Page 25 of The Complete Truth Duet
Finally, he stopped his assault on inanimate objects and shot me a glare. “I need you to do this.”
I needed a lobotomy. “I can’t and you know it.”
And then, as though he were flicking a match into a puddle of gasoline, he announced, “Word is Marcos usually stops by a day or two after shit goes down. Roughs her up. Little reminder to keep her girls in check.”
Visceral fury ignited inside me.
She’d been sporting a bruised cheek. This should not have been a shocker.
But try telling that to my roaring body.
My heart thundered.
My lungs seized.
My mind screamed.
And, this time, it was Cora’s voice begging, “Penn, please.”
One in. One out.
One in. One… “No one touches her.”
Drew’s lips lifted into a sinister smile. “Now you’re talking. We’ll switch shifts keeping an eye on her.”
I nodded.
And, goddamn it, fuck me seven ways to Sunday—she wasn’t even in the room, but as my heart slowed and my anger evaporated, I felt the warm curl of that woman sinking deeper under my skin.
Cora
“No. Dante, please. It’s not her fault!”
I was in a cold sweat when I jolted awake to the sound of my ringing phone. I had no idea what time it was or when I’d fallen asleep, but the overwhelming terror I’d felt in my nightmare while watching Dante drag River away from me had followed me into consciousness.
It had been twenty-four hours since we’d lost Angela. My chest still ached and my mind was still a swirling mess. But, much to my surprise, none of the Guerreros had shown up to issue their personal brand of punishment—yet. They would. Eventually. Of that much I was sure.
I just had to be ready when they did.
“It was a dream,” I told myself, blindly slapping around on the nightstand until I found the offending device. “Hello,” I croaked.
It was Mindi from the second floor. “Hey, Cor, I’m home.”
“Good. What about Jennifer?” I had finally memorized the new girl’s name.
The line went silent.
Squeezing my eyes tight, I sent up a prayer that she was just checking Jennifer’s room, but when her response never came, I sat up with a groan. “Mindi?”
“I, uh… She didn’t text you?”
While the women on the first floor were free to come and go as they pleased, I required the girls on the second and third floors to text me when they got home as long it was before four a.m.. After that, they had to call. They sometimes forgot and I read them the Riot Act. And a mere twenty-four hours after losing Angela, I wasn’t cutting them any slack.
“No. She didn’t. Is she there?”
“She’s…um…in her room.”
I exhaled in relief and used my thumb and forefinger to rub my eyes. “Go wake her up and tell her to call me.”
“Okay. Give me a minute.”
Touching the end button on the screen, I stared up at the glowing stars Nic had once upon a time stuck to the ceiling above our bed. The crooked letters were created from the luminous points. When I’d moved after he died, I’d taken every single one of those stars with me, and when I’d been sentenced to a life in that apartment building, I’d re-adhered them with little balls of putty in the exact same design he’d once created. It wasn’t the same—but the sentiment was still there.
I could still hear his voice.
“You want the moon, Cora?” he’d said with a wicked grin, those dark eyes of his dancing in the moonlight. “Just say the word, and it’s yours.”
I’d smiled, the sweet intoxication of first love making me feel like I’d been floating. “I don’t care about the moon, Nic. I just want you…and maybe the stars.”
A single tear rolled down my face just as my phone started ringing.
I coughed to clear the emotion. “Hello?”
“Hey, Cor,” Jennifer said sadly.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, rolling out of bed. I was wearing my usual sleep uniform: panties and a thin camisole. Since my robe was up in smoke, I grabbed the quilt at the foot of the bed and draped it around my body, holding it tight with a hand at my chest.
“Nothing… I’m home. Sorry. I forgot to call.”
“Are you sure everything’s okay?” I pressed. Using my shoulder to hold the phone against my ear, I unlocked my door and headed down the hall, though I paused on my way out to test River and Savannah’s knob. Thankfully, it was locked.
“Yeah, positive. Mindi just woke me up—that’s all. Look, I’m going back to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” She hung up without so much as a goodbye.
Forget about the morning. She was going to see me in about, oh…one minute.
Three more locks and I swung my front door open…
And then promptly had a heart attack.
My phone went flying from my hand, skittering across the concrete, as a baleful silhouette rose to its feet across the breezeway. Blood roared in my ears as I took in his black sweatshirt, the hood pulled up to cover his head. From shape alone, I knew it wasn’t Dante or Marcos, but with only the moon serving as light, I couldn’t make out his face.
