Present
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘IT’S over’? Who is he?” I was so confused. So utterly helpless.
Violet remained tongue-tied and speechless.
Lennox, on the other hand, forgot about the needle and searched for the nearest escape route.
Unfortunately, Denver—whoever he was—was one step ahead, having most likely guessed Lennox would try to run for the hills. “Not so fucking fast,” he warned. He had a tight grip on Lennox’s wrist, and even though he wasn’t much bigger than Lennox, he was stronger.
“Dude, calm down.” Lennox chuckled, pretending he wasn’t shitting a brick. Or maybe years of poisoning his brain cells made him unresponsive to the situation.
“Calm down?” A humorous smirk painted Denver’s lips but it was quickly replaced by something far more malicious. “How about fuck you!” Denver twisted his arm high against his back. His elbow pressed into his spine, his shoulder practically bulging out of the socket.
“Fuck!” Lennox yelled as he bent over in pain. “Let go! Stop! Please!”
Guess that got his attention.
Denver loosened his grip, but didn’t let go of Lennox. Growling, he leaned into his ear and repeated, “Where’s the fucking money?”
I could only watch in silence, my wide eyes shooting between the two tangled men and Violet. When I finally caught her attention she simply shook her head. The simple action told me Lennox couldn’t pay.
“I don’t have it,” he finally admitted with a cowardly whine.
I readied myself for the beat down Lennox was about to receive from a very angry Denver. I was still without an explanation as to who exactly this guy was, but Lennox was a junkie; I didn’t need an introduction to surmise Denver was the drug dealer. It was no surprise that the junkie’s habit had exceeded what his funds permitted.
But Denver didn’t do anything to Lennox. Rather than throw a punch or push him to the ground, Denver released Lennox and spun around to pin his heated gaze on a trembling Violet. “If he can’t pay up, you will. We’ve been over this before, sugar.” He slithered closer, causing Violet to back up against the wall behind her. His hand reached up to caress her cheek and when he made contact, she shuddered. What looked like a tender touch soon turned into something vicious as Denver jammed her into the wall with his hand clutching her throat. “This time I’m gonna need more than your sweet pussy as a deposit. In fact, no more Mr. Nice Guy. Time to pay in full.”
“Stop!” I yelled instinctively when he squeezed tighter and brought his other hand up to strike her. I had to do something because Lennox surely wasn’t. He was a statue, eyeing the exchange between Denver and Violet as if it was some twisted routine he was accustomed to.
“Don’t.” Violet warned me through a strangled whisper. She was calm beneath Denver’s grip, which made me think he wasn’t as much of a threat as he wanted us to believe. But the situation was still a mess and I wouldn’t watch on as some low-life laid his hands on my sister. Not again.
Lennox glanced my way as Denver warned, “Yeah, don’t. Wrong place, wrong time, pretty thing. I’d hate to involve you, too.”
My eyes narrowed on the sight before me—Denver pressing himself against Violet, her eyes closed, her body stiff, her hands at her sides in defeat. Think, Eden, think! It seemed there was only one way out of this. “How much does he owe you?”
Three pair of eyes gaped at me. Violet’s were full of tears. Lennox’s were full of confusion. And Denver’s . . . they were bursting with hunger.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” It was so cliché, so expected, I shouldn’t have been surprised by Denver’s sudden interest in me. “Or should I say, who?”
He strutted my way, his chin-length hair falling limp but parted perfectly down the center of his scalp. His eyes were an odd color—a hint of purple, some gold, with a chestnutty brown base. A slim but defined body was cloaked in a fitted white V-neck T-shirt and worn denim Levi’s. I couldn’t help but wonder why this good-looking guy was dealing dope when his image screamed sexy rock star. Maybe it was my PR instinct getting the better of me, but either way, he was coming closer and I knew all too well that looks could be deceiving. Hot or not, this dude was as sinister as the creepy drug dealing bully in any after-school special.
“I’m Eden. Violet’s sister.” I spoke with my head held high as if this were some grand honor. It wasn’t, but Denver didn’t need to know that. Unless maybe he already did because those multi-colored eyes popped open to the size of overgrown peonies.
“No fucking way!” He scanned me from head to toe and then turned to Lennox and Violet for confirmation. “This is her? In the flesh?”
Violet simply nodded, and Lennox—well, he was finally doing something other than standing there like a spaced out derelict. Denver’s interest in me clearly garnered a reaction because his hands balled into fists and his jaw ticked endlessly. “Leave her alone, D,” he finally barked, but there was no conviction behind his warning.
“Or what?”
Lennox didn’t respond.
“That’s what I thought. Now, shut the fuck up.” Denver dismissed the weak warning and strode within an inch of me. The toes of our shoes touched and I looked down at them so as not to make eye contact. What was it they said about engaging vicious animals with eye contact? Yeah, whatever it was, I wasn’t about to make that mistake and show him just how shaken I was underneath my composed façade.
“You are a pretty thing,” he hissed, lifting my chin with his finger. I obliged but still hadn’t brought my eyes to his. “So you’re the chick he cries over when he’s too drunk to know what he’s carrying on about? The one who got away. His dream girl. Must be something special.”
Lennox sprang forward but Violet blocked him from making matters worse.
“Enough, Denver! Leave her alone. This has nothing to do with her.” Violet found courage I had no idea she possessed.
Denver shook his head and smirked. “Dead wrong, sugar. She’s got everything to do with this. She’s leverage.” He licked his lips as he said the word, dipping down to sniff my neck. I shuddered at the proximity of the sleazeball but thought better of kneeing him in the groin. I had no idea if he was carrying a weapon or just how determined he was to prove a point.
“How much?” I asked again, this time craning my neck but viewing him from the corner of my eye.
“Well, that depends. Your pussy as worn out as hers or are you nice and tight from saving yourself in hopes you’ll rekindle with lover boy?” My body tensed when his strong hand cupped my sex over my jeans. I should have reacted; a stiff nudge to the balls would’ve given me room to escape, but the weight of our vile circumstances and the fact I knew nothing about Denver’s abilities froze me still. A blinked my tears away, wondering what the hell my sister had gotten me into. Just when I was about to give up all hope and surrender to whatever it was Denver was asking for, he was pulled off me.
“Get the fuck off her! Don’t you ever touch her again.” Lennox wailed on Denver from behind, knocking him over and over again in the temples. At first, Denver stood firm but when Lennox kicked him in the back of the knees, he fell to the ground, giving Lennox the upper hand.
“I told you to leave her the fuck alone,” Lennox seethed, crouching over Denver and breathing heavily.
“And I told you to pay up. You just made a big fucking mistake, Lennox. This isn’t over.”
“It is for now. I’ll get you what I owe you first thing tomorrow. You crossed the line just now. My debts have nothing to do with Eden.”
I totally disagreed with that statement. Lennox was indebted to me in many ways, and this was only one of them. I was all the more wounded that he and Violet had found a way to drag me into this mess with them.
With Denver still on the ground caged between Lennox’s legs, Violet ran to Lennox and placed her hands on his heaving shoulders. “Let’s get out of here before it’s too late, baby.”
I felt the slightest amount of pity for her when she first called me for help. My compassion increased some when I initially laid eyes on her and realized how horrible the last three years had treated her. It grew exponentially when I caught William beating on her. But seeing how foolish she was when it came to Lennox—there was nothing that reaped more sympathy than that. Here she stood, backing up a man who didn’t so much as blink while another man groped and teased the woman he supposedly called his own. It was apparent she’d paid his liabilities on more than one occasion and it sickened me. She whored herself out to prove her loyalty to a man who knew nothing about what that meant. And not only did he let it happen, but he proved he never really loved her by coming to my rescue instead of hers. She had to be dying inside, and I had no words for how dirty this whole thing made me feel.
I didn’t have long to bathe in that filth, though, because Denver was staggering to his feet while Violet and Lennox remained huddled. They didn’t seem scathed in the least, which added another dose of crazy to the pile of insanity that had just taken place. I, on the other hand, was immediately defensive, looking for a chance to run. It helped that Denver was in no physical state to harm any of us. It seemed Lennox bought himself some time, but I was sure it was running out quickly.
I reluctantly joined Violet and Lennox—strength in numbers—and cowered when Denver came closer.
“I’m not a total monster,” Denver growled like a mad dog, ironically, as he steadied himself. “But I am a business man and I’ve been screwed for the last time. I’ll give your man one last chance to pay his dues, but if I don’t get the five grand he owes me by eight a.m. tomorrow, I will be collecting one way or another.” His serpent-like stare mauled my body, making my insides flip flop with nausea.
After that, by some small miracle, Denver left without further warning or attack. Lennox didn’t so much as offer an apology, which was a very good thing. Regardless of the fact he saved me from the evil clutches of Denver the Drug Dealer, I was enraged that he risked our lives this way.
I breathed in and out in meditative succession, holding back from releasing every last ounce of hatred I felt for these two sorry human beings.
Violet, sensing how distraught I was, came closer and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Are you okay?”
Was she serious? Was I okay? I just underwent the most dangerous encounter of my life and that was all she could offer me? A flood of emotions overwhelmed me, escaping in a long, exhausting bout of shrill cries. “No, Violet! I’m not okay! I didn’t sign up for this. I didn’t sign up for any of this. I hate you both and I never want to see either of you again!”
The moment was as dark and helpless as my heart. I was done. In way over my head. I couldn’t fix this or Lennox and I wanted out of here for good.
But no matter how hard I tried to walk away, no matter what I did to convince myself this was their hell, not mine, I was inexplicably drawn to the two lost souls before me, in desperate need of righting things before it cost them their lives and they haunted me for the rest of eternity.
“Both of you. Get in the car. I’m taking him home to sleep this shit off, then first thing tomorrow we’re checking him into rehab.”
“But what about Denver?” Lennox asked, a little boy in need of guidance.
“There’s clearly a lot to discuss and less than twenty-four hours to figure it out. Get your ass in the car and stop asking questions. I’m the only one entitled to them from here on out.”