Page 60 of Bully's Darkness
Bria’s head whips around, eyes wide and searching mine. I exhale slowly, my lungs tight. “I don’t know for sure.” But I do. Deep down, I do.
She gasps. “That’s how he knows where you are all the time.”
“I’m gonna scan the rooms,” Whizz says. “And I need your mobile.”
I hand it over, palms clammy. He plugs it into his laptop and starts moving through the room, scanning light fittings, behind frames, every crevice.
Bria disappears to get dressed, leaving me alone with Bully.
He gestures to a paper bag on the table. “Breakfast.”
I blink. “Thanks.” It’s the first time he’s brought me anything like that. When I peek inside and see two vanilla croissants, something in my chest squeezes. “I love these,” I murmur.
His gaze flickers. “I know.”
Whizz moves into the kitchen, and Bully sits down. “Sit with me,” he says firmly, and I lower onto the couch. I pull off a piece of pastry, chewing slowly. I’m too on-edge to enjoy it. “I gave Whizz your old phone,” he says. “There was an app installed. It was listening in to you.”
I freeze. “What kind of app?”
“Something to monitor your mic. We think he put it there.”
“But . . . he never had my phone,” I say, heart pounding.
“Not that you knew of,” he says cautiously. “But he could’ve come in here while you were asleep.”
My blood runs cold. The croissant drops from my hand and back into the bag. My appetite vanishes. “Is that what you really think?” My voice cracks. He nods, just once. I gasp and cover my mouth, bile rising in my throat. “He was in my home?”
“It was installed a week before I got out of prison. That’s how he knew.”
“No. No, it’s public. Anyone could’ve found that information out,” I argue, but even I can hear the weakness in my voice.
“We kept it off the radar. Even my solicitor made sure no one knew.”
A low groan escapes me. “He came into my house,” I whisper. My voice barely exists. The tears I’ve been holding back burn at the corners of my eyes.
“I’ve spoken to security. They understand now. Dagger won’t get in again.”
I scoff bitterly. “Don’t pretend that means anything. Not with him.”
I glance up and see Bria in the doorway. Her ghostly expression tells me she heard every word. “We can go to the clubhouse, right?” she says. “It makes sense.”
She’s not wrong. Of course, it makes sense.
“No.” My voice is firmer than I feel. “We have to stand on our own two feet.”
“Bria’s right,” Bully says. “You’ll be safer at the club until this is over.”
I shoot to my feet. “And how exactly do you plan to end it?”
He rises too, his expression unreadable. “The details don’t matter. Itwillbe handled.”
But his calm doesn’t settle me. It terrifies me more.
Chapter Seventeen
Bully
There’s a steely glint in Liv’s eye, and I know she’s not gonna back down on this. I could force her, drag her to the club kicking and screaming. And I’d do that just to know she’s safe. But something inside is begging me to do it differently this time. To listen to her and respect her decision. Our intense stare-off is interrupted when Whizz reappears, holding up a listening device.
