Page 40 of Protecting Talia

“Hey, Kevlar. Yeah, we just got home.”

“Aren’t you tired? What are you doing out? Should you be sleeping?”

Zip shook his head, wondering if he should get into it. “I don’t know. I can’t find my girl, and I’m worried.”

Kevlar sobered. “Wait, she’s missing? How long?”

“It’s going to sound stupid, but I came home, and she wasn’t there. All her stuff was there, but she left coffee in the pot.”

Kevlar narrowed his eyes, and his lips thinned. “Could she just have forgotten it?”

Zip shook his head. “I know it sounds stupid. The cops would laugh me out of the place if I went to them. That’s why I’m heading over to her old apartment to see if she’s there.”

“I’ll go with you. Let me fill up, and I’ll pull out right behind you.”

“You don’t have?—”

“Nonsense. If your woman is missing, I’m not abandoning you. I’ll text Remi and tell her I’m helping you.”

“As long as it’s not a bother.”

“Buddy, even if it was a bother, I’d help you.”

“Thanks, man.”

He was thankful he’d run into Kevlar. They might not find anything, but at least he had backup now.

28

Talia squeezed her knees closer, wishing she’d waited to clean out her apartment. Her sister had her locked in a room with no windows. She wasn’t sure exactly where she was, but because of the loud music, she had a suspicion that it was the bar. It could be anywhere, but the bar fit. The loud music was either cover to keep her screams from being heard, or it was just the bar.

She wouldn’t survive this again. She knew what was coming. No question, her life was over. Her sister wouldn’t let her escape this time. She would be used up until the last drop of her soul was gone.

After an hour or maybe minutes later, the door opened. Cheryl stepped in, followed by one of the men who’d held her in the back of the car when she’d been taken.

Hate filled her. She wanted to get up and beat the shit out of her sister. She knew she wouldn’t make it to Cheryl without the asshole behind her attacking and taking her down.

“I’m going to make sure you are taken care of. You’ll never darken our door again. You’ve been a blight on this family from the day you were born.”

“Why do you hate me so much you have to destroy me?”

“Because you ruined everything. You ruined every day of my life after you came home from the hospital with my mother. You took her, and you made me the bitch I am today. This is your fault.”

Talia had never understood why her sister hated her so. She’d just been a kid and nothing more, then her sister’s twisted imagination had ruined their relationship. Jealousy. That was the only explanation for Cheryl’s behavior. She’d wanted to be the queen of the family but had been upstaged by a baby girl.

They could have been friends, or at least had a halfway decent relationship, but Cheryl had ruined it. Now, they were enemies, and that would never change.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m looking into options. You’ll probably end up shipped overseas. I think that will get me the most money. I have to get rid of you. That’s the only option. You can’t live around here any longer.”

Talia shook her head. “You’re pathetic.”

Cheryl stalked over and backhanded her, sending pain through her face and down her neck. She jerked up, but the guy was on her, punching her in the face and knocking her on her ass.

The punches hurt but the worst part of this was that she’d never get the chance to say goodbye to Zip. He would think she’d just wandered off and left him. He wouldn’t know she’d been taken against her will. She wanted a life with Zip. She wanted to be his. It made her so sad that their relationship would only exist in her mind, nothing else.

29

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