Page 65 of The Player
“You got the death you deserved, but retribution? That still hasn’t happened. Not the way I want it to. It’s time for the world to know who you are.”
Wilson’s body part eventually dropped onto the stone floor, and I moved to the next guest, chopping until I’d cut cleanly through the bone.
“It’s time to draw back the curtains and take your final bow. And do you want to know the best part?” I leaned down to whisper in Paul Masters’ ear. “Your daughter and future son-in-law are going to be the ones to do it.”
ChapterTwenty-Nine
WILL
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the ghost of fuckboys past,” Colton shouted across the main room of The Sanctuary as I walked in.
I knew I’d get flack for being away and I was fine with that. I expected nothing less. I’d rather they joked with me so I could avoid talking about the real issues weighing on my mind. Being flippant came easier to me. They knew that, and so I grinned back, playing up to it.
“Finally decided to give her a rest,” Colton went on. “Grace us with your presence and do a bit of fucking work?” He winked as he spoke, stepping out of the bar area where he was doing a stock take to head towards me.
“Gotta come back down to earth some time,” I replied, puffing my chest out like I was some sort of returning hero.
I felt the looming presence of Adam stalking across the dance floor that the cleaners were currently sweeping. Then Tyson, Adam’s rottweiler, came bounding in from the open fire exit at the back of the room. He ran to us, his sharp claws tapping the polished floors as he scampered across, stopping to sit at Adam’s side, his tongue hanging out as he panted and peered up at us. I reached down to scratch Tyson’s head, and as I did, Adam noticed the makeshift bandages on my ear.
“What the fuck happened to you?” he asked, pointing at it.
“It’s nothing, just a scratch,” I replied, trying to play it down, but he wasn’t having any of it. He reached up to yank off the bandage that was doing a poor job of hiding my wound. When he saw the state of my ear, he grimaced, gritted his teeth, and I swear I was waiting for steam to billow out of his nose. He looked furious.
“It’s not fucking nothing. Who the fuck did this to you?” Adam couldn’t hide the venom in his tone, he was ready to go to war regardless of what’d happened. I was hurt and he wanted blood because of it. He didn’t need any more reason than that.
“It’s a long story.” I stepped back, trying to fix the bandage that was hanging off the side of my face back over my ear to hide the evidence. It was a pointless act, though. He’d already seen it.
Colton came closer now, his forehead pinched, eyes narrowed on me as he hissed, “Jesus. You look like shit, mate. I was joking when I said you’re a fucking ghost, but fuck me, that’s exactly what you look like. What’s going on?”
I couldn’t betray Bryony’s trust, but I hated that I felt torn between doing what was right and what was sensible. I’d never lied to my friends before, and I wasn’t about to start now.
“I can’t tell you,” I told them.
Colton folded his arms over his chest, his legs widening as he stood in front of me, waiting for me to elaborate. Adam let out a low growl beside me, but I didn’t let it sway me.
“It’s not my story to tell. Please. If I could tell you, I would. But I can’t. Not yet.”
Adam moved to stand in my eyeline.
“You come back here after weeks of complete radio silence, you look like death, and your ear is half hanging off, and you expect us to believe everything is okay and not question where you’ve been? Fuck that. We need to know. If something’s wrong, we fix it. Together. You know that. So, tell us, where the hell have you been, and who did that to you?” Adam wasn’t here to play games. He was deadly serious.
“Would you believe me if I said I did it to myself?” I shrugged, trying to underplay it.
“No,” Adam spat back.
I could feel the growing tension in the air. Tempers were rising. They weren’t prepared to let me string them along and bullshit them with vague explanations, which was something I wasn’t prepared to do either. Like I’d said, I didn’t tell them lies, so avoidance was my next strategy.
“I need you to trust me right now,” I pleaded. “I will tell you everything, just not today.”
Adam still had fury burning in his eyes, but Colton just looked wary.
“Is Bryony okay?” Colton asked, his voice quieter now.
“She’s fine.” From his expression, I could tell he didn’t know whether to believe me, so I added, “I left her at Kate’s. Honestly, she’s okay.”
He blinked, taking in what I was saying, then he nodded.
“Okay. I trust you. I don’t like it, and I want to know what’s going on, but I trust you’re doing the right thing and you’ll tell us when you can. Whateveritis.”
