Page 35 of Luka

“Why would he think that?” I ask.

Mila shows her palms as she shakes her head, her mouth opening. “I mean, because her phone is going straight to voicemail, and she hasn’t been home since yesterday morning. I keep telling him it’s way too early to be freaking out like this, but uh, well…” she cringes. “The girl Piper picked up was an illegal immigrant. Piper was texting Leo because she thoughtthey could, you know, find work for her or something. So, I don’t know, maybe the girl was onto the fact that Piper had bad intentions, or hell, maybe the girl and her boyfriend had bad intentions forher.”

Mila lifts both shoulders, her mind grasping for something when all she wants is for the whore to come back so her eldest brother will stop bothering her.

I scratch the back of my head while I think about that and hold back a bitter laugh.

Piper wanted to whore Lucia out.

What aslimyfucking bitch.

I can’t help it. I do laugh, shaking my head in the process as I bring my gaze back to Mila’s. Her eyes are narrowed at me like she’s trying to figure out what’s funny.

“What a fucking cunt,” I say.

Mila blows out a breath and nods. “Yeah. Well… What are we supposed to do, though? Leo loves her.”

“You sound like Mama.”

“You sound likeyou. Which is much worse.” Mila waves her comment away as if I’d argue. I wouldn’t. “Anyway, just… Please help, okay? He showed up here this morning looking like he was about to start chasing shadows again. And he did show me that text message, so what he said was true, but…” Mila sighs. “I don’t know. I told him to wait it out, but he said he’d been out all night searching for some illegal immigrant with a broken-down vehicle and thought he’d found him. He wants you to help confront the guy but is too afraid to ask. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s at your apartment right now waiting for you.”

“What?” I ask, my stomach rolling.Now, I could puke. “Did you tell him to go to my apartment?” I don’t realize I’m bowing up to her until I’m staring down at Mila, my eyes wide, my chest puffed.

Her brow furrows. “He’s your brother just as much as he is mine.”

She doesn’t mean brother. She meansproblem.

My hand trembles as I run it through my hair, remembering the key I gave him last November when he crashed on my couch for three weeks. I regretted it then. I never could have imagined how much I’d regret it now.

“I have to go,” I say, feeling the blood drain from my face as I turn.

“Luka, hold on,” Mila calls. “Wait for someone to cover your shift. You can’t justleave.”

Her voice fades as I make my way to my car, my steps starting out dreadfully slow then gradually transitioning into a sprint.

I picture Lucia on my bed, desperate for help, desperate to tell anyone,anyoneabout the crazy man who killed the nice woman giving her a lift when her and her boyfriend broke down…

10

LUCIA

When a key scratches at Luka’s front door, I stiffen but don’t make a sound.

It’s just him. Obviously, it’s just him, but still, I’m struck by the words he left me with this morning. His hair was still damp from a shower, his skin smelling clean, his eyes bright and ready for another day of bringing terror to the world.

I’d looked away from him, disgusted, as he ran the backs of his finger up my legs, and I’d slapped one freed hand over his when he went to lift the fresh, black shirt he gave me.

He’d laughed, dragging my glare to him as his white teeth gleamed at me. Dimples sprouted on both his cheeks that silenced the angry voice in my head for a moment, then made it come back with a roar. I hated that he was becoming more attractive to me. That I hadn’t noticed the dimples before. That they only came out because of him laughing at me.

I’d quickly scanned his face, searching for imperfections, and unlike Arseni, it didn’t take long. His top teeth are perfectly straight, but two on the bottom are crooked. I looked away before pointing it out with an even tone.

After that, he wasn’t so playful, which I told myself was my goal. But after he tied me sitting up in bed, my ankles bound andmy arms knotted all the way to my elbows, he got in my face and spoke sobering words to me I’ve been thinking about ever since.

“There are cameras in this building, Peach,” he’d said, looking up and twirling a finger as if they were everywhere. He crooked a thumb to gesture behind him. “Whoever knocks on that door today is going to die. I gave the blonde cunt a pass yesterday, but if she hears you again, she’s going to need to be taken care of. So…” He ripped a piece of duct tape off the roll he brought and pressed it over my lips before putting a finger to his mouth. “Shhh.”

Then, that was it. He left. And it took me very little time to decide that what Tall said was absolutely true.

He would kill whoever came to that door. He would kill whoever tried to help me.

---