Page 17 of Striker

“I'll climb up there and try to get to Riley. All you need to do is keep an eye out. Maybe I can talk some sense into her, tell her we're going to bust her out of this place and get her free."

She nods. "Thanks, Dani."

"What are friends for?" I reply with a smile.

Then, fear in my heart — because I'm climbing a trellis in the backyard of a Mafia mansion to sneak my way to a crime boss's fiance — I put both hands and a trepidatious foot upon the trellis. It holds.

I climb.

Step after step, slowly, for fear of making any noise and drawing attention to us, I climb.

This is insanity, but I have to do it.

At the top, I hesitate at the window. It's just beside the trellis, and to see inside, I'll have to lean over and put my face in full view of the window and anyone in there.

Here goes nothing. And everything.

I lean over and look inside.

And immediately have to fight to suppress a wail at what I see. The only thing that gives me the strength to keep quiet is knowing how my reaction would hurt my best friend..

Inside is Riley. She’s disheveled, looking so much older than someone as youthful as she should look; hair a mess, face gray, shoulders slumped, and hands shaking. She's not alone. Michael's with her. For as ugly as he is on the inside, on the outside, Michael Vertucci is strikingly handsome; sharp features, thick, dark hair swept back, eyes like razors, shining white teeth, and a muscular body that's shown off perfectly by his immaculately tailored suit. He oozes criminal charm and menacing seduction.

Beside him stands another man, tall and imposing, with a hawkish nose and deep-set eyes that often seem to scan the room for threats.

I pull back for a moment, scared at being seen, then peer through the window again when I realize all the man's attention is on Michael and Riley.

I can't hear what's going on between them, but I can tell from Michael's commanding, jagged gestures that he's less than happy with Riley, and Riley is emphatically piteous in her reaction — pulling at her hair, dropping to her knees, throwing her arms wide. I want to throw open the window and hug her, if only to save her from acting so pathetic.

Then she nods. Acquiesces to some silent demand.

And Michael suddenly changes; he's all slick smiles and laughter. He pulls Riley into his arms, kisses her cheeks, and pulls from the pocket of his pants a small baggie containing a clutch of white pills.

They go into Riley's greedy grasp, get ground into a powder against the grainy wood of her nightstand, and snorted.

Then a powder-nosed Riley turns from her nightstand to look at her watching groom, a lopsided and loving smile on her face. Arms outstretched, she runs to him and plants a kiss on his smirking cheek.

I look down at my best friend and, without saying it, give her the message. She responds with a silent wail that rips my heart in two.

We have our work cut out for us.

Because Riley is deep down the well of addiction, and it's going to take everything that Morgan and I have to save her from Michael's sick clutches.

"I'll be in my room. We'll talk alter," Morgan says when I get to the bottom. “I need time to think. This is… this hurts.”

It's just as well. I don't really know what to say to my best friend, other than saying, "I love you, and we'll figure this out," which is what I whisper after her as I watch her walk away.

Hope sits dead and heavy in my stomach as I walk across the grounds and to my room. My mind is spinning; there's so much I wanted to do here. So many small, momentous things I'd hoped to share with Owen. I’d wanted to get to know him in a way I've never known him before. Maybe I could’ve even deluded myself into believing that this relationship we're faking could someday be something real.

Now, I can't have any of that.

Now, I have to focus everything I have on supporting my best friend and helping her rescue her sister.

Now, I have to be strong.

No distractions. Nothing can break my focus on what I have to do for Morgan and Riley.

"We have a big problem," Owen says the moment I step through the door.

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