Page 50 of Ends of Being

I hesitate for a moment, and hot tears run down my face as I whisper, “Let me go.”

And then I run.

Chapter Nineteen

Dare

Iremainkneelingonthe cold floor for a long moment after she leaves.

My first inclination is to follow, to chase her down, and force her to submit to me. However, the more rational side of me understands that this would be a mistake, so I let her run from me.

I’m still kneeling there when the door opens, and I look up to see Tony walking toward me.

He stops a few feet from me, his hands on his hips as he asks, “Is that it, then?”

I glare at him. “Is what it?”

He glares back at me. “Are you gonna let her go?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

He shrugs. “Don’t you know the old adage, if you love someone, let them go? Is that what you’re gonna do?”

I scoff at him, rising to my feet and stripping the rest of my clothes off of me. “I think you know the answer to that.”

He shrugs again. “I think I do, but with her, I’m never entirely sure. By the way you were in here sulking on your knees, it looked to me like you were just going to set her free.”

I scowl at him, standing there completely bare-ass naked, covered in dried blood and other bodily fluids. “Not a fucking chance. You know I don’t do that whole set-them-free bullshit. She can run if she chooses to, but that’s only so I can hunt her down and shackle her to me for eternity.”

He raises his brows at me. “Shackle, huh? Do you mean that figuratively or literally?”

I snort as I walk over to the shower, turning the water on and getting under the spray while the water is still cold. “Both.”

He doesn’t say anything for so long that I finally turn my head to look at him and see he’s just standing there staring at me, so I ask, “Is there something else you want, Tony? Or are you going to just stand there and ogle me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m just waiting to find out what’s next. I also need to know if we’re removing that tracking device from her or not?”

I nod. “Lilith said she’s going to handle that. She’s got some kind of plan that we’ll discuss soon.”

Tony’s eyes light up at the mention of Lilith, and I can’t help but shake my head and chuckle at his obvious interest in our deranged colleague. “You probably should stay away from her, man.”

He looks at me like I’m crazy. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I roll my eyes. “Seriously? You get excited every time her name is mentioned. Your interest in her outside the job is blatantly obvious.”

“Maybe I do, but it doesn’t matter either way until our current situation has been resolved. You know I’ll keep my head in the game.”

I nod, remaining silent as I finish scrubbing the blood from my skin, washing it out of my hair. I turn the water off and grab a towel out of the cupboard to dry myself off while I walk over to a locker to grab some clothes. I put on sweatpants and a T-shirt, then grab some socks and trainers from the shelf.

When I turn around, Tony has made himself useful by collecting the bloody garments from the floor and putting them in a trash bag. He looks at me and says, “I called the cleanup crew to disinfect this room again.”

I like how he says “again.” Seems like every time I turn around, I’m having to wash some kind of blood and guts off me, and we’re having to call in the cleanup crew to remove all traces of possible evidence. It costs a fucking fortune, but it’s entirely worth it, given I can rest assured that I don’t have to worry about anyone ever finding traces of anything here.

I nod my head in thanks, then the two of us walk out of the room and head toward the back stairs that lead to the main living area. I pause at the bottom while Tony detours quickly to the incinerator, where he tosses the plastic bag in along with his gloves. He swings the door shut and locks it, then presses the button, waiting for it to kick on before returning, and we continue up the stairs.

Matt is waiting for us in the living room, sitting on the couch with a mineral water in his hand, and I have to laugh at the fact he’s not drinking something much stronger. I stop at the bar and grab myself my own bottle, flashing it at Tony, who nods to grab him one as well. I take the two bottles over to the living area, handing Tony his drink, and we all sit there together, sipping our mineral water in silence for a few minutes before Matt breaks the silence. “So, what’s the plan, Dare?”

I can feel my muscles finally starting to loosen. I’m kind of tense, and it’s time to shake it off. I sink back into the couch as I reply, “Lilith has a few things that she needs to handle and then we’ll step in from there.”

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