Page 10 of Unconditional

“You’re not too bad to look at.Probably woulda done that too.”His wink infuriated me.

“I don’t even know what to pack.I don’t know where they are, I’ve told you this.”I heard the resignation in my tone and hated it.Hated the way I was giving up.“That’s right,” he said, his lips smacking around another greasy bite.“It’ll be easy enough to find out.Call your little friend and tell her you need to see her.She’ll tell you where to go.”

It was my turn to scoff, my arms crossing over my chest again.“And what makes you think that she will?”

His laugh was humorless.“Because women are predictable.Make it believable, Blondie.”

I didn’t have time to comment on his blatant misogyny before he tossed the phone to me, already dialed to Alisha, the tone ringing in my ear.Talon mouthed,put it on speakerin that no-nonsense way that had me acting without arguing.

Birdie answered on the third ring.

“Misely?”she asked, sounding breathless.Milo’s muffled grumbling in the background told me exactly what they had been up to.

I forced myself to sound apologetic for the benefit of selling it.My stomach turned knowing I was going to have to lie to my best friend, knowing I was compromising her safety and her boyfriend’s.Breaking the trust that up until this moment I honestly believed was unshakable.Knowing I didn’t have a choice.

“Sorry to interrupt.”I exaggerated the hitch in my voice, pulling in a shuddering breath.Talon’s eyes gleamed as he watched me.

“Oh my god, Mize, what’s wrong?”Birdie’s concern was clear over the line, hours of distance doing nothing to stifle her loyalty.

I swallowed down the tears again, holding back everything I wanted to say.I’m being held hostage by Milo’s brother.He’s got my parent’s house under surveillance and their lives have been threatened if I do not bring him to you.I tried to fight him off but he overpowered me and is now forcing me to go on some delusional road trip to find you and haul Milo back to his creepy uncle.Oh, and he kissed me.

“I’m just so overwhelmed,” I said instead, mortified by my own sincerity.“I am so fucking overwhelmed, Bird.I need to get out of here.”

As if floodgates had opened, I found myself barreling forward, not even needing the encouraging nod I was getting from the man in front of me, his elbows on his knees and hands fisted together in front of his face.

“I don’t have anyone else to go to, I don’t have any friends, and I don’t want to see my parents.”I breathed out another shuddering breath, the salty tears finally breaching my lids and falling down my cheeks.“I need you.I need my best friend.”

Every word was heavy with truth but the tremble in my chin was all guilt.

“Oh, Misely.I didn’t realize you were in such a hard place.”The sympathy in her tone made me feel worse, my heart pinching.It had been nearly a year since I’d seen her, and I’d done my best to keep the worst of my anxieties from her.She had been through enough, and was already dealing with so much.If it didn’t have to do with who I was fucking or my withdrawn feelings about it, I kept it to myself.She knew I had a decent job, but she didn’t know how I struggled under my caseload.She knew I had a decent apartment, but she didn’t know that the walk from my car to the front door each night had me clutching my keys between my knuckles.She knew I was keeping a steady supply of lovers, but she didn’t know I was filling some empty void within myself where I wouldn’t allow meaningful companionship to reside.Birdie had put up with enough of my shit over the years and had enough of her own to go around.I couldn't pile more on.

The muttering on the other end of the line snapped me from my reverie.Milo was saying something I couldn’t hear, Birdie gently responding before coming back to our side of the conversation.

“All right, I’ll send you the address and we’ll see you soon.Okay?”

I met my captor’s gaze again, steeling my spine.Talon’s grin stretched from one side of his face to the other, looking nothing short of menacing.A predator stalking his prey and I was the bait.I swallowed, my throat tight as I whispered, “Okay.”

Oregon.The address that Birdie had sent me was for a small city along the coast of Oregon called Astoria.She said they didn’t live in town, which didn’t surprise me in the slightest, considering Birdie’s inclination toward the quiet refuge of nature.

In the year since we’d seen one another, she’d kept details about her new life very quiet to prevent the chances of this very thing happening.The MacArthur’s tracking them down and taking their revenge on Milo for outing his Uncle Kyle to the DEA.It was my understanding that it was a family operation, and each sibling played their roles.Birdie hadn’t shared much with me, detesting the distribution of illicit drugs with her whole being after the tragic loss of her older brother, but I knew that Milo had hated his involvement in the business.When he tried to get out, Kyle hadn’t made it easy on him.

And now I was seated in the passenger seat of a nondescript Chevy Malibu beside who I could only envision as the MacArthur’s enforcer.He was leaning back casually in his seat, one hand on the steering wheel and the other gripping a Super Slush cup from the gas station, slurping the blue beverage noisily.The adrenaline from his appearance in my apartment was beginning to fade and quite frankly his unbothered attitude was beginning to royally piss me off.

When he caught my indignant glare, his lips pulled up in a wordless smirk.

“So, is this what you do for a living?Kidnap girls so you can drive across the country to then kidnap rogue siblings?”

His smirk grew.“Oh yeah, of course.How’d you figure it out?”

“You’re awfully good at it,” I muttered, my arms crossed.

Talon threw his head back on a harsh laugh.“Was that a compliment, baby?”

I sneered, sucking my teeth in disdain.“The day I compliment you is the day hell freezes over.”

He laughed again, taking another generous slurp from the cup, the sound grating on my nerves.

“Don’t worry about what I do.This isn’t a bonding experience.All you need to worry about is getting me to my brother.”

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