Page 9 of The Verdict

I gritted my teeth.Who was this man who wouldn’t just accept the lie of a stranger?“Just because someone is real doesn’t make them trustworthy,” I said without thinking—without filtering.

His eyes widened ever so slightly.

“I-I’m sorry,” I said, flustered. “If you could excuse me, I need to go clean my dress and find Les.”Easiest way to encourage him not to follow me.I spun toward the bartender. “Where’s the restroom?”

“Out the doors and down the hall on the left.”

“Thank you.” I stood and strode around Motorcycle Man without another word, heat and cold warring on the exposed skin of my back as more than one set of eyes followed me to the exit.

Shit.

I didn’t head for the restroom. I took three steps into the hallway and then veered down the main staircase to the lobby.How hadthey found me?My fingers gripped the small purse tighter as my heels clacked across the marbled floor like I owned the damn building.

How the hell had they found me? After all this time?I walked right past the front door. Too many people outside. Too many bellmen wanting to help.

Instead, I went to the side entrance used for the hotel’s Hurricane Bar; Natalie and I had gone there for drinks one time.

I had to get out of here. Get back to my apartment. Get my things.Get the diamond.Get a plan.Thoughts ricocheted loudly through my mind as I turned at the end of the lobby down the smaller, narrow hall. If they’d come for me, they would always come for me. I had to find out how they found me, or no matter where I went, I’d never be safe.

“Hola, Venus.”A meaty hand gripped the back of my neck before I could react and hauled me back. “It’s been a long time. Too long, I think.” Mars’s thick Spanish accent filled my ears and pulled the world out from under me.

Shit.My body steeled. Training, instinct—everything about my former life came rushing back.Fight. Kill. Survive.

“Let go of me,” I hissed. We were in the middle of a hotel. He couldn’t?—

“Jupiter said you look as beautiful as ever. He wants to have a little chat,” he said low by my ear, and then let me go, confident that I’d just go with him without a fight.

Shit.

I lifted my chin high, refusing to show any weakness. “Well, you look like shit. I’m sure Jupiter does, too.”

The words had barely left my mouth before he slapped me across the face so hard, I spun on Natalie’s damn heels and crashed to my knees. “Fuck,” I groaned, my cheek on fire and block spots invading my vision.

He chuckled low and then grabbed a fistful of my hair, holding my neck at a strained angle as he snarled above me, “You wouldn’t even recognize Jupiter now, Venus.You didn’t recognize him.”

Didn’t?I shuddered.He was here and I hadn’t seen him?How?His grip cinched tighter, and I hissed. I couldn’t think about that now.

“Let. Me. Go.”

“Maybe I should take you to Mercury first. He’d enjoy breaking you,” he snarled and shoved me forward. I barely managed to get my hands out in time to stop my face from crashing into the marble.

He’d never been like this before. But five years and a missing diamond were the kind of things that could change any criminal for the worse.

“We have unfinished business to settle. Now get up or I’ll let Mercury drag you to him by your fucking tits.”

My breath exhaled in a hiss. I’d die before I let that psychopath touch me again.Breathe, Merritt. Think.I pretended to be beaten, hunching forward on the ground as I carefully wound the chain strap of Natalie’s purse around my knuckles. It wasn’t brass, but it would have to do.

He grabbed my hair and pulled me backward, a cry of pain bursting from my lips. My arm reeled back, ready to fly—to land my fist into the side of his face—when suddenly there was a loud roar and the pain on my scalp disappeared.His entire hold on me disappeared.

I spun, my arms lifted defensively, only to freeze when I saw Motorcycle Man with his arm around Mars’s neck, muscles flexed as he closed off the man’s airway.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” my savior snarled.

The Spaniard’s eyes bulged, his face reddening. He was barely getting enough oxygen to survive, let alone to speak.

My mind sped a mile a minute. I had to get out of here.

“He attacked me,” I said hoarsely, watching Mars’s lip curl. He tried to thrash free, but Motorcycle Man was too strong.

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