Page 140 of Illicit

Because of me.

I can’t think about Tim or Annette. I hate myself enough as it is.

I thought I could have something good. I gave into my selfish fucking nature … nature I’m sure I got from him.

I’ve tried all my life to not be him.

Then I gave in to temptation.

And Teagan paid the price.

I turn to the men and force my voice to work. “I’ve got to get her back. I can’t stand here and wait for someone else to do something.”

Micah shakes his head and clamps a hand on my shoulder. It doesn’t feel warm or comforting. He’s doing what he can to restrain me without tackling me to the ground. “That’s a bad fucking idea, and you know it. Let the PD do their thing. You know how good they are. You were one of them.”

“He’s right,” King agrees.

“We stay here,” Brax states, like they get to collectively decide my whereabouts. “We stay together.”

I shrug Micah’s hand off me and explode in their faces. “I can’t stand here and do nothing!”

That’s when a car tears down the street and screeches to a halt next to us.

It’s Tim.

“Fuck,” I hiss.

“Well?” Tim yells as he jogs up to our group. “What the fuck are they doing to find her?”

I drag my hands over my head and turn in a slow circle.

King catches Tim up on the search.

If you can call it that.

I’m about to turn, fall to my knees, and beg Tim to forgive me, when my cell rings.

“Oh my God,” I growl. “It’s her.”

I connect the call. “Baby? Are you okay? Where are you?”

I hear a laugh.

That maniacal laugh.

The same one that would ricochet through the shack of a house I grew up in. The same one that heckled me after he beat the fucking daylights out of me or my mother. He enjoyed it so much, he’d laugh while doing it.

“Baby,” he mocks. “You’re a fucking pussy for this girl, aren’t you? Well, boy, I can see why.”

“Where is she?” I demand.

Four sets of incensed eyes bore into me. I take the phone away from my face and put it on speaker.

“I’m in my room.” It sounds like he’s reclining in bed when he goes on. “She’s asleep next to me. Sweet thing, Ricky. You really leveled up in life.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and wish it were possible to reach through the phone to strangle him.

“Where is she?” I repeat. I can’t help myself. The thought of Teagan at his mercy makes my control slip through my fingers. “Where the fuck is she?”

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