Page 15 of No Promises, No Lies

9

GOOD GIRL

RORY

At the click of the gun, I don’t wait around. I launch myself out of my hiding spot, making a desperate attempt to reach the open door, thinking somehow, maybe, if I can make it to the hallway, I might have a chance.

I don’t even make it halfway.

I meet the blockade with such force, the momentum nearly takes me off my feet. An arm closes around my middle and I’m dragged backwards until I slam against a hard chest. Adrenaline spiking, I fight, clawing and kicking, but the arm wrapped around me doesn’t budge. Another hand snakes up and closes around my throat and instantly I still.

“Good girl,” a dark voice whispers in my ear while adjusting his grip on my throat.

I see the gun still pointed at me from across the desk. I jolt back, only succeeding at pressing myself harder against the man who has me restrained.

My breaths are coming hard and the hand around my throat loosens a hair, but doesn’t let go.

Crew Cut is talking fast, so I’m barely registering his words. The pounding sound of my heart in my ears is too loud, blocking him out. “…think you can spy on me?” Crew cut carries on, hisgun trained on my forehead. I stiffen inAce’shold.“How’d she even get in here? I thought we rounded up all the strippers.”

My cheeks warm with both anger and embarrassment, itching to set him straight, but I bite my tongue. Better they think me a stripper than figure out who I really am.

The wail of multiple distant sirens wafts in through the office window, and the sense of urgency in the office rises.

“Time to go, Jimmy.” Ace’s deep velvet voice and Irish accent right in my ear earns a full-body shudder.I swear I hear the fuckerlaughunder his breath.

“Shit.” Jimmy does a quick spin and scan of the office before his gun finds my face again. He waves it toward the shattered window. “Put her over there. I’ll take care of it.” He offers me a half-apologetic look and a little shrug. “Sorry, lass, but you’ve seen our faces. It’s nothing personal; just business.”

I stare back at him with wide eyes, processing the apology.Nothing personal? No, it’s just my LIFE.

I dig my heels in, which only serves to push me back further into Ace’s hard and unyielding chest. Almost immediately, I fling myself forward, but his arm around my abdomen holds me still, and the hand still wrapped around my throat tightens as he pulls my head back toward him.

He’s tall; I notice for the first time. His chin barely grazes the top of my head. I feel it brush over me and I hear him inhale.

Did he just smell me?

His grip tightens again, eliciting a small gasp as my airway is restricted. I swallow hard, aware he feels the movement through his fingers.

I try to ignore Ace and focus on Jimmy. I’m still staring down the barrel of his gun. But Ace hasn’t pushed me toward the broken window.Toward my execution.If I jump from the edge before he shoots me, would I survive the fall?

Breathing gets harder and my head feels light. Maybe I won’t have to pick between Jimmy’s gun or jumping because Ace might just choke me out right here. My pulse pounds in my ears and in my throat, right under his thumb.

“Stop fucking around, Aidan,” Jimmy snaps, growing more agitated with the sirens closing in.

Aidan?

Jimmy can’t shoot me where I stand without risking hitting his friend at my back. Rolling his eyes, he turns his attention back to the desk, reaching into one of the open drawers, and scooping bundles of cash into a black bag.

The sirens grow louder, the police closing in on Elements.I’m anything but reassured. I have little faith in the police saving me. Hell, I’d be lucky if I survive anotherminutein this room.

Ace—or—Aidansuddenly spins me in his grip so I’m face to face with him. I’m wide-eyed and tense as I told my chin up to look at the man about to end my life.

He considers me. His gaze is a tangle of shadows; the green of his eyes haunting with quiet intensity as they search my face. What he’s looking for, I don’t know.

Aidan’s eyes flash a second before his face changes, a smug arrogance taking over his features. “What a shame. She’s awfully pretty.” He picks up a lock of my hair with the hand he’d had wrapped around my throat, letting the silky strands run through his fingers. I lean as far away from him as I can, my lips curling with disdain. He just laughs, his fingers brushing my arm. A shiver races down my spine. I clench my jaw, willing myself to despise the way the heat from his touch lingers like a forbidden promise.

“The bitch is a dancer, Ace. I’ll buy you a lap dance when we get clear of this shit. Now, let’s go.”

I bristle at the insult, at the way my life means nothing to these men.Anger simmers under flushed cheeks.

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