Page 7 of What Doesn't Kill Us

I nod. “Then get the fuck out.”

Hans frowns at me but doesn’t move. So, I take a step toward him, poking my finger into his chest. “You can leave now. If you’re going to keep secrets and do his bidding, then you’re not welcome here. We don’t need you. Get out.”

He shakes his head. “I cannot do that.”

I frown. “What do you mean, you cannot do that? Turn around, walk out the door and go tell that fucking prick we all said to go right to hell.”

He gives me another bland look and then takes out his phone and types out a message. He pauses, staring down at the screen for a few moments before putting it back into his pocket. “I’ll be staying here with you.”

Then he turns around and books it back the way he came, the door slamming shut behind him.

I turn to Tony, my blood pressure rising with every step I take toward him, when my phone rings from the counter. Considering anyone who would call me on that number is sitting in the room with me, I give my phone a suspicious look, then check the ID.

Unknown.

I grit my teeth as I hit accept, putting the call on speakerphone, but I don’t say anything. “Hans stays,” comes out of the speaker, then silence as the call ends.

I squint at the black screen, instantly seeing red at the nerve of this fucking prick. Reaching over, I grab a utility knife from the block on the counter, then rush down the hallway and out the same door Hans exited from. Lilith and Matt are right on my heels, their words telling me to cool it and to think about what I’m doing, but I ignore them, my murderous gaze on the only treacherous fuckface I can get my hands on right now.

Hans turns and sees me coming a few seconds too late to fully stop the trajectory of the knife. I thrust toward his side, but he knocks my swing enough where the blade glances off his ribs instead of piercing between them as I intended. He grunts, jumping away from me as I attempt to parry closer, and then he maneuvers around to the other side of the vehicle he was standing next to when I started my attack.

I’m screaming mad. Adrenaline courses through my body, making me feel twitchy, and my grip on the knife handle tightens. “Get the fuck out of here! Go back and tell Darius fucking Hughes that if he wants to overlord over me, he better come here and fucking do it himself! If I see you here again, I will slit your throat in your sleep!”

I don’t wait for an answer. I whirl around and start walking back toward our apartment. Matt, Tony, and Lilith are all staring at me, so I snarl, “What?”

“Nothing,” they all say in unison.

They fall into step behind me as I enter the apartment, and we all end up back in the kitchen. I grab my phone and see it’s already lit up with missed calls and text messages, so I pick it up and drop it into the pitcher of orange juice that’s on the counter.

I turn to Matt. “Get me a new phone, please. A secure one this time.” Then I turn to Lilith. “Call Mickey. Tell him to send some men. The mean, loyal kind, if that even exists anymore.”

Lilith is nodding at me enthusiastically, and I see the slightly maniacal twinkle in her eyes. “Oh, they definitely exist. That is not a problem.”

I’m tired of feeling like I’m being led around by the nose by overbearing men who don’t have the courtesy to explain the situation to me. I’m sure part of it is that they don’t fully know what the situation is, but even admitting that would be something. Instead, they continue to handle me with kid gloves and treat me like a fragile plaything they’re afraid will break.

It’s about time they learned I am no fragile plaything.

Matt has told me several times that the amount of information he could pull on me is sparse. Born off the map and raised off it, too. I didn’t even exist in the system until I was an adult working at the accounting firm. It makes me wonder if I even have a legitimate degree or if I’ve been winging it this entire time.

“Nettie.” Tony’s voice is quiet as he walks over to stand in front of me. “What are you doing?”

I raise my gaze to meet his. “Taking my fucking life back.”

He nods. “Okay. Tell me what you need.”

“I need you to decide,” I say calmly. “Are you with me, or are you with Darius Hughes?”

Tony frowns. “I’m with you. Whether you like Dare’s methods, we are all with you. Sure, he’s a meddlesome, infuriating, overbearing, fucking dickhead, shitbag, but even with whatever fucked-up shit he’s got himself into right now, he’s also still with you.”

I place my hands on my hips as I reply, “None of that really matters right now. He’s off doing whatever undercover bullshit he feels he needs to do with no conversations or consideration for the other people involved. So, he can go do his stupid shit and we’re gonna come up with our own plan. Try to understand what’s going on. I will not continue to live like this. It’s time to find the bad guys and eliminate them, and then we can all get on with our lives. I refuse to live in the dark any longer.”

Tony smiles, then laughs. “Shit, Nettie. It sounds to me like you’re ready to fuck around and find out.”

I roll my eyes at him and snort. “Don’t you ever get sick of that line?”

He frowns. “Sick of it? No fucking way. It’s like my tagline. If I was a video game character, it would be on a halo over my head everywhere I went.”

“You’re an idiot.” Tony and Matt both laugh, and I find the sound reassuring. I look over at Lilith, and she’s staring at me with a faraway look in her eyes. “What is it, Lils?”

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