Chapter 7: Chapter 7

We decide to track down Natalie on the University of Halston campus.

It’s not exactly a small school, so I’m not sure how easy our search will be. But beyond having an assload of money, Theo can also be charming as fuck when he wants to be. We make a quick stop at the registrar’s office, where he manages to flirt his way into getting a complete list of Natalie’s classes this semester.

The middle-aged woman behind the desk lets out an audible sigh as he gives her one last crooked smile and heads back toward me and Ryland where we hover in the doorway.

“I think she just came,” I remark dryly as we make our way out of the office. “She’s probably sitting in a fucking puddle right now.”

Theo shoots me a look that brings back a rush of memories from this morning, and a small shiver works its way down my spine. I guess I shouldn’t make fun of that poor woman. She’s not the only one who’s affected by this man.

Using her schedule as our guide, we find the building where her third class of the day is being held and stand in a tight knot as we wait outside. I can feel tension gathering in the men standing on either side of me as we wait—and in myself too. By the time Natalie emerges from the building about ten minutes later, it feels like all three of us are spring-loaded.

Ryland steps forward the second he sees her, and his movement draws her attention. Her green eyes widen slightly, a hint of fear appearing in their depths. Then she pivots on her heel and begins to walk quickly in the other direction.

That’s a fucking mistake.

You don’t run from a predator. It only feeds their hunter’s instinct.

Ryland doesn’t even break stride. He picks up his pace, and Theo and I hurry to join him as he bears down on Natalie like a fucking runaway train.

She glances over her shoulder as she feels us approach, and I can see the bluster she’s trying to put on over her fear. Finally, she stops and whirls around to face us, lifting her chin defiantly.

“What do you wa—”

The words aren’t even all the way out of her mouth when Ryland reaches her. He still doesn’t stop, grabbing her arm in a vise-like grip and dragging her around the corner of a building. There’s no pathway that cuts between this building and the one beside it, so there’s no foot traffic coming through. He pulls her along for several more yards until we’re well away from any populated areas. Then he shoves her against the wall.

I don’t believe in violence.

Or, I didn’t.

But a lot has changed in my life since I met these men, and I can’t work up even a single ounce of dismay over Ryland’s rough treatment of Natalie.

She lets out a soft grunt as her back hits the side of the building, and when Ryland releases her, she straightens quickly, glaring at all three of us.

“What the fuck do you want?” She tosses her strawberry-blonde hair over her shoulder, her round face a mask of angry disdain. “If you mess with me, Carson—”

“Carson’s dead,” Theo says flatly.

Natalie blanches. In less than a second, the air of haughty annoyance drains from her, and her throat works as she swallows. “What?”

“You havin’ a hard time hearing?” Ryland narrows his eyes. “Your little sugar-daddy boyfriend is dead. So whatever protection you think he would’ve given you, don’t fucking count on it.”

Natalie’s jaw falls open a little. She licks her lips, her gaze shifting around between the three of us uneasily, as if she’s just now realized the kind of shit she got herself involved in when she hooked up with Carson.

I guess helping them drug and kidnap a girl wasn’t enough of a fucking hint for her.

“Who…” She licks her lips again. “Who killed him?”

“We’d love to know the answer to that question too.” Theo’s voice is hard. “So why don’t you tell us?”

Her eyes flare wide, panic bursting inside them like fireworks. “I don’t know!”

“Then what do you know?” Ryland growls. “What did he tell you? About his plan? About people he was working with? Tell us every fucking thing you can think of. Now.”

“I—” Natalie looks like she wants to argue or make some bitchy comment. But she cuts herself off, swallowing down her words as she shrinks back against the wall again.

It might’ve been satisfying to watch this, once. To see this about-face from the girl who’s taken such delight in tormenting me for no reason I’ve ever been able to figure out.

But a hole gapes in my chest, yawning wide and threatening to swallow me up.

This isn’t about some petty tit for tat. This is about actual, real things she did. Things that might’ve gotten someone I care about killed. I don’t care what Carson offered her, or how little she knew about what he intended. She’s complicit, no matter what.

“We hooked up a few weeks ago,” Natalie says quietly, her gaze dropping to the ground as she speaks. “He… things got intense really quickly. He bought me stuff and took me places I’d never been able to afford. He told me I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever—”

“Skip the dick sucking.” Ryland crosses his arms over his chest, glaring down at her. “Why did he rent you those two apartment units? What did he tell you about the fire?”

Natalie flushes, looking equal parts angry and terrified as she continues on.

“He rented the apartments so he could get close to her.” Her gaze barely flicks in my direction, but Theo steps closer to my side as if daring her to try something stupid. “He told me she was important to you guys, and that you guys had stolen from him. That you ripped off his family, and he was trying to get you back. He rented me another apartment—a nicer one, closer to campus—so that I’d have a place to live after…”

Her voice dies out. I get the feeling she doesn’t want to say the words, as if speaking them aloud will condemn her fully.

But it’s a little too late to play innocent.

“After he torched the place,” I finish for her, my voice like steel.

She shrugs. “Yeah.”

“And he offered you, what, more money to lure Ayla to the building once the fire started to spread?” Ryland demands. “Did you know he was going to drug her? That he and Dominic were willing to kill her if they didn’t get what they wanted?”

Alarm flashes across Natalie’s face, and she shakes her head. “What? No! I didn’t know that, I swear. Carson never mentioned killing anyone. He wasn’t like that. If anyone tried to kill her, it was probably that guy Dominic, or the other person Carson was working with.”

My heart lurches in my chest.

Other person?

Disregarding the fact that Natalie obviously doesn’t know shit about Carson if she doesn’t think he was capable of murder, I take a step forward, my body going tense.

“What other person?”

Her pale face twists into a frown as she darts a glance my way. “I don’t know.”

“Then how the fuck do you know there was another person?”

“I don’t!” Her lips curl, and she glares at me. “It’s not like he told me. I only met Dominic once or twice, and I never met anyone else. But I heard Carson on the phone a few times, speaking to someone else. From the way he was talking, I know it wasn’t Dominic.”

She huffs, managing to regain some of her superior tone despite the fear that still emanates from her like a thick aura. “You told me to tell you everything I know, so that’s what I did. God.”

Irritation prickles through me, but I ignore it, focusing on the words she just said.

Someone else was working with Carson and Dom. But they were either on the outskirts of the plan or played a role in it that I couldn’t see. Both during my captivity at the old house and later, when they drove us off the road in the warehouse district, I only ever remember seeing Dominic and Carson.

If there was a third person, who were they? Where were they?

And is there a chance they killed Carson?

It’s more likely than Marcus somehow regaining consciousness and shooting him.

“Give us something else,” Ryland says, stepping closer to Natalie as he lowers his voice. With his broad shoulders, tattoos, and almost-black hair, he’s intimidating even when he doesn’t want to be. But right now, he clearly does want to, and Natalie visibly quakes as she leans away from him.

“I don’t know anything else!” she blurts.

“Think of something.”

His voice is cool and even, but a threat hovers just below the surface of his words.

Natalie’s eyes dart back and forth as if she’s searching for a way out, and her breathing quickens as she shakes her head. “I don’t know. I don’t! He never used a name. I never heard his whole conversation, just little pieces. But he talked about the plan. Whoever the other person was, they knew about all of it.”

Ryland stays right where he is, looming over her as he stares at her with hard, unblinking eyes for a long moment. Then he nods and steps back, although his posture doesn’t relax at all.

He believes her.

So do I.

Natalie might be a bitch, but part of what makes her such a bitch is her selfishness. Telling us everything we want to hear would benefit her in this moment. Especially now that she knows Carson is dead, she’s got no reason to try to protect him. It’s possible she’s trying to cover up for Dominic and whoever else was involved to avoid their reprisal—but the more immediate threat is us.

If she had more dirt, she’d spill it.

And she already gave us something. Maybe Dominic wasn’t lying when he said he hadn’t killed Carson. Maybe it was this third player who did it.

“Look.” Natalie turns her attention to me, fixing me with a wide-eyed look. “I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have done it. But, I mean, come on. We do what we have to, right? We survive. You know that just like I do.”

My blood chills in my veins, numbing my whole body from the inside out as I blink at her.

No.

This fucking bitch didn’t just try to convince me that what she did was okay. That because she and I had shitty childhoods, that gives us the right to be shitty adults. That I would’ve gone along with it willingly if Marcus, Ryland, and Theo had come up with a plan to kidnap her and hold her hostage.

My heart thuds harder in my chest, crashing against my breastbone until it’s all I can feel.

Natalie lied to me. She betrayed me. She had a hand in every fucked up thing that happened over the weekend, and although she’s clearly afraid of Ryland and Theo, she’s not sorry.

Not even a little bit.

Fury explodes in my chest, flooding me with such pure rage that I literally see a wash of red in my vision for a second.

“Hold her.”

My voice doesn’t even sound like my own. It’s a deep-throated rasp, the only sound I can force past vocal chords that have gone as tense as the rest of me.

But neither Theo nor Ryland hesitate. The two men step forward in unison, each grabbing one of Natalie’s arms as they pin her against the wall.

Her green eyes flare wide with shock, and she struggles against their hold as it finally seems to dawn on her that these men aren’t the ones she should be most afraid of.

I am.

My fist flies out like a missile, cracking against her right cheek. Her head snaps to the side as a pained grunt spills from her lips, and I don’t wait for her to turn back to face me before I hit her again.

And again.

And again.

I haven’t been in a fist-fight since before I lost part of my right arm, so punching left-handed isn’t something I’ve perfected. But rage is a great substitute for skill.

And I have so much fucking rage.

My fist connects with her face over and over, a blur of movement punctuated by my harsh breaths and her grunts.

First, her cheek splits open.

Then my knuckles do.

But I still don’t stop.

I hit her because Marcus isn’t here, because he can’t do it. Because I don’t know if he would do it even if he were here. Because he’s a better person than she could ever hope to be, and because she took something from me that wasn’t hers to take.

Tears blur my vision. Pain shoots up my arm with every punch. My head pounds in time to the strikes of my fist as I let violence pour out of me until my knuckles are bruised and bloodied.

Finally, the torrent of movement slows. My arm feels like fucking lead, my hand hurts like a son of a bitch, and when I focus on Natalie, I hardly recognize her.

Her lip is split, blood smeared across her mouth. Her eyes are bloodshot, the right one swelling shut, and her head lolls as she sags between the two men.

Some semblance of rational thought pierces the haze of anger in my mind, and I realize how reckless I’m being. This is a bad fucking place to do something like this. We’re lucky she didn’t make too much noise or scream for help. We’re isolated, hidden in an out-of-the-way spot, but we’re still on a college campus.

I nod at Theo and Ryland, and they let go of her. She slides down the wall like a deflating balloon, landing hard on her ass as she groans. I step forward to stand over her as the two men frame me on either side.

“Look at me.” My voice is flat.

Hissing a pained breath, Natalie tilts her head up to meet my gaze, her face battered and swollen.

“Leave.” I flex my fingers, feeling the ache in my knuckles and the pain that travels all the way up my arm. “Go to whatever city you like. Fuck whatever men you like, and let them buy you whatever the fuck they think you’re worth. But if you ever come back to Halston, I’ll kill you.”