting, but then I started shaking again. Hunter was frowning down at me.

  Van touched his shoulder and he finally looked away. “I know you want Pierce, Hunt, but this isn’t the way. Let me take her to her aunt.”

  Hunter stilled. He was breathing hard, still holding me immobile as his blue eyes came back to me, boring into me. I couldn’t hold his stare. “You’re afraid of Pierce. Why?” he asked again.

  “I’m not,” I lied.

  “You just dove out of my car and ran like hell when you realized it was him.”

  I shook my head. “How the hell would I know it was Pierce in that car?” I tried to pull free, but still he wouldn’t let me. I made myself meet his hard stare. “I wasn’t running from him, I was running from you,” I said, doing my best not to choke on the words.

  His jaw went tight. Finally, after a long tense silence, he shoved me toward Van. “Take her.” Then he strode away, back to his SUV.

  A second later, he was gone.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Lulu

  The drive to Sara’s was a silent one, and the closer we got, the greater my anxiety grew. Van didn’t seem in the mood to speak, which was good. Right then speaking wasn’t an option for me, not with the way my mind raced. I figured I had maybe an hour before Pierce came looking for me. He’d just been shot at, so I had to assume he’d need a few minutes to regroup. Well, I hoped so anyway.

  I didn’t want to go back to Sara’s, but my car was there, all my worldly possessions. Josh’s things. His toys, his clothes. I couldn’t afford to replace any of it. My finances had taken a major hit with Sara and Josh staying at a hotel. I didn’t know how far I’d get on the money I had left. Not as far as I’d like, I knew that much.

  Finally, we pulled up outside my aunt’s house.

  “Lulu . . .” Van started, turning toward me, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

  I shook my head. “Don’t. I know how you feel about me and I assure you, I don’t plan on sticking around.” Then I shoved the door open.

  “Hang on a minute . . .” He reached for me.

  I all but dove out and raced up the steps to the house. Van didn’t drive off right away, he also didn’t follow me in, thank God. I refused to look back as I took the key from under the welcome mat and let myself in, slamming the door behind me.

  Racing into the living room, I peeked through the net curtains. He was still there, looking at the house. What was he doing? I needed him to leave. Finally, after what felt like forever, he turned back to the road and drove off.

  As soon as I was sure he wasn’t coming back, I ran to the kitchen and called Sara.

  “Hello, Lulu?”

  Her voice sounded strained. I hated that I’d done that to her.

  “Yes, it’s me. I’m fine. Where are you? I’m just going to grab our bags and I’ll come to you.”

  “Thank God, you’re okay. I’ve been worried out of my mind. Is everything sorted out now? Did you see Hunter? Did you talk?”

  My stomach flipped unhappily. “Yes, we talked.” Not a complete lie, but not in the way I knew she meant either. “I promise, everything’s going to be all right now.” I hated lying to her, but I didn’t want her to worry more than she already was.

  I heard her sigh of relief down the line. “That’s good. That was the right thing to do. I know why you wanted me to keep Josh out of sight . . . why you didn’t want Pierce to find out you were here. I . . .”

  “You do?” I choked out.

  “He reacted badly, when you told him you got pregnant with Josh, didn’t he? That’s what this was all about? That’s why you ran?”

  The flipping in my belly turned to giant, jagged knots. I had to bite my lip to hold back my sob. God, I wish it were that simple, that clean. Girl gets knocked up by bad boy boyfriend. Stepfather loses his shit. Girl runs away. But it was anything but simple or clean.

  And there was no washing this off.

  “I . . . I . . .” What? What the hell could I say?

  “Now Hunter knows about
Josh, everything will be okay, you’ll see,” she said, now on a roll. “Does he want to meet him? Why are you getting your bags? You’re not leaving are you? Why don’t I just come home instead of you coming here?”

  “No. No, I’ll come to you. I, uh . . . we can go for lunch and I’ll explain everything then.” I had no idea how I was going to explain any of this. I didn’t want to burst her bubble and I couldn’t tell her the truth either.

  “That sounds nice.”

  She rattled off the name and address of the hotel and I promised to be there as soon as I could.

  “Oh, and before I forget, Josh has been asking for his favorite book . . . hourly. I left it there. You might want to bring that as well.”

  I knew the one she meant. “Roscoe the Wonder Dog?”

  She chuckled. “That’s the one.”

  “I’ll find it.”

  We said our goodbyes, and I ended the call.

  I’d brought trouble to my aunt’s door, put her in danger. Pierce would come looking for me. It was only a matter of time. Sara had a friend who lived in Hudson. Maybe I could convince her to go for a visit until everything blew over?

  My priority was keeping my family safe, getting the hell out of this house, and getting them as far away as possible. Nothing else mattered. I ran to the room where Josh had slept and grabbed my bags. I didn’t have much and I hadn’t been there long enough to unpack anything, so I snatched them up and bolted for the door.

  Rushing out to the car, I dumped everything in the trunk, then ran back and pulled the door closed. After slipping the key back under the mat, I headed back to the car. I was about to get in when I remembered the book.

  Josh loved that book. I was surprised he’d slept without my aunt reading it to him every night. I quickly scanned the road. There were no cars parked on the street, no one hanging around. It looked quiet like it always did. I jogged back, grabbed the key again, and let myself in. I did a quick search for it in the bedroom and living room. Nothing.

  I tried the kitchen next, but it wasn’t there either. I turned to leave, scanning the room one more time. I’d have to go without it. I’d find him another one somewhere . . .