Page 21 of Crushing Clover

Mesmerized, I watched. Between one flash of the blade and the next, exhaustion pulled me down into sleep.

Chapter 6

I woke on something soft, not sure where I was. It took a few solid minutes for my brain to come back online. My body ached, and my limbs felt heavy. I’d need more sleep before long.

“Come on,” Lucky said, patting my shoulder.

“Get her to change into something else while you’re at it. That yellow dress is giving me a migraine,” came a grumble. Saint John, of course.

I frowned and pushed myself into a sitting position. Someone had taken me off the high stool and put me on the couch where Lucky had given Saint John the blowjob. Had it been kindness, or not wanting to deal with the inevitable headwound I’d get when I fell off the stool?

“This dress is hideous,” I agreed. “They didn’t let me keep any of my old stuff.”

I’d never had the money to keep up with fashion anyway, so it wasn’t as though my wardrobe was a big loss.

“Nothing?” he asked with his customary irritation, even though we’d had this discussion when we were leaving Warren’s.

I shook my head.

“Take a shower, and Lucky will find you something to wear until he can take you shopping tomorrow.”

“Why do I have to take her shopping?” Lucky frowned. “I didn’t ask for her.”

“Neither did I.”

“Well, that’s between you and Warren. Why are you dragging me into this?”

“Because now she’s our problem, and your schedule is more flexible than ours. Deal with it.”

“Fine. Give me money and I’ll deal with it.”

Swearing, Saint John strode off to the entryway table and grabbed his wallet out of the decorative bowl. He tugged some bills free and slapped them on the wooden surface. It was a lot of bills to someone like me, but it might be for them, too. They were well off compared to me, but they weren’t rich.

“Don’t forget to keep an eye on her.”

“We’re not leaving the house yet.”

“We have to watch her in the house, too.”

Lucky glared at him. “You seriously want me to sit outside the bathroom door? She’s not going anywhere.”

“No. I want you to go into the bathroom and wait.”

“What the fuck?”

“What if she crawls out the window?”

I groaned. “Can’t one of you stand outside the window? I don’t need supervision in the bathroom—I haven’t since I was a toddler.”

“We were told to keep an eye on you,” Saint John mumbled, “so I guess we need to keep an eye on you.”

I didn’t want to make a fuss, but this was ludicrous. “Trust me—I have nowhere else to go. There’s no point in me trying to escape.”

He waved a hand, shooing us away. “Lucky, you heard me.”

“Lucky and Clover?” Rush snorted. “I just realized how ridiculous that sounds.”

Yeah. He wasn’t wrong.

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