Page 50 of 1 Last Shot

"You really thought I wouldn't find out, didn't you," she says with a cold laugh. "Well, let me tell you something: you're not as hard to figure out as you think you are. If I'm stupid, you're right there with me. Because I knowexactlywhere you're living."

Fuck.

Fuck.

I thought leaving the city would be enough to lose her. I wasn’t exactly hiding from her, or at least not so much that a little Internet research couldn’t find me, but I really thought she'd never leave Baltimore, not even to abuse and dry up her own kid. I should've known her desperation and cruelty know no bounds.

“I saw a fight poster for your last fight,” she says with a cruel laugh, just to drive the stake in a little harder. “Your opponent was from your old gym in Baltimore, remember? Your face was plastered all over your old stomping grounds down here.That’show easy it was to follow you to Philly and your new gym.”

"What do you want?" I repeat. "I don't have anything for you. I'm just as stuck in the dumps as you are. It wouldn't be worth it to come up here."

"Bullshit," she snarls. "You've got a nice, cushy job now. I bet that club pays well. It has to, if you've got your own apartment in a good area of the city. Although, I'm sure it helps that you're funneling drugs and sex through the dancers. Isn't that right, Kane?"

For a moment, I can only blink in shock. "I… what? What're you talking about? I don't do that shit.Theydon't do that shit. The club's clean."

She laughs, the sound a dark, disturbed sound. And all I want to do is slam the phone down and crack it into a million pieces.

"Are you sure about that?" she asks. "What if someone slipped it to your boss that you were doing both of those things? Does he trust you enough to believe you if you deny it? Doesanyonetrust you enough to believe you?"

Godfuckingdamnit. I'm so fucking sick of living like this. Of being threatened, both physically and where my home and well-being are concerned. I want away from this fucking life, from thisfear—

"Don't worry, I'm not coming up there anytime soon." Her words cut through my haze of thoughts. "I just wanted to make sure you understood that it works in your best interest to havemybest interests at heart. And that I might be calling you soon for that help." She pauses, and I half expect her to be doing it just to drag out the torture. "Be ready to help your poor mother, Kane. She's done so much for you in your life. The least you could do is help her in her time of need."

I don't respond. Ican't.

"Bye, baby. Enjoy your night."

Click.

I pull the phone away from my ear in stunned silence. And it doesn't feel like three years has passed since the last time I felt like this. It feels like it was only yesterday.

My brain feels frozen, my body moving on autopilot as I reach to turn the stove off. Suddenly, despite not eating all day, hunger is the last thing I'm feeling. Suddenly, the only thing I feel is thirst.

I reach for the bottle of vodka.

17

ISABELLA

I'm breaking in my new pointe shoes when I get the phone call.

"Hey, Hailey," I say cheerfully. "I was just about to text you. Are you coming to class tonight?”

“Um, no,” I hear, and right away I can tell there’s something off in her voice.

I straighten. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

She pauses, and in the quiet, I can hear raised voices and loud thuds in the background. Now I’m panicked and about to repeat the question louder, but before I get the chance, she asks, “Have you talked to Kane recently?”

Hearing his name in the context of whatever chaos is going on around her immediately chills my blood.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” I tell her. “What’s going on? Just tell me.”

Another pause. “Kane’s kind of freaking out at the gym right now. No one knows what set him off, and Coach isn’t here, and Tristan and Jax can’t seem to calm him down. He’s about to hurt himself with how hard he’s going. I figured if anyone would know anything, it would be you.”

I wrack my brain for something, anything, to explain a Kane freakout. God knows I’ve seen him edgy and violent, but I’ve never actually seen him snap—I have no idea what would set him off.

"He hasn't said anything to me," I finally respond. "I don't know why he'd be freaking out."

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