Page 79 of Insatiable

He slows down, then stops at a set of traffic lights. “You should’ve got into the car when I told you to the first time. Now they know your name.”

I don’t reply – I just stare out the window.

The lights from shops and lampposts merge into one blazing colour. My eyes sting, but I keep staring out the window, unable to take in anything he’s saying.

He’s not happy. He’s complaining, but I ignore him, which pisses him off even more.

I’m not sure what he was expecting, taking me into a building full of people like that.

The sun is rising in the distance, but as beautiful as the orange and yellow hues are, I can’t focus. I try to close my eyes and sleep.

My hands are still trembling, and I keep seeing the man’s body dropping to the ground every time I close my eyes. I hear the sound the gun made when he pulled the trigger and feel the way my heart stopped when I witnessed someone being murdered. I remember the way Crawley and his men looked at me – Kade’s whore.

I’ve witnessed Chris beating the shit out of people, watched illegal cage fights and people being bottled and stabbed to injure. But not death. Not murder.

Kade could get arrested and jailed for a long, long time.

“Get out of your head.”

Screw you.

We arrive at the hotel. He takes our bags to reception and asks for a room.

“Two rooms.”

His striking silvery-blue eyes are on me, but I block him out. I need space, and the last thing I need is to be around Kade when part of me fears him.

“Two?” the lady repeats, watching Kade. Thankfully she hasn’t noticed the blood on my face.

A nod, and he sighs. “Yeah.”

He pays for both rooms then thanks the woman. The elevator takes a few moments to arrive, and he scans a card to take us to the eleventh floor.

My room is across from his. He unlocks my door, and I push it open and head inside. He follows me, setting my bag and suitcase next to the bed.

“I have work to do,” he says. “Will you be okay?”

No. “Yes,” I reply, keeping my eyes on the red carpet. It’s almost the same colour as the blood that puddled at my feet. “Please leave. I’ll get an Uber to Luciella later.”

“Look at me.”

I shake my head.

Kade stands in the doorway, tapping the top of the frame. I flinch as he goes to step forward, and he freezes.

“Don’t be afraid of me, Freckles. Sometimes people need to change to survive.”

I stare at my fingers, twisting them together. “What language was that you spoke?”

He runs his thumb across the seam of his lips, a freshly rolled joint at the back of his ear. “Russian.”

I nod, unable to ask anything else.

He waits a long minute before he leaves, the door closing with a delicate click. I don’t hear him opening his own room door, but I do hear his footfalls growing quieter as I head to the bathroom and fill the sink.

Washing the blood off my face takes a few minutes. Then I tug my dress from my shaken body and stare at my exhausted, distraught reflection.

There’s no light in my eyes, only tears for the boy I once knew.

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