He grinned down at me.
It wasn't a nice grin.
I pulled at his hand, and he released my mouth.
"Get in, let's go."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Lulu
"Has he contacted you since he ran?"
I stared across the desk at Tomas and shook my head. "No." I'd told him everything he wanted to know. I had no reason not to.
I'd been here for about an hour and, surprisingly, Tomas had kept his word. No one had hurt me, not yet anyway. He'd offered me food and drinks then had proceeded to ask me questions about Pierce. What I knew, places he frequented, people he associated with . . . and all the while Tomas's extremely dark eyes had been locked on mine, like he could gage whether or not I was lying just by looking at me.
Tomas was a little older than Van, I guessed. Tall and built. Dark skin and hair and a wicked-looking scar on the side of his face. He was intimidating without even trying; I knew this because he wasn't trying. I could tell he was purposely attempting to put me at ease throughout my interrogation.
He sat back, those eyes still drilling into me. "How old is your son?"
I stiffened.
"I won't hurt him, Lulu. I would never hurt a child."
"But you said . . ."
"Sometimes I have to say things I don't mean to get what I want." He shrugged. "It's all part of this business. I'm sure you understand."
I wished I didn't, but Pierce had trained me well.
"I have a niece a who's two, a similar age, yes?"
I nodded. What the hell was this? He'd threatened my aunt, grilled me about Pierce, and now we were going to chat about his niece?
A shout from the hall, just outside Tomas's office, made me jump in my seat.
Tomas chuckled. "Sounds like Hunter's come to collect you."
"Fuck," a deep voice growled from behind the door. A smack and crunch, which sounded a lot like someone getting hit, followed by another smack, this one wet. Next came a crash and a heavy thud.
I spun back to Tomas. He seemed unperturbed, relaxed even. He was a man that knew the power he wielded. Knew he was untouchable. The door swung open, and the first person I was the body builder. His big frame was writhing on the floor, hands clutching his nose, blood gushing through his fingers like a geyser, cheek split open.
I looked up, and relief hit me with such force I gasped from the strength of it. Hunter stood over him, fists clenched at his sides, breathing heavily. Van and Zeke were at his back, along with some other guy I didn't know. Then Hunter's eyes shifted to me, the blue so dark, it almost looked black.
Everyone else's eyes came to me as well.
I knew he'd find me.
"You want to explain," Hunter said to Tomas, voice low and deadly calm as he walked in. "Why my woman is here . . . without me?"
Tomas stood. "I just wanted to ask her a few questions, nothing more." His head tilted to the side. "You know I'd never harm her."
Hunter looked like he wanted to shoot him. "You want to talk to Lulu, you ask me. From now on, she doesn't exist for you. You come near her again, we have an even bigger problem than we do now." He took a threatening step toward Tomas. "Do you understand?"
Tomas dipped his chin. "You know why I did it," he said, eyes sliding to me then back to Hunter. "I didn't want her to censor her answers. I know how much you want Pierce for yourself."
Van cursed. "I told you we'd deliver him to you after we were finished with him."
Tomas shrugged again. "I don't like to share."
Hunter's fingers curled into tight fists. "How the hell did you know she was with me?"
Tomas looked to the body builder, who'd climbed to his feet. His eyes darted to Hunter then back to Tomas.
Hunter was on him in a split second, shoving him against the wall, got in his face. "How?"
The guy scowled. "I got eyes and ears all over this city."
Hunter shoved him. "Who was it?"
"One of Raul's dancers, Cassie, called and told me where to find your woman. Overheard something at the club, was happy to give up the info."
Hunter growled.
The stripper he'd been seeing. That bitch!
"I'll talk to Raul," Van said, voice vibrating with anger.
Hunter turned to his brother. "I better not see that bitch there again." He pulled back, taking the body builder with him, and shoved him away. The guy limped off. Hunter's eyes never left him, burning into him like he wanted to cause a lot more damage than he already had.
"Um . . ." I piped up. And all eyes slid back to me. "I'd like to go home now."
Hunter strode over, jaw tight. "You've got some fucking explaining to do." he growled under his breath. "What the fuck were you thinking, running off like that?"
"I had no . . ."
"You're lucky it was one of Tomas's boys and not one of Pierce's." His expression was hard, terrifying. "If it was Pierce? I wouldn't be taking you home, I'd be tracking down what was left of you."
My entire body lurched back.
Hunter turned to Tomas. "I'll be back. This isn't finished."
When I stood, I stumbled a little, my legs feeling shaky from first fear then relief.
Van's arm shot out, snaking around my waist. "I've got you, sweetheart."
That got Hunter's attention, and he shoved forward, dragging me from his brother's arms-and without another word, strode from the room.
Hunter
I led her out of Tomas's holding room and through his compound, Lulu almost jogging to keep up.
Jesus.
When I thought about what could have happened? Fuck. Pierce was still in town. The guy was unstable, desperate. The only reason to stick around was Lulu. If he'd gotten to her first . . .
I'd never wanted to do bodily harm to a woman in my life. I wanted to strangle Cassie, wring that bitch's throat.
I led Lulu to my SUV and opened the door. She climbed in and I secured the seatbelt around her. She stared at me, eyes wide.
I wanted to pull her back out, shake the fuck out of her, make her promise to never pull shit like that ever again. I'd never been so terrified in my life. Instead, I shut the door, walked around to the driver's side, and climbed in.
Shadows cut across her precious face, and she had her eyes closed. Did she think I'd let her shut me out?
Fuck that. I wasn't letting her do that, not now, not after the breakthrough we'd had. Not when she'd begun to let me back in.
"You fucked up tonight," I said into the silence. "What were you thinking, Lulu?"
She clenched her fists in her lap. "He threatened to hurt Sara. What else could I do?"
I bit out another curse. "What about Josh? You think about him when you ran off?"
She drew in a sharp breath. "He was safe, he was with Jude."
"No. Did you think about Josh?" I gritted out. "Did you think what would happen to him if anything happened to you?" What would happen to me? How I'd fucking survive without you? I felt like an asshole. She was already shaken up, but I needed to get through to her.
She straightened in her seat. "I was thinking about Josh. He comes first always . . ."
"I'm not on his birth certificate, am I?" I fired at her.
She bit her lip then shook her head.
"He's mine, babe, but you and I both know it might not be my blood running through his veins. Anything happens to you, best-case scenario, they'd let Sara take him. Worst? He'd end up in the system, shoved from one home to the next."
Her fingers curled into fists. "I didn't know what else to do."
"How about think before you fucking act? That would've been a good start." Shit. I reached out for her, but she jerked back. I dropped my hand, put both on the steering wheel and gripped it tight. "You don't trust me."
She scrubbed her hands over her face. "I'm tired. I feel like shit. I can't deal with this right now."
I stared at her through the shadows. "We are going to deal with this, right motherfucking now."
She stared straight ahead. "You may think I'm stupid for doing what I did . . . but I'd do it again. If there's a threat to someone I care about, I'll do whatever I must to keep them safe."
I knew that first hand. She'd done the same for me. Fuck. I felt close to launching out of my goddamn seat. "What about me?" I yelled. "Someone threatened someone I care about. Did you think about that, about how I'd feel about you risking yourself like that?"
She bit her lip.
"Babe, I gotta tell you, that you didn't trust me with this, that you didn't pick up the phone and call me as soon as you finished talking to Tomas? Jesus fucking Christ, that shit pisses me the fuck off. What do you think I do for a job, Lulu?"
She spun to me, eyes flashing. "I didn't think I had another choice!"
"I could have sorted this. No one would have touched a hair on Sara's head. You wouldn't have been in danger for one-fucking-minute. No, Tomas wouldn't hurt you, but you had no way of knowing that. All you had to do was fucking trust me."