I hadn’t shown my own family loyalty at all. “What do you want me to do?”
“Is that a yes?” he asked quietly.
“Yes.” I turned back to the board and moved my piece.
He was quiet for a while. “I thought you might be hesitant.”
“Not at all.” I raised my head and met his look. “He lied to me from the beginning. He chose to hurt me instead of doing the right thing. He chose himself over me. He’s selfish…and worthless. I don’t owe him anything.”
Damien gave me a look of approval. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“So, what do you want me to do?”
He grabbed a piece and moved it. “I want you to ask him to come to your apartment to talk. I’ll be there—and take him out.”
“You’re going to kill him?” I asked, my voice changing slightly.
“No.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“He put you in a cage. I’m going to do the same to him.”
I saw the rage in his eyes as I stared at him. “He didn’t mistreat me while I was in there—”
“But he mistreated you the second he fucked you.”
My eyes dropped to the board. “He may not come.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” he asked. “He offered to outlaw every other drug dealer in the country and give me an undisputed monopoly if I declared a truce. Trust me, if you call, he’ll come.”
“But he might be suspicious.”
“That’s fine. Won’t change anything.”
I considered my next move while thinking about the plan Damien had just laid out.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
I looked at him again, thinking about my father, my brother, and myself. Heath was poison, poison that would kill us all if he wasn’t dealt with. “Yes.”
I stood at my kitchen counter and stared at the screen of my phone. Heath’s name stared back at me. When’d he originally put it into my phone, I didn’t know his name, so he listed it under Skull King. I’d changed it later.
I hit the button and held it to my ear.
It rang only once.
He picked up instantly, just as he’d promised. But he didn’t say anything.
I was quiet, listening to the subtle sounds of movement in the background, like he was doing something in his kitchen. “Are you there?”
His deep voice came back to me instantly. “Wasn’t sure if you meant to call me.”
“I don’t do anything unless I mean to do it.” It was hard just to hear his voice, to imagine that voice ordering his men to slaughter my father while my brother had to listen over the line.
“Then how can I help you?” His voice quieted, turning restrained, like there was much more he wanted to say, but he forced himself to keep his mouth shut.
I wasn’t sure if I could sound convincing when I was this angry, but I tried anyway. “I want to talk…”
He was quiet. “I’m listening.”
“I want to talk in person.”
“You know where to find me.”
“I want you to come here.”
He was quiet again, this time longer. “You always let yourself into my home whenever you want to speak to me.”
“That was when we were together. We aren’t together anymore, Heath. I don’t have your new codes anyway.”
“You do,” he responded. “I never changed them.”
So, I could have had Damien ambush him there. “Well, I’d rather you come here.”
He didn’t say anything. The silence went on so long it seemed like he’d disconnected the call. “You’re setting me up.”
My heart skipped a beat when he figured it out, outsmarting me without even trying. “No…” My own response wasn’t believable, even to me.
“Baby, you’re smart—but not smarter than the Skull King.”
I looked at Damien, giving him a defeated expression. My plan had backfired, and now he knew he could never trust me. I was no longer useful.
“But I’ll still come—if you give me something.”
I stilled at his words, staring at my front door.
“I’ll hand myself over…if you let me hold you.”
I couldn’t believe the request, couldn’t believe he even wanted to touch me after what I’d just conspired to do.
“One minute,” he whispered. “That’s how long I want to hold you. Then I’ll surrender—peacefully.”
Why would he just give up like that? “You’re tricking me.”
“No. I would never trick you, baby.”
“Really?” I asked sarcastically. “That’s not what I remember…”
He processed the insult in silence. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. You better uphold your end of the deal.”
“You’re the liar, Heath. Not me.”
Click.
I dropped the phone and turned to my brother.
His expression was relaxed, like he’d heard the entire conversation from where he stood. “That was easy.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at the ground. “Yeah.”
“You think he’ll pull something?”
I wanted to say no, but I had to remind myself that I hardly knew this man, that the man I remembered wasn’t who he was. “I don’t know. This is the Skull King we’re talking about.”
“He knows I’m going to kill him. So why would he do this?”
I shrugged. “He said he would never hurt you—because of me. Maybe he thinks this is the only way.”
“He could run.”
I shrugged again. “I really don’t know, Damien. And we won’t know until he gets here.”
His footsteps announced his presence. His shoes made the weak floorboards creak from his heavy weight as he came closer. When he stopped altogether, the doorknob turned, as if he expected it to be unlocked without checking.
Then he came inside.
Damien stood in the living room with two of his men.
But Heath didn’t look at them. He shut the door behind himself—and only stared at me.
My arms were still crossed over my chest as I leaned against the kitchen island, staring at the blue eyes that used to watch me sleep every night. It was hard not to look at him and feel that rush of anger, feel the betrayal all over again.
He looked at me for a few seconds before he came closer.
I noticed his ring was gone.
With unblinking eyes, he stared at me as he approached, his heavy shoulders
