Page 89 of Ruin Me, Daddy

“Silver!” Jerking out of Holden’s grasp, Ice raced for the front door, shoving it open and cursing under his breath as he headed for the stairs.

Too long. It’s taking too long.

Another scream reached his ears just as he burst through the door of the second floor, Holden hot on his heels.

“End of the hall,” Holden said, his voice low and serious. “Go, knock on the door, act like you didn’t hear a goddamn thing. Just tell him you want to talk.”

“I’m going to fucking kill him.”

“Hey. Look at me.” The words snapped with authority, the kind born in blood and battle. “You go banging on the door, demanding to see her, he’s going to get nervous. He gets nervous, she gets hurt. You wanna see your girl alive and safe again, you’ll fucking listen to me. Got it?”

“He knows what he’s doing,” Beckett reminded him, panting for breath as he and Braden came up behind them. “Trust the expert.”

“Right. Yeah. Okay.” It took every ounce of self-control he possessed, but he managed to swallow down the murderous rage bubbling in his gut. “Okay, I got it.”

“Good.” Holden gave a single sharp nod. “Cops are on their way. We just gotta keep him occupied, keep him from hurting her again until they get here.”

“Okay. Okay, I can do that.”

“Let’s go.”

It took too many precious seconds to make the walk down the hallway to the door Holden pointed to. And when he was standing in front of that single piece of wood keeping him from the woman he loved, it took more control than Ice knew he had to raise his hand and rap his knuckles against the door instead of ramming his entire body through it.

“Ace? You in there, man?”

Silence greeted him, and for one terrifying moment, he thought maybe they were too late.

“Ice?”

Thank all the gods. “Yeah, man. It’s me. Silver said to meet you guys here. Said you wanted to talk.”

“Oh really? Is that what she told you?”

Something sinister slithered around Ace’s words, and again Ice felt that bone-freezing terror. “Ah, well, not exactly. I followed her here. Gotta keep an eye on her, you know?”

“Tell me about it. She’s about as faithful as a two-dollar whore, this one.”

Bile rose in Ice’s throat, but he forced himself to laugh, hoping it was what Ace wanted to hear. “I know. So, ah, can I come in? I don’t really want to have this conversation through the door.”

“Probably for the best. We’ve had enough unwanted publicity lately, haven’t we?”

It was another impossibly long wait before the door swung open. Ace grinned as he stepped to the side, gesturing for Ice to enter.

But it wasn’t the too-wide smile, or even the insanity glinting in his friend’s eyes that had Ice’s knees going weak.

It was the knife Ace held in his raised fist. And the blood dripping from the blade that told him he was too late.

Silver

“Ace? You in there, man?”

No! Ice, no, no, no!

She wanted to scream, to tell him to go. But terror froze the words in her throat when Ace pointed the knife at her face.

The throbbing ache in her palms, across her fingers, was a constant reminder that he had no problem using it.

Frowning, Ace looked over at the door to the apartment. “Ice?”

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