Page 100 of Cruel Debts
And if Tennicent's men were in my apartment, that could only mean one thing.
The guys were right. I wasn't safe.
And after tonight, I might not be alive.
As I turned and fled down those stairs like my life depended on it, my last thought was to call the last person I'd talked to in my phone, and hope like hell they could find me before these men finished what they'd started.
FORTY-TWO
LIAM
Why the hellhad I said those things to her?
Being frustrated with myself was a nice way to focus the blame where it belonged, but it did nothing to assuage the guilt I felt at the words that had come out of my mouth.
Words I knew damn well I didn't mean.
I'd been sitting in the kitchen, staring at her door, which she pointedly slammed in my face three hours ago, for what felt like an eternity. There had been nothing but silence from her room, which I took to mean she was likely stewing, or sleeping off her anger. Trinity wouldn't indulge the crying jag most girls would jump right into after being insulted so bluntly.
I winced again.
I never in a thousand years wanted to hurt her. She meant more to me than my own sister ever did, and yet I put that falsehood out there like that and cut her because I felt off-balance. Because I didn't like the feelings I refused to process. Because I felt things I wasn't ready to feel for her, things I didn't want to feel, and no matter how much I fought against them, I couldn't stop them. I couldn't will them away, so I did the only thing I could think to make myself feel better, which was denying them to the one person at the source of their origin.
And it only hurt me in return twice as much as it must've hurt her.
Asher came home an hour later, and found me there, still staring at her door like some pining teenager with his first love.
"You okay over there, Sentry?"
Oh, so we were back to code names? He must've really been mad about the argument earlier. Considering it was over Trinity, I don't blame him.
"Yes,,I'm fine," I lied, knowing damn well I most definitely wasn't.
"Cool." His form threw shadows over my lap as he marched around the kitchen in search of food. "Do we not have anything to eat here that doesn't require an actual chef to make?"
"Chef?" Hawke slipped through the front door, gingerly taking his jacket off, careful not to drop any of the blood dripping from it on the floor. "Are you hungry? I could cook." His gaze flitted to Trinity's door, and he frowned. "She still in her room?"
"She's been in there pretty much the whole time you've been gone," I admitted, letting my gaze finally fall to the floor. On the counter beside me, my phone started to go off, but I ignored it, clearly uninterested in anyone or anything outside wallowing in my own regret right now.
"Your phone's going off," Asher supplied unhelpfully, as if I couldn't see and hear it right next to me.
"Yeah, I know, just leave it," I mumbled, my gaze now back on the door. Maybe I should go in and apologize. Maybe I should just man up and stop playing this game with myself. Maybe I should do what she said and get out there on the street and deal with this shit so she could go somewhere people would treat her better than we did.
Than I did.
I owed it to her and her brother to ensure that she could live the rest of her life in peace.
The ringing continued, and I hit the ignore button without even looking at the damn screen, too engrossed in my trainwreck of thoughts to bother.
The kitchen got crowded the second Hawke joined us in here, apron in hand, and a wicked grin on his lips. "Someone should go ask Tee-Bird if she wants something, too. I'll cook for everyone."
"Feeling charitable?" I eyed his hands, still coated in tiny dried flecks of someone else's blood. "Maybe wash your hands first, you animal."
His gaze dropped to his palms, and he swore. "Shit, yeah, you're right." His apron landed on my head as he rushed off to the sink and turned on the water, drowning out whatever Asher was busy saying to me.
Again, my phone went off, and okay, so maybe I was pissy, but if someone was trying that hard to get to me, I supposed I could answer it, but then the ringing stopped. And then it was no longer a problem, so I ignored it.
Just like I tried to ignore my feelings for Trinity McCoy.
