Page 14 of Sugar Coated

I made it to the door to the stairwell when Laina called out for me, “Wait.” As my legs stopped, she asked me one more question: “How did you know where to find me? How’d you know I was taken?” Okay, so two questions, technically.

Looking back at her over my shoulder, I settled for saying, “I got a text.”

“A text? From who?”

“You tell me.” My reply mustn’t have been what she anticipated, because Laina said nothing more. I turned away from her and walked out into the stairwell, finding Fang leaning on the metal railing, running his tongue over his sharp upper fangs.

Fang turned his shirtless body toward me, acting like he wasn’t half-naked as he asked, “How is our girl doing? I thought you’d be in there for a while longer with her.” The smirk on his face was one of mischievousness.

“I told you already,” I harrumphed, “she’s not our girl.”

“Oh, right. Sorry. Is this where you say she’syourgirl?”

My plan was to go down the stairs and wait near my car for Harvey to show up, but that question made me freeze up. Did I want Laina to be my girl—keyword:my? I was a man. Of course I’d be lying if I said a part of me wouldn’t like that.

But… no, she wasn’t my girl.

I glared at Fang, not saying a word in response.

Fang didn’t take me seriously, not one bit, because his smile only grew as he said, “Such a grump you can be, Mike. I can’t help but wonder if you’re only so grouchy because you’re fighting your feelings.”

“I’m not fighting anything,” I muttered.

His bare shoulders went up and down in a single shrug. “Whatever you say. It’ll be interesting to see how long you can hold yourself back.” He gave me a good slap on the back. “Don’t worry. Laina will be waiting whenever you get over yourself, big guy.”

Now it was my turn to shrug him off. This conversation was going nowhere, so I didn’t say a single word more as I headed down the stairs, not sparing Fang another glance.

Fang thought he knew me, but in reality we were strangers. I didn’t know the guy, and he certainly didn’t know me or my feelings. Acting like he could see right through me… fuck him. Fuck all of this.

God, I really wished I could walk away from this whole thing. Walking away would be easier than staying. At this rate, staying was going to drive me insane, and then where would I be? A man who’d lost his mind while trying to resist the pull of the girl he was supposed to keep safe? How pathetic.

My mood had turned foul by the time I exited the building and reached my car. I checked the trunk just to make sure the man was still in there, that he didn’t miraculously escape. Lifting the trunk, I found the man was still very much there, although he was wide awake now.

The moment he spotted me, he started to writhe, but he couldn’t really go anywhere since he was expertly hog-tied. I’d shot him in the stomach and the shoulder, but the bullet must’ve missed anything important. Lola would have to fix him up a bit before she tried to get any information out of him—to make him last longer. Sometimes it wasn’t the pain you inflicted while torturing someone that got them to finally spill the beans; sometimes it was just time.

I frowned at him before slamming the trunk down and giving him darkness once again. Leaning my back against my car, I folded my arms across my chest and turned my frown to the sky. Nighttime had given away to early dusk. The puffs of clouds in the sky had begun to change colors thanks to the rising sun.

What a long goddamned night.

I closed my eyes and exhaled a long, heavy breath that felt as though it’d been trapped in my lungs ever since I’d discovered the pillows in Laina’s bed. Instantly, knowing she was gone, off God knew wherever by herself, put me on edge in a way nothing else ever had—and that was saying something, given how many batshit crazy situations I’d found myself in in the past.

Things could have ended so much worse. I could never have found her. She could’ve died before I got to her. She could’ve been gang-raped, beaten, tortured; the list was endless when you were a pretty, young girl. Most of the criminals in this city would love to get a piece of her.

And that said nothing about the everyday, ordinary man—men who, when they were certain no one was looking, could be just as bad as the violent criminals.

Laina got so lucky. She really did. That text message… when I’d told her I got a text, and she’d asked from who, the look she’d given me when I’d insinuated she already knew made me think that, perhaps, she had no idea.

Out of everything that happened tonight, coincidences weren’t something I believed in. No, whoever gave me that address must’ve been involved somehow. Once this asshole was out of my trunk, I planned on going back in there and demanding answers from Laina. I wanted a play-by-play of everything that happened before her kidnapping.

She was so lucky. So goddamned lucky. It probably didn’t even dawn on her how fortunate she was tonight.

I knew I should try to think of other things while I waited for Harvey to show up, but my mind wouldn’t listen. The only thing I could think about was Laina and how fucked I would’ve been if I’d lost her.

When I heard a car pulling into the alley, I opened my eyes and pushed off my car, turning to view a familiar black vehicle slowly inching toward mine. I uncrossed my arms as I watched Harvey get out of the car.

“Long time no see,” Harvey spoke with two deep dimples on his cheeks. Wearing a sleek suit, he looked every bit the professional driver he was—although, as time wore on, I was pretty sure he was more than a simple driver to Lola. More like a friend.

As Harvey approached me, he sized me up. “I hear you have a package for me to deliver.” The way he said it made it sound like a joke, and although he was obviously in a good mood, I wasn’t, so I just frowned at him. “Ah, someone’s not happy this morning. Too early for you?”

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