Page 84 of Forbidden Hearts

He gets up and paces the room. “Did he ever tell you what our meetings were about?”

I shake my head. That’s the one thing I never knew.

“He was doing me a favor. At least I thought he was,” he scoffs. “That bastard was supposed to find the rat who tipped the cops all those months ago and busted Arnold. Part of me knew Alonzo was stalling, but I didn’t understand why. It all makes sense now. He knew it was you. He stalled to protect you. Isn’t that fucking hilarious? He was protecting you!”

Jacob kicks the chair he was sitting on, sending it flying in my direction. I look away and shield my face with my arms, but the chair simply slams into the bed frame and bounces off.

“I’m going to kill that bastard as soon as I get the chance. As for you,” he says, looking down at me. “I should hand you over to my men for what you did. That should scrub that nasty attitude right off you.”

Liam’s face flashes before my eyes. The way he hovered above me as the world spun around me…the way Alonzo dragged him off me and punched him bloody.

Alonzo. He really was protecting me this entire time. But why risk his life for mine?

I don’t know what Jacob is planning to do with me, but the thought of never seeing Alonzo again makes me sick, especially after our last conversation. He was beyond angry, so angry that for a moment, I wondered if he saw us as more than just a passing fling.

If what Jacob is saying is true, then maybe…

“What? Have nothing to say?” Jacob asks.

“Alonzo is going to find me,” I say. I don’t know why those words just left my mouth. Maybe it’s out of spite or pure hatred toward Jacob, but as soon as the words leave my lips, I believe them to be true. “You’ll be sorry when he does.”

Something in my heart tells me I’m just as important to Alonzo as he is to me. He will come for me, and he will rescue me from Jacob, and…

One of the enforcers runs into the room. “Jacob, are you expecting someone?”

Jacob shakes his head and runs to the window above the bed. “Shit. He’s here.”

I glance at Jacob, who is looking at me with an angry stare. We both share the same thought. Alonzo is here.

“Go take care of it!” he tells the reaper. The man runs out of the room and calls for the other enforcer.

“He’s coming for you,” I tell Jacob. For the first time, there is real fear in his eyes.

“Shut up!” he says. He approaches me with a knife in his hand.

“Wait, don’t do this,” I say.

“Make up your mind, Alex. You can’t be brave and scared at the same time.”

The knife goes for my legs. I flinch, but it only tears the zip tie off my legs. Jacob rips the zip ties around my hands next.

“Are you letting me go?” I ask him.

Before he can respond, gunshots fill the air, and the window above the bed shatters. Jacob and I duck and shield our faces. As soon as the gunshots stop, Jacob tosses the knife aside, fists my hair, and drags me out of bed. Sharp pain stings on my scalp.

“Come with me!” he says. He tugs me with his good hand. With his other hand, he presses a gun onto the back of my head. “Move.”

“Where are we going?”

He drags me along a hallway to the back of the house, putting distance between us and gunfire. I try to pull away from him, but he slaps me across the face, causing a ringing in my ear.

When the ringing disappears, I hear Jacob screaming at me to hurry.

Behind us, the gunshots stop, and Alonzo’s voice echoes throughout the house as we step out into the backyard.

“It’s over, Jacob!” Alonzo yells.

“I told you he was coming for me,” I say. “You said it yourself. He was protecting me. He cares about me.”

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