Page 7 of The Midnight Delivery

“Oh, shit,” the bitch squeaked.

My head flew back and I let out a loud breath as I focused on the tiles in the ceiling. I didn’t need any more trauma in my head. “Get the fuck out,” I directed and pointed to the door.

I heard the bitch scrambling for her clothes and the exit, with my brother spewing a couple of curse words in my direction as she left, but I focused solely on my breathing. And the ceiling tiles.

“What the fuck are you doing, Ari?” I heard Dustin ask.

Heat rushed through every inch of my body as I lowered my chin and met my brother’s gaze. “What the fuck areyoudoing, Dusty? Do you know what happened to me tonight? Do you even care? No, of course not. The only thing you care about is getting your dick wet, even if it costs us everything!”

Dustin’s eyes doubled in size. “What?”

“Fuck you, Dustin.” It’s all I could get out in response to his question, and it seemed appropriate. “Who was that ho?”

Dustin shrugged as he moved off the bed and put his t-shirt on. “I matched with her tonight.”

“You’re kidding me, right? I’m glad you feel like you have all the time in the world to fuck around with random women before the biggest fight ofourlives.”

“Lay off, Ari. I needed to blow off some steam, and since I can’t train in a gym, I figured I’d get another kind of workout in. I still got some time to recover before the fight. I’m good.”

“You may begood, but we’re not. Do you know what happened to me tonight?”

“Listen, Ari,” Dusty sighed. “I just don’t care in this moment. You barge in here and interrupt me—“

“Barge in? This is my damn room!”

“Barge in and interrupt me before I get a chance to finish, so I’m not too pleased with you right now.”

“What?”

“Now I’ve got to go do it myself, and you’re talking to me all crazy. Don’t forget I’m at the head of the table in the family, so mind your tongue. I don’t care if it’s your room or not, I come and go as I please.Youdo not.”

Dustin moved to the door and cast a glance over his shoulder. “Come and see me when you’ve calmed down, because I can’t talk to you when you’re like this. But give me about twenty minutes before you do.”

He shut the door behind him as he left, and I channeled all of my rage and frustration from the evening and threw my clutch at the closed door.I can’t come and go as I please?All of my life, I’ve had men dictate my movements, and as much as I loved my brother, following after him now would lead to an early grave for the both of us. Something had to change, and I had only a couple of days left to figure out what.

#

THE ANNOYING BUZZINGfrom my phone as it rang on the nightstand beside the hard hotel bed I slept on, stirred me from my restless sleep. I’d tossed and turned all night, and could never reach a comfortable enough position to get the deep level of rest I desperately needed. I reached over onto the stand, grabbed my phone, and let the vibrations as it rang in my hand flow through my body. It served as a reminder I was still alive, if only for another day or two.

I flipped some hair off my forehead and depressed the area on the touchscreen. “Hello?”

“Good morning. I’m trying to reach Ariana Munoz.”

“Yeah, you’ve got her.”

“Miss Munoz, my name is Ashlyn Rivers. I’m a detective in the Orias Police Department.”

My heart froze. “Yeah?”

“Miss Munoz, do you know an Alejandro Miguez?”

“Yeah, he’s my uncle,” I said in a tone I hoped would convey some level of confusion. “Has something happened?”

“I’d rather not say over the phone, Miss Munoz. Do you know where his gym is?”

“Yes.”

“Are you able to meet me there?”

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