Page 83 of The Woman with the Wallet

As soon as he was gone, Zeno went back to work, music thumping, as I moved closer to the door for some quiet to call Lil.

I wasn’t surprised when it rang and rang. Lil could sometimes be a bit like Zeno—getting lost in her work, blasting her music, letting the rest of the world fall away.

But I kept trying, knowing it would annoy her eventually and she would pick up with her usualHey, Babe.Then maybe ask something wholly inappropriate, like if I’d climbed Miko like a tree yet.

What I didn’t expect was a hushed, desperate, “Max,help.”

My stomach bottomed out as my pulse rushed through my veins. “Lil? Lil, what’s going on? Is someone there?” I asked.

But just then, there was a loudthunkfollowed by a pained cry from Lil.

I wasn’t even sure I hung up my phone as I rushed toward the door.

“Max?” Zeno called. Then, as I bolted down the hallway, “Max, wait!”

But there was no waiting.

Lil was in trouble.

And I was the only person around to help.

I cursed myself for not grabbing Zeno’s gun he’d mentioned. Or at the very least, a butcher knife from the drawer.

But there was no time to go back as I flew out of the building and ran down the street, thinking of how much damage someone could inflict on Lil in the time it took me to run from Zeno’s place to her little side street.

I paused only for one second to draw in a breath before throwing open the door and rushing inside.

The place was a fucking disaster.

Tables were overturned. Brilliant blue sapphires, deep emeralds, and striking rubies were scattered around the floors,mingling with diamonds and various metals Lil used to make the settings.

There, in the middle of the mess on the floor, was Lil’s gun. The same one she’d held on Miko what suddenly felt like ages ago.

“Lil?” I called, trying to be heard over the music bleeding from the surround sound speakers.

Some instinct had me stepping toward the gun.

But I’d barely gotten a foot inside of the apartment before the door slammed behind me and hands shoved into my shoulders, sending me stumbling forward.

If the desk was where it should have been, I would have landed on it, would have needed to struggle to scramble up.

As it was, I managed to slow my momentum, duck, and swing around.

Then there he was.

Those bright blue eyes immobilized me for a second.

“You’re starting to be a real problem,” he said, panting hard, blood dripping lazily from his nostril. From, I reminded myself, his fight with Lil, who I didn’t see, who I didn’t hear.

“Shoulda killed you when I had the chance,” he added, lunging. “Won’t make that mistake again.”

He was going for my throat, but I was quick enough to duck, to bend, and charge forward, ramming him back into the wall.

If I wasn’t worried about Lil, I could have used his momentary shock to slip out of the door, to get onto the relative safety of the streets.

But I couldn’t leave her. She wouldn’t have left me.

Which meant he had a chance to straighten, to square up, and then land a blow to my jaw that sent me flying.

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