King(46)

“I have to go to work. Dinner tonight?”

“Sure, I’ll even pay,” Evie offered.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll be back around six.”

When Penni left, leaving her with nothing other than time on her hands, she decided to pack. Taking out her cases, she laid them open on the bed. One by one, she emptied the drawers then the closet, leaving out only what she would wear tonight and tomorrow.

When she finished, she looked down at the filled cases, which held the extent of her possessions. She reached down to a case and pulled out a thin t-shirt, a skimpy blouse, a modest dress, her leather skirt, and one by one, she tossed them to the floor. Evie went into the kitchen and grabbed a trash bag, gathering the clothes into a pile then stuffing them into the bag.

She had almost nothing left, which was what her life felt like at the moment.

Grabbing her purse, she went out the door, locking it behind her. Then, after catching a cab, Evie went shopping.

It wasn’t much fun without Jewell, Bliss or Raci, but she picked out the clothes she would need for the next few months. When she finished, she caught a cab back to the apartment. Going through the lobby with her shopping in tow, she didn’t take the offer of help from the concierge.

After getting in the elevator, Evie looked down at her watch. She had just enough time to get showered and changed before Penni arrived back from work. She got off the elevator, juggling her bags while searching for her keys. Finally, she found them at the bottom of her purse.

She was so occupied trying to unlock the door with the bags, she didn’t notice someone coming up behind her until it was too late. A blinding pain struck at the back of her head, forcing her to her knees, the bags dropping from her hands. She was jerked to her feet by a pair of rough hands and then dragged to the elevator.

Dazed, Evie was slow to react; the doors of the elevator were closing before she was able to begin struggling.

“Stay still, or I will hit you again.” Evie felt the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of her skull as the button to the elevator was pushed. “It doesn’t matter to me if you’re still alive or not as long as King thinks you are.”

A rough hand jerked her out of the elevator then into a black SUV that was waiting. Shoving her inside, she fell face-forward into the vehicle.

Evie managed to sit up in the seat with no help from the man who had shoved her inside. He was in his early thirties with brown hair, and the ugly expression on his face let her know he didn’t care if she got to their destination breathing or not. She didn’t try to make conversation.

Clearly, she’d been lied to about the deal and had been taken to hold over King until it was completed.

She and King had obviously not been discreet the last few weeks. King had been seen with a variety of women over the years and no one had gone after them. His sister had been killed when he was younger, and since then, King had not become close with anyone.

The only reason Evie had been taken was because she was convenient. It was easy to snatch her and blackmail King. However, if Lily had been near, she would have been the target.

Evie’s stomach sank. Her kidnapping, whether she lived or died, had sealed King’s fate.

* * *

King was in his office when he received the call from Rabbit, passing along Ramos’s orders—stay out of the deal. When it was over, Evie would be released. After disconnecting the call, he called Ice.

He had learned a hard lesson several years ago; they had no intention of giving Evie back. She would be used whenever they wanted to use his city. If he didn’t comply, she would die.

King went to his security office, calling in reinforcements from there, as well. Afterward, Henry was waiting for him outside. They knew the location of the meeting, and because he was having Evie tailed, they knew where they were keeping her. She was tied up in the same building where the drugs were being sold.

Henry parked the car as close to the location as he could. King and Henry then both got out of the car, using the city they were familiar with to maneuver their way closer.

The car tailing them was being dealt with, so they wouldn’t be expecting King to show up. They had put too much faith in King not striking against them because of Evie.

He had backed off when they had taken his sister, and she had been butchered. The same wasn’t going to happen to Evie.

King and Henry managed to get close enough to see Ramos and Moran enter the warehouse in different vehicles. Rabbit was inside Moran’s car. Rabbit had been the one who had taken Evie to make sure his lucrative cut of the deal was a success. He had been gaining a steady reputation of seeing deals of this caliber involved no bloodshed to those paying for his skills. Unfortunately, he had left a trail of victims like Evie to realize his goals.