His audacity infuriated me. I’d been so twisted up over him; I hated that he owned so many of my emotions. But I’d be damned if he owned my ability to leave.
I slid under the booth, ignoring the sticky floor, and trying to avoid the gum caked to the underside of the table. I came up the other side as gracefully as I could manage.
I stood as tall as my petite frame allowed and glared down at him. “You walked out on me. You’re not attracted to me? Fine,” I ranted as his eyes gauged me steadily. “But I thought at least—at least you cared enough about me to stay and try not to make me feel like absolute shit! But you couldn’t give that to me, Sid. Not your time. Not an explanation. So you don’t get to sit there and demand anything from me.”
I turned on my heel and walked out of the bar.
The alcohol had made for a loose tongue, which I wasn’t entirely sorry for. I left my car where it was and headed around the corner and out of sight until a cab appeared.
My phone was pinging in my bag but I ignored it, staring out the window watching as the lights of the city flashed by. I kept expecting to feel devastated but instead I felt… strong. I’d been holding those feelings in for months. It had felt better than I’d expected to set them free.
Sid had been a big part of my life for years. I didn’t want to lose him entirely, so friends it would be. When I was ready.
CHAPTER 4
After a hot shower, I threw a robe on over my naked body and went straight to bed without returning a single text. I didn’t even look at my phone.
When I heard the front door bang open what felt like seconds after falling asleep, I sat up with a jolt. The sound of several pairs of boots and unfamiliar male voices filling my apartment had me scrambling out of bed in a panic.
“Search the place. Find her.” An accented voice commanded. Russian? I couldn’t place the accent, such was my panic.
I gasped, trying to tamp down my terror in order to think clearly. I reached for my phone, enacting the training Travis had ingrained in me time and time again in the event of an emergency. I sent him an SOS signal. It was all I had time for before I scrambled to find an escape route.
I looked down at the small robe covering my naked frame; there was no time to put anything else on. I frantically turned to open my bedroom window, shoving out the screen.
The heart-stopping sound of my bedroom door opening behind me sent sheer terror through me as I threw one leg over the windowsill in a desperate attempt to escape.
Suddenly, a large arm was around my neck, yanking me back. I kicked out and struggled, trying desperately to hold my robe together. I was able to slip out from under his arm, landing hard on the ground, and crawled frantically back to the window, screaming for help.
I didn’t get far.
He grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking me back as I cried out in pain. “You’re not going anywhere,” the man grunted, pulling me up and smacking me so hard across the face that my eyes watered and I saw stars.
He dragged me into the living room, where two other men were in the process of ripping apart my apartment. They were all impeccably dressed in suits and there was something so odd about watching such put-together-looking men cause such irrational chaos.
I was shoved roughly to the ground, landing painfully on my hands and knees. “What do you want?” I demanded, pulling together my robe with one hand and wiping the blood from my nose with the other.
Two men glared down at me while a third stepped forward, kneeling to look me in the eye.
His icy stare sent a shiver up my spine.
“Do you know who I am?” he asked, his tone eerily calm and calculated.
I shook my head.
He smiled wickedly and I suddenly felt like a doe in a lion’s crosshairs. “Your boss and I were business partners of a kind some time ago,” he explained musingly. “I have reason to believe he gave you something of mine, something very valuable.”
I swallowed hard as the fear ratcheted up several degrees. Zitto? I had the sinking feeling that the fact I had no idea what he was talking about wouldn’t bode well.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I whispered fearfully.
The punch came out of nowhere, slamming into my face with punishing force. I must have lost consciousness for moment or two, because I came to on the ground staring up at the ceiling. The pain radiated across my face with an aching pulse.
“Let’s try again, shall we?” he asked, his accent thickened by anger. “I didn’t spend the last decade in prison to argue with little girls.”
My vision was still filled with stars as I struggled to focus on him. He forced me roughly to sit up.
“What he gave you—well, it wasn’t his to give. He fucking stole it, and for that, he’ll pay. But first, I need my fucking diamond!”