Page 141 of Slaughter

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I sit with my brother and Kayn at the front of my jet. I have clear line of sight of Bunny sitting in the back by the minibar with Chloe. She’s made her three drinks since we came out of the bedroom.

“He was staying at a hotel in Manhattan but was spotted at a night club over in Queens,” my brother informs us.

I look away from Bunny to him. “When?”

“Last night. He closed it down and then stumbled out of the club with a woman.”

“Do we know where they went?”

He shakes his head. “No. But I guess this is his new favorite hangout.”

I rub my chin. “It’s gotta be a ploy.”

“How do you figure?” Kayn asks.

“He takes Bunny, then when we find her, he takes off to New York?” I shake my head. “He hates that city. He’s setting us up for something.”

“How do we find that out?”

My eyes go back to hers when I hear her laugh. She has her head thrown back, and she looks … happy. For the first time in the three weeks she has been with me, she actually looks like her old self. I know it’s help from the alcohol, but I find myself drawn to the way she looks now. She reminds me of that girl I fell in love with all those years ago. And I smile, looking back at the men. “We let him think he’s got us.”

“Like you did when you allowed Preston to take you?”

“Something like that?” I mumble.

“What the hell happened to him anyway?” Kayn asks. “You gave him a month. Have you heard anything from him?”

“Nope. Not one word.”

My brother sighs. “Maybe he’s on the run.”

“Possibly.” I take a sip of my drink. “Or maybe he bled out and died.”

Tristan grunts. “We wouldn’t get that lucky.”

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By the time we land in New York, Bunny is hammered. Just like all those nights I followed her from club to club before I took her. I know this because she didn’t even flinch when the plane touched down on the ground. And she won’t stop laughing. I don’t know what she and Chloe have been talking about, but it’s worked. I must admit I’m not fond of Chloe, but she seems to have become a friend of hers. And she could use a few of those.

“Here,” I say, grabbing Bunny’s hand and helping her down the stairs to exit my aircraft.

She grips it tightly and looks over at me. “Where … are we going …?” She hiccups.

“Well—”

“Pres?” A woman’s shriek interrupts what I was about to say.

Bunny removes her hand from mine and stumbles down the steps before running onto the tarmac. “Alex!” she shouts.

A blonde dashes toward her in a short red skirt and a white shirt that looks like it’s about to fall off her shoulders. Once they reach one another, they hug, and the Alex chick picks Bunny off her feet and spins her around. “Fuck, I’ve missed you,” the blonde tells her.

For a moment, I feel guilty for taking her from her friends. But honestly, she didn’t seem to have any when I followed her around during my short stay in New York. Or maybe my rage for her back then blinded me from everything but her.

“Me too,” she slurs.

“Are you drunk?” she asks, pulling away. Then her smile falls. “What the hell happened to you?” she demands, placing her hands on Bunny’s shoulders.

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