“Okay, sweetie. I was just checking.”
Elle rubbed her eyes as she heard her mom walk away. She barely remembered how she had ended up here. Finally waking up enough, she remembered the whole day. If only I could forget.
When Elle had returned home from school, she had been mentally exhausted and gone straight for her bed. She’d curled up into a ball, not being able to help thinking about the day.
Nero had given her space, never walking too close to her and staying far behind. He hadn’t sat next to her at English, lunch, or even Art. He’d sat at another table that had some football team members. At least he didn’t sit with the bimbos right in my face.
Elle admitted it had been hard seeing him again. She had grown used to being around him in the short time they’d had. For some reason she didn’t know, he had grown on her.
Now Elle had to deal with Vincent. He wasn’t bad. Okay, he is terrible, but there’s worse. Elle was glad he had been there when Cassandra had found her; otherwise, she wasn’t sure what would have happened to her. He had taken her to and from classes with no one giving her any trouble. That, she was thankful for. Furthermore, even though she would rather not see Vincent because of Nero, she would deal with it because he’d made sure she and Chloe were safe.
Elle rolled over, looking at the time. She needed to start getting ready for work. Tonight she had the late shift and was the one to close again.
Elle yawned, wishing she could stay in bed just a little longer. About to rise, she glanced at her bookshelf and noticed something that didn’t look right.
Elle studied the bookshelf that was jam-packed and full of different things, yet to Elle, she knew something was missing from it. Elle looked at the space that used to hold her photo album. It was gone.
Elle rose up and went to the shelf, wondering if it had been moved. She went through the whole thing. Not here. Elle looked around her room. Nothing.
Elle distinctively remembered Nero putting it back on the shelf. Nero!
* * *
Nero couldn’t believe he was going to suffer through another night of watching Elle go to work as she boarded the bus. Why the fuck can’t I talk to her?
Nero had no idea how to win her back. He’d thought he would find some way during school, but no opportunities had been presented.
Nero followed the bus to the stop Elle got off at. As she departed, a sick feeling in his gut appeared. He had noticed a guy wearing a dark hoodie had kept a few paces behind her.
Nero kept his eyes glued to Elle as he went to park his car, his gut feeling too strong. When he got out of the car, a bus passed in front of him, blocking his view. His instincts started screaming at him to run to Elle, but he had to wait for the bus to move out of the way for him to go. When the bus sped on, he looked for Elle.
Where the fuck did she go?
Nero ran across the street, looking for her or the guy in the hoodie, yet he couldn’t see either of them. Shit.
As he noticed an alleyway just a few steps ahead of where he had seen Elle standing last, he began running as fast as he could, making a sharp left. Nero’s heart stopped along with the world around him.
* * *
Elle was pushed into an alleyway.
Before she could scream, her mouth was covered. Elle kicked and hit at the person, holding her from behind. The boss came for me.
Elle knew she probably wasn’t going to get out of this alive, but she was going to do whatever it took to possibly survive.
Shutting her eyes, she bit at the hand over her mouth, just how she had seen the man who had been murdered do. Fuck, he died.
Elle bit harder when the guy didn’t remove his hand. She felt her body being thrown into a brick wall, and then she heard the sound of her skull hitting the brick. Elle slid down the wall, slowly feeling herself lose consciousness.
“Shit, I didn’t…” she heard a deep voice say as he held her face in his hands.
Elle tried to fight the feeling of darkness, but her lids became too heavy for her to hold. Stay awake! Elle held her eyes open a moment longer to see the face of a man she had seen at the diner. It was the college guy who had dropped the fork. Why would he…?
Elle’s eyes fell closed as her mind slowed down, trying to shut off. She felt a commotion going on beside her and heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Elle attempted to say a name as darkness fell upon her.
Chapter Thirty
The Clock is Ticking
Nero sat in the chair beside his bed, trying to steady his hands. His eyes never moved from Elle as she lay there, unmoving. He kept telling himself she was going to be all right; he just wished he could believe the doctor’s words.
He had called the doctor his family used—legally and illegally—to come to the house as fast as possible. He’d told Nero she would be fine, and that she just suffered from a concussion. Nero wondered how many more times her head could take a hit before serious damage was done. God only knows how many times she’s been hit in the head.