Page 64 of Allure
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Another voice had come into the room they were in. She tried to place where she had heard that voice before, but her stomach rolled and she felt bile work its way up her throat and she puked on herself.
“Now look at what you made her do, Joel. I wasn’t done with her yet. Ah, Ah, ah, you shoot, I shoot, and then where would we be?”
Delilah felt like she was hallucinating. Did her captor say Joel? As in Syra’s Joel? What the hell was going on?
“What do you want, and why did you summon me here?” Joel sounded aggravated. Were they in on whatever this was together?
“I realized something,” her captor started. “All this big planning, making me spend my money and doing all the heavy lifting, it got me thinking.” The sound of a door shutting made Delilah tense. She tried to stay awake, tried to keep some energy in her body just in case Kat or Syra walked in next. She wanted to be ready to help—since she couldn’t help herself.
“Our game plans weren’t aligned, were they?” Her captor chuckled, just as she heard a sharp gasp that sounded like Syra.
“Here comes our main event. Come closer, Syra. The three of us have so much to discuss.”
Syra took several deep breaths, but it didn’t stop her hands from shaking as she tried to push open the door to Sirens. She was glad whoever sent her the text—Colton, from what Marco and Asli had told her—left it open. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop shaking long enough to get the key in the lock, and she didn’t want to waste precious time getting to Delilah.
“Just breathe,” she whispered as she pushed the door open and let it close behind her, wincing when it announced her arrival.
She tried to remember the plan, remember everything Asli, Marco, and Jamie had told her. The three of them had come up with a way to get Delilah and herself out of harm’s way and get to Colton and Joel. They weren’t a hundred percent sure they’d both be here, but they had planned around it.
“Easy, estrellita.” Marco’s gruff voice was in her ear, and she used it to bring her comfort. She wasn’t walking into this alone or blind.
“Stick to the plan, little star. Don’t do anything to get yourself hurt.” Asli was in her ear too. She closed her eyes, letting their comfort wash over her and give her the strength to see this through.
“I’m good.” She kept her voice low, unsure of where Colton actually was. She knew where Delilah would be based on the picture he sent her. She also knew where there would be weapons to use that should have been left behind from the contractors running in and out of here. She got this.
She walked farther into Sirens, her mind wondering if they’d even use this space again after this was all said and done. They had many plans for this specific space, but as she walked through it, her heart growing louder as voices became clearer, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to stand here and not feel the pain in her chest at thinking about Delilah being hurt.
“Our game plans weren’t aligned, were they?” Someone almost yelled, and when she turned a corner, seeing Delilah’s head hanging heavy, she let out a loud gasp.
She looked worse than the picture had suggested. There was blood everywhere—on her face, her chest, and in between her legs.
Oh, no.
“Here comes our main event. Come closer, Syra. The three of us have so much to discuss.”
Syra’s gaze snapped to both Joel and Colton, anger poured out of her, and she took a step forward, her fists balling and ready to fly. She wanted to hurt them both—Joel for blackmailing her and Colton for hurting Delilah.
“What did you do to her?” she snapped, wanting to cause him as much pain as he caused her friend. The only thing that kept her where she stood was that both Colton and Joel had guns in their hands.
He shrugged. “I got bored waiting for you and Joel to show up. It’s not my fault y’all took so long. We decided to play.” He eyed her from head to toe as if she was his next meal and she tried not to flinch, knowing he’d already seen her naked—saw how she liked to be touched. She couldn’t believe this was the same man she ran into at Gregory’s. He’d given her the creeps then, and standing here now, she wondered if that run-in was on purpose. He was watching her for himself or Joel, and she wished she had done more that day.
Maybe they wouldn’t be here now.
“I wish it was you though,” Colton murmured and took a step closer, and she took a step back when Joel’s gaze snapped to him. “Ahh, don’t get high and mighty now, Joel. Once you got her back, you would have let me fuck her. That was the plan, right?”
Syra heard the low grumble in her ear coming from both Asli and Marco. They weren’t going to be able to sit back and listen to this. She could barely listen to this.
“What plan?” Syra tried to find her voice, tried to keep her breath even. She needed to keep them talking. It would take a little bit for their plan to work, and she didn’t want them rushing or getting hurt.
“The plan to get you back, obviously.” Colton cracked a smile. “He’s been using me to do his dirty work, setting some fires, destroying some property, you know, little things here and there to bring down Garrison Inc because he was jealous of Marco and you. Oh,” he tapped his mouth with the gun, “this was my favorite part, getting to fuck and kill the Syra look-a-likes. Though now that I think about it, that was never going to stick to anyone but me.”
Syra grabbed her stomach and stumbled backward at the confession Colton made. All of this was because of his hate for Marco and what she shared with him? “Joel,” she started, trying to come to terms with what was happening, with the fact that two women had lost their lives because of this, because of her. It seemed careless and childish—a toddler throwing a tantrum because he couldn’t get what he wanted. She wasn’t a piece of property Joel needed to scheme to get back. He let her go so many times, was that some sick game he enjoyed playing and when she didn’t come back the last time it set something off inside of him?
Joel let out a breath. “I don’t have time for any of this.”
Syra watched, horrified, when Joel’s right arm jerked back and two loud pops echoed in the room. She screamed when Colton collapsed on the floor. He was sneering at her one minute and the next his eyes were wide and vacant. She couldn’t believe Joel shot him. She heard the faint sounds of Marco and Asli trying to talk to her—trying to get her to say something, but she could only stare at Colton’s lifeless body.
Joel turned on her, his gun aimed at her chest, and still feet wouldn’t move. Her fear kept her frozen, and if it wasn’t for the burning sensation in her arm, she would have thought her body had locked up on her.
