Page 52 of Pit

“We have to shift the fucking gear,” he yells. “I can’t keep hold of it any longer. If we get caught, we’re all gonna end up inside.”

I bury my head in my hands. “She thinks I fucked London,” I mutter. “Shit.”

“Who told her that?” asks Grizz.

“I did,” I spit. “I was pissed with her fucking dismissing me.”

“You could’ve saved us all the headache if you’d have just told us how you felt,” snaps Axel.

“The deal was more important to you,” I remind him bitterly.

“Fuck you, Pit,” he snaps. “I asked you outright, and you lied. I ain’t begging for truths. I had a tough call and I chose the club, like I always do.”

“Hero,” I mutter.

Axel swerves the car, taking a corner too fast before slamming on the brakes and jumping out. “Fuck,” mutters Grizz, unfastening his seatbelt. “Now, you’ve done it.”

Axel pulls my door open. “Get out.” I do, too tired to argue and too exhausted to care. “If you’ve got something to say, big man, say it.”

“You care about the money,” I spit.

“Half a mill is a lot,” he snaps. “But I don’t give a shit about that if it means you’re suffering.”

“Bullshit,” I argue. “You knew I was falling.”

“And I asked you.”

“What was I meant to say?”

“The fucking truth,” he bellows in my face. “Pres, I like her and I can’t let her go. But you said you wanted the road. You said you couldn’t settle, it wasn’t for you. So, I put the club first. I chose to offload those guns so we can all breathe again. You know the sentence if we get caught with that shit? I’ve never held onto that amount for longer than a week. That’s what we do. We buy, we sell, we move it. That’s why people deal with us. We’re quick and reliable.” He shoves me hard. “I asked you not to get involved with her. I told you we were gonna make a deal.”

“I didn’t plan on it,” I yell.

“If we could all just calm the fuck down,” says Grizz, stepping between us. “I have a solution.” He holds up a piece of paper between his fingers. “Turns out, Pavel Oleg doesn’t trust Alec either. He slipped me this with his phone number on. I assume he’d like a call.”

Axel snatches it, opening it and staring wide-eyed. “Why the fuck didn’t you say?”

“Because I didn’t want Romeo to fuck anything up in there. We have to call him and check he’s on the same page. If I’d have said anything there, Mister Muscle here would’ve crushed Alec’s skull, and what if I’ve got it wrong?”

“Call him,” I snap, getting back in the car.

“Let’s wait until morning,” says Grizz. “We don’t want to appear too eager.”

“What about Tessa?” I demand.

“She’s faced worse, right? What’s a day going to do?”

Tessa

The pain is blinding, literally. White lights dance in my eyes and my face throbs. I feel my legs dangling off the edge of the bed, and I try to drag myself higher, giving up when dizziness takes over. “Not so fast, firecracker,” hisses Alec, and I breathe a sigh of relief when he unzips my dress, thankful that the crushing of my ribs is easing. He tugs it down my body, almost pulling me off the bed, and then his face comes into view. He leers down at me, and I feel my hands being lifted above my head. “Tie them,” he says to someone else, then he’s back to leering at me while my hands are pinned above my head and tied in place. I frown, unable to work out what’s happening. My head feels fuzzy. “Don’t worry, you’ll come back fighting soon enough. The drug is wearing off.”

Drug?I have a faint recollection of Alec placing a cloth over my face when we were in the car coming home.

Alec pulls my underwear from my body, and as much as I want to protest, I have no energy. And then his fingers are inside me, and I wince. It’s uncomfortable and sore, but he doesn’t stop when he notices my facial expressions. “I paid a lot of money,” he whispers in my ear, “and I better get what I paid for.”

I scream when he pushes his erection into me, and suddenly, I don’t feel as fuzzy. I try to kick out, and he laughs, digginghis fingers into my thighs. “That’s it, firecracker, show me how much you want me.” As my vision comes back, I glance around the room to find another man watching. Alec pulls from me and looks down, inspecting between my legs. “Would you look at that,” he says calmly, “not a fucking drop.”

“I don’t know what you mean?” I rush the words out, sounding desperate.

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