Page 72 of The Opposite Effect

I smile a conniving grin. “Yeah. All while your men probably stood by and watched it happen. What fucked-up game are you playing that you’re willing to risk your sister’s life?”

“It isn’t a game. It is a lesson.” His words come out weak like the man he is.

“A tough fucking lesson.”

“I never wanted Clara to get hurt. I wanted to teach her not to take everything for granted. To be grateful for the life she was born into. I never wanted her to get injured. That is why I put the security detail on her. But every time they were about to step in, you were one step ahead of them. The night she took the bus, they were following her. They were about to react when the teenage boy approached her. You beat them. When she moved into the apartment, they were going to have security installed. You beat them again. I didn’t want Clara hurt, but I wanted her to be taught a lesson. I wanted her to be grateful.”

“Then where the fuck were they the night she got jumped?” I shout, my loud voice ricocheting off the pristine white walls and shrilling into my ears.

Cormack’s face goes paler. “I don’t know, but Iwillfind out. I guarantee you I will find out.” He locks his remorse-riddled eyes with mine. “Is Claraokay? Is she safe?”

“Maybe you should ask her that yourself.” I spin on my heels and amble down the corridor, needing to leave before I break the promise I made to Ryan.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

My brisk strides down the hallway of my apartment building slows when the vibration of my cell phone shakes in my pocket. I’m not at all surprised when I see it is a call from Ryan. When he discovered who the Audi was registered to, he pleaded for me not to take the issue any further. My consideration of his plea only lasted as long as it took for me to remember the bleak look in Clara’s eyes the night she was mugged.

Ryan’s pleas settled when I promised I was only going to ‘talk’ to Cormack man to man, not have a ‘word’ with him. Considering I left without a single drop of blood being shed, I kept my word. I won’t lie. It was hard. The only thing that stopped me from pounding some sense into Cormack was the look of repentance in his eyes. He was genuinely horrified that Clara had been assaulted. He was so upset, he looked physically ill.

I don’t have any siblings, so I can’t say I comprehend Cormack’s logic of wanting to teach Clara a lesson. But even without siblings, I still think he has gone about it the wrong way. Clara’s life was jeopardized. That is not something I’ll ever be okay with.

Swiping my finger across my phone’s screen, I press it to my ear before throwing open the front door of my apartment. “Not a drop of blood was shed,” I mutter, not bothering to issue a greeting.

“Have you seen Damon?”

I throw the keys for my bike onto the entryway table before answering, “No. I was set to put a couple of hours into his back tattoo later this week, but I canceled my appointments to spend more time with Clara.”

Ryan’s deep sigh sounds down the line.

“Why? What’s up?” My lips purse when my gaze locks in on Damon’s ocean-blue eyes sitting across from Clara. “Ha. You won’t believe this. He’s here. Did you want to talk to him?”

“Damon is at your apartment?” Ryan’s words come out in a hurry.

Even though he can’t see me, I jerk up my chin. “Yeah. He’s here with Clara.”

Feet stomping bellows down the line before Ryan yells, “I’m on my way. Keep him calm,” before he disconnects the call.

A sick feeling spreads across my stomach when I drift my eyes to Clara. She’s nursing the same set of eyes she wore in the alleyway the night she was mugged. Her cheeks are stained with tears, and her face is as white as a ghost.

Hot anger boils my blood. “It was him, wasn’t it? The third man in the alley.”

My stomach winds all the way up to my throat when Clara nods, spilling fresh tears down her cheeks. Her confirmation means only one thing… Iamgoing to kill Damon.

Clara squeals, and my quick charge to Damon comes to a dead stop when he lifts a gun I didn’t notice he had until now and points it at Clara’s head.

Clara freezes, her chest the only thing rising and falling as her massively dilated eyes lock with Damon’s. When I take anotherstep closer, Damon pulls back the hammer on the gun and curls his index finger around the trigger.

“I swear to God if you hurt her…” My words trail off as a wide range of ways I can kill him runs through my mind.

“I told them not to do it. I warned them your crew wouldn’t stop until you found us, but they didn’t listen. None of them listened to me! Why doesn’t anyone listen to me?” His last sentence is only a whisper.

“I’m listening.” I take a step closer. “But pointing a gun at someone to force them to listen won’t get you heard. Put the gun down, then we’ll talk.”

Damon laughs a painful chuckle. “Like thetalkingyour crew gave the other two men? They’ve pissed their pants the last two nights. That’s how fucking scared they are that your crew will come back and finish what they started.”

“This is different. You came to me. That changes everything.”

“I came to see if you had any info on who the third man was. I didn’t expect to have the door opened by the same face that haunts my dreams. Why is she here? You don’t bring girls back to your place!”

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