Page 71 of Stay with Me

A second later I was grabbed from behind and shoved against the brick wall as a wet, warm hand folded around my throat.

Then Mack was right in my face.

Fourteen

“Say one word I don’t want you to say and you’ll regret it,” he threatened, and in the dim light, something shiny and sharp flashed in the corner of my right eye. “I’ll even out that face of yours.”

Even as anger rose, ice built in the pit of my stomach as I stared into his dark eyes. The hard set to his face and the sneer to his lips told me he wasn’t making idle threats. All I was able to get in was a shallow breath.

“You understand? Nod if you do.”

I didn’t want to nod, because I didn’t want to lose an eyeball, but I did as he ordered. I nodded.

His sneer spread into a tight, cold smile. “Good girl. Now I tried to get a message to you the night before, but that fuckwad had to get involved, and I’m not telling Isaiah that he’s fucked, you get me?”

Isodid not get him on the last part, but I nodded again, because I really didn’t want another scar. And I’d also thought that Reece, or one of his cop buddies, was going to pay Isaiah a visit and explain that I had nothing to do with my mom’s shenanigans. Either that hadn’t happened or it hadn’t mattered to Mack or Isaiah.

“Mona’s got a little under a week before Isaiah gets really impatient,” he went on, and the knife he held shifted. Air caught in my throat. “If she doesn’t show by next Thursday, it will be your problem. It’ll be the fuckwad’s problem, too.”

I was assuming that fuckwad was Jax. “I ... I don’t know where she is.”

“That’s not my problem. And it ain’t Isaiah’s problem, either.” Mack moved, and the front of his body was pressed against mine, and there was a good chance I was going to vomit again. “It’s your problem. And don’t even think about pulling any shit and leaving town. We know where to find you and you really don’t want your friends back at that school to get pulled into this. You got that?”

My heart pounded in my chest as I nodded for the third time.

“You don’t want to get on the bad side of Isaiah. Or me. We don’t fuck around.” When he moved against me this time, I held whatever little breath I had in my lungs. There was no space between us, and it felt nothing like when Jax was that close. This made my skin crawl. “If she doesn’t show, we’ll send her a message. You don’t want to be a part of that message.”

I so did not want to be a part of the message.

His beady eyes traveled over my face, lingering on my left cheek. “You know, you’re not too fucked-up looking. I could do you doggy-style. Turn you around. Fuck you from behind.”

My eyes widened, and now my skin felt like it wanted to jump off my bones and run far, far away. Acid churned in my stomach, fueled by panic and more than just a little bit of fury-tipped fear.

Mom brought this on, dragged this nasty piece of shit right to my doorstep.

His smirk turned even more vile. “Yeah, I think I have a good idea what message to send. Even better, it will send another message to the fuckwad inside.”

Oh God, this wasn’t good. I was pressing back against the wall, absolutely horrified by what he was implying in his threat. I knew what that message would entail.

My stomach hurled.

“And you better keep that mouth shut,” he added, pulling back. The knife disappeared for a second, and then I felt the tip under my chin, causing my fingers to dig into the wall behind me. “Get me?”

“Yes,” I whispered, not about to nod this time.

Mack laughed darkly, and then he was off me, walking across the parking lot all casual, like he hadn’t just threatened me with nasty things or held a knife to my throat. He got into an SUV and drove off.

Then I moved.

Knees weak, I put one foot in front of the other and went back into the bar in a daze. I walked right past the bar, and I thought I heard someone call my name, but I kept walking. I went into the office and sat on the first available place to sit. The leather made a funny sound as I dropped down on the couch. Hands shaking, I placed them against my clammy forehead, and forced myself to take several deep breaths.

This was so not good.

“Calla?” Roxy called from the door. Like an idiot, I hadn’t closed it. “Are you okay?”

I didn’t lift my head or say a word, because I was pretty sure if I did either I would literally lose my shit. All I did was shake my head, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good shake or a bad shake.

Roxy didn’t speak again, and I squeezed my eyes shut. What in the hell was I going to do now? I had no idea where my mom was or where to even start looking for her, and I had this horrible sinking feeling a message was going to get delivered, because I’d never been able to find my mom in the past when she disappeared, so now wouldn’t be any different.

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