Page 40 of Savage Promises

I don’t bother saying anything else. Neither does he. He just spins on his oxfords and leaves me standing on the sidewalk.

Humiliated.

All my enthusiasm about the new club is shattered.

Stunned, I get back in my car and drive home to my apartment in Brooklyn. I’m not staying there another night. Since it was given to me furnished, I pack up my clothes into one suitcase and a carry bag. With Hawk meowing from a carrier he hates, I leave the apartment feeling strong. But on the street, it all falls down on me.

I’m homeless. And without Rafael’s financial support, my dreams of buying that nightclub have been upended. Circling the drain, taking my life with it.

Unsure of where I can go with a cat, I stop at Hawk’s vet right before they close. He’s due for a checkup. I explain the turn in my unfortunate lifeandliving situation. They agree to keep him for a few days. He loves it there. The vet techs spoil him. But it will cost me a deworming and an expensive teeth cleaning.

My mind racing, I drive around aimlessly for nearly an hour, trying not to cry. Mara has a spare bedroom but she’s got a temporary roommate. The logical thing to do is to drive to Astoria and go stay with my father. For some reason, I’m not sure I’m even welcome there.

The traffic, crazy drivers, detours, and cars honking all around close in on me, and I start to have a panic attack. I pull over in front of a park and get out to sit on a cold metal bench that stings my butt. But at least there’s fresh air.

My phone feels heavy in my hand, but I can’t ignore the one name that keeps surfacing in my mind.

Shane.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I dial the number he programmed into my phone somehow.

It’s my job to keep you safe...

It rings once and he picks up. “Lennox?”

“Hi.” I swallow hard, my voice trembling. “I need help.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Shane

Trace and his never-ending supply of fresh assassins and guards occupy each of the gun range lanes. One bloke showing off a more impressive shot than the next. The industrial lights buzz overhead in between rounds fired into human forms and paper targets.

I stand in a lane, my gun drawn, but I can’t shoot.

I give up the lane to someone who can make better use of it and retreat to the storage locker to check our ammo stock. But I can’t focus on anything. Nothing in these crates registers right now. My mind is on her.

Lennox.

I can’t fucking stop thinking about her.

She’d left me alone with her sister this afternoon wearing a look of sadness that I haven’t been able to shake. Neve grinded on and on about her volleyball team and I tried to pay attention, but I couldn’t.

A few minutes after Lennox left, Neve got a call, and poof! She was gone. I was fucking relieved. How am I going to share a home, worse,a bedwith Lennox’s sister?

You’re not, a voice tells me. That’s the most truthful thought to pass through my brain.

Neve’s kiss on my cheek, thanking me for lunch and a new guard, which she’s not getting, had the emotionless feel of a little girl kissing her daddy. It creeped me out. What the hell am I doing marrying a fucking teenager?

I don’t think Neve finds me attractive at all. I don’t think sheseesme. I think she only sees herself.

“Shane...” Connor singsongs from the doorway. “I’ve been talking to you for five minutes. Do you have your head up your ass today?”

“Do you want a gun up yours?” My voice comes outcurt, but I don’t give a fuck. “I’m focused.”

“Is this about Lennox Donnelly?”

I freeze and straighten to my full height. “How...”

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