Page 190 of The Black Trilogy

He sighed. “You need to learn to trust me.”

“Why?”

“I’ll explain tomorrow.”

What was he talking about? I had no idea, but my eyelids were drooping, so I decided I didn’t care. A few hours, and he’d be out of my life.

True to his word, Black shook me awake at four thirty, at which point, if memory serves correctly, I told him to get lost, only not quite so politely, then burrowed back under the duvet. I was vaguely aware of being lifted up in his arms and bundled into the backseat of a car, at which point he nudged me awake again.

“You’ve got to help me out here—where are we going?”

I mumbled my address, which Black somehow translated for the driver, and before I knew it, I was being helped out of the car at JJ’s.

“Sure you can’t take the morning off?” Black asked again.

“No, I have to do this.”

I turned my back on him as I punched in the combination to get into the building. The date Jimmy and Jackie got married, fourteen years ago now.

“Don’t forget I’m picking you up at six.”

“Whatever. Bye.”

I stepped inside, gave him one last petulant glare, then slammed the door in his face.

Finally, the strangest night of my life was over.

CHAPTER 20

TO THIS DAY, I have no idea how I got through that morning. Not only was I knackered, I had to deal with Jimmy and Jackie’s incessant questioning about the mess I was in as well as most of the regulars offering to go around and beat up whoever had caused it.

At twelve, Jimmy planted himself in front of me. “Go to bed, Amanda. I’m sick of you stumbling around reception like a zombie.”

“I’m fine, honestly. I just didn’t sleep so well last night.”

“That’s hardly surprising. If you tell me who did it, I’ll sort it out.”

“I’m grateful for the offer, but it’s dealt with, Jimmy. This won’t be happening again.”

“It had better not. If it does, I’ll hold you upside down myself and shake the truth loose. Now, get lost.”

I half crawled, half stumbled back to my room, and despite the stiffness and aches plaguing me, I nodded off quickly. I wasn’t quite dead, but I sure slept like it.

When six o’clock rolled around, I didn’t notice because I was still fast asleep with the pillow over my head. I only woke up when the shouting started. Was that Jimmy yelling? He never yelled. He didn’t need to—one sharp word from him and people generally cowered. I dragged myself out of bed and flattened my hair down with my fingers, grabbed a piece of chewing gum to cover up my disgusting breath, then walked out into the gym to see what all the fuss was about.

I found Black standing next to the boxing ring, facing off with a dozen scary-looking dudes led by my self-appointed guardian. Black’s nose was swollen, and his face looked even worse than it did when he brought me back in the early hours.

Jimmy had his fists up as he raised his voice again. “You want to try fighting a man instead of my little girl?”

“I don’t want to fight anyone.” Black looked remarkably unruffled considering his opposition included a current heavyweight boxing champion and a dude who’d just been released from prison for grievous bodily harm.

“Well, you didn’t seem to have a problem with it last night, did you, you monster? It was you, wasn’t it? Have you seen the state you left her in?”

Oh, heck. I didn’t want to be responsible for the inevitable beating that was going to happen if I didn’t intervene. With little other choice, I rushed over and planted myself in front of Black.

“Jimmy, guys, back down. Please. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment, because I really do, but you’ve got the wrong man.”

“Amanda, why are you defending him?”

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