Page 59 of The Stolen Dagger
“Stop lying! Adrian gave it to you. We know you have it. Ifyou don’t tell me now, I’ll have to use other ways of persuasion.”
I gasped for breath and clawed at his hand, desperate to get away. I didn’t want to know what thoseother wayswere.
“Or maybe I’ll just beat it out of you,” Hunter added.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded down the hallway. Hunter turned toward the person who approached us, hiding the knife behind his back.
“Hey! What are you doing to her? Security!” Jenny yelled, then ran out of sight.
With my head still spinning and Hunter still distracted, I gathered my strength, threw my fist into his face, and kneed him between his legs. Hunter groaned and bent at the waist. Relief flooded me when he went down hard and fast.
I didn’t wait another second before I sidestepped him, picked up my purse from when I dropped it on the floor, and sprinted out the back door.
I tookthe stairs two at a time to Drew’s apartment. Panting heavily up the steps, my heart raced. I looked over my shoulder, paranoid that Hunter followed me.
I fumbled with the key Drew gave me for a few seconds and finally unlocked the door. Pushing it open, I stumbled inside and slammed the door shut. Leaning back against the cool, hard surface, I tried to catch my breath.
Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out.
Drew’s place was dark. He wasn’t here yet. That’s when I remembered he was supposed to meet me at the bar.
When he sees I’m not there, he’ll call me and come home. But what if Hunter followed me? He could hurt Drew.
I can’t let that happen. I have to leave. I have to draw Hunter away.
I ran into Drew’s bedroom and quickly found my bag. I gathered my things as fast as I could when my phone vibrated in the pocket of the apron I still had on. I pulled out my cell and Drew’s name flashed on the screen.
Shit.
I couldn’t talk to him right now. I was too shaken up to lie. Even if I told him what happened, he would want to track down Hunter himself.
I didn’t want to put him in any more danger. If Adrian got to Pearl, then he could get to Leah and Drew. I had to leave now so that Hunter would follow me.
The click of a latch echoed throughout the apartment.
I stilled.
Hunter. He followed me.
CHAPTER TWENTY
DREW
“She’s worried about you, Leah,” I said into my phone on my way out of work.
“I don’t care,” Leah said defiantly. “She’s been lying to us since the beginning. And if you would open your eyes and think with your head for one second instead of your dick, you’d see her for what she really is.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed.
I had a good day. A great day, in fact. I’d been counting down the minutes until I’d be able to see, touch, and kiss Katherine again.
Leaving her that morning had been hard and more than tempting, but I had to figure out a way to solve the Adrian situation that kept Katherine safe and that was still legal.
I had just gotten to my truck to head home and change before I went to Jerry's when Leah called.
I loved Leah, but I could tell my sister was suffering from their fight just as much as Katherine was. It would all bemuch easier if she knew the truth about Katherine’s past, but I had to protect my baby sister.
It was safer that she didn’t know for just a few more days.
