Alissa
“Well, you’re certainly not touching me.” I glared at Tony. “I’m sure you’d love a chance to stab me in the neck. Go get Logan and he can do it.”
To my utter shock, he laughed. I swear he sounded like a hyena, an evil cackle, accompanied by a flash of teeth, and that black stare that hinted at soullessness. “Don’t worry, puta, I don’t want to touch you in any way. Unless it’s to torture you.”
I used to watch the nature channel with my mother when I was a kid. A lot of wildlife shows about survival in the harsh African savannah. That was what Tony reminded me of—a hyena. Cold. Calculating. A merciless hunter. Hyenas had extra-large hearts that gave them a huge amount of stamina, which they used to wear their prey out, running them into the ground, before devouring them alive. That’s what Tony was to me. A hyena. A brutal, merciless beast. Inhumane. And I was a hapless antelope trying to outrun him.
I would never outrun him. But I could stand my ground and fight back.
I straightened my spine. “Stop calling me that. I’m not a whore!”
He remained leaning against the wall, his gaze never wavering from mine. “No? You’re not a nurse, either.”
I glowered at him. “Yes, I am. I have my nursing degree.”
He let out a loud harrumph. “You may have a nursing degree, but you’ve never been a nurse.”
I forced myself to hold his gaze. “I never got around to it. I made my money in other ways.”
“Like whoring?” he sneered.
Oooh! The man was such an asshole!
“No! I have never in my life accepted money for sex! I was a fashion and swimsuit model, okay?”
Tony studied me, his gaze intensifying. “Huh. A model? Really?”
I lifted my chin. “Yes.”
His gaze swept down my body and back up. This time there was no contempt in his eyes, just perusal. Consideration. I tried not to blush, but dammit, this man rattled me. His dislike of me had been apparent from the start. It was probably partially my fault for rubbing up against him like a prostitute. I was ashamed of my behavior now, but unfortunately, I couldn’t take it back. At the time, I’d only been thinking of protecting Sophia. And surviving. Thankfully, Nate’s too-big clothes hid my body from view now, though I was certain Tony—and all the other dregs—had gotten an eyeful earlier when I’d been wearing that revealing black dress.
Tony’s gaze came back to mine. “So, what happened to you, then, Miss Supermodel? Why are you so broken and beaten now?”
Heat flooded my cheeks. I lowered my gaze. How did he know I was broken? Was it that obvious?
“I don’t like to talk about it,” I whispered.
Tony was Nate’s best friend, his dreg partner, whatever that meant. They were obviously very close. And for some reason, Tony felt threatened by me. Why else was he such an asshole to me?
“Not talking about it doesn’t make it go away.”
I jerked my gaze back to his. Was he trying to offer advice now?
“Yeah, well, I’m not sharing it with you.”
He snorted and pushed away from the wall, his lips twitching with amusement. “I’ll go get Logan.”
He turned and strode out.
I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, and turned back to Nate. His eyes were open and he was watching me. I jolted, heat creeping into my face.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I’ll cut out the tracking device for you,” he offered quietly.
“You’re injured,” I protested. “You said your healing abilities are weakened if you’re wounded.”
“Injured,” he stressed, “not dead. And it won’t take much energy to numb the back of your neck for a few seconds. I can easily remove the tracking device for you. Just lay your head beside me and pull your hair back out of the way. Hand me an antiseptic wipe, a scalpel, and a Band-Aid, and I’ll have it out of you in no time.”
I would much rather have Nate touch me than anyone else, so I quickly did as he instructed. Hell, the thought of his hands on me in any way made my pulse race. I felt along the back of my neck to the area where I believed the tracking device was. “Right there,” I whispered.
I lay still while Nate numbed my neck with his hand, cleaned it with an antiseptic wipe, then gently removed the tiny tracking device. His breath tickled my neck, his fingers gently brushed my skin, making my heart pound with awareness. He dropped the device into my palm, then pressed the Band-Aid over the cut. It took all of thirty seconds or so.
“There you go. You’ll need to destroy it somehow.”
“Thanks.” I slowly sat up and turned back to him.
His gaze held mine, and I found myself lost in those beautiful green eyes. “Thank you for saving me, Alissa.”
I smiled and squeezed his hand. I was falling for this man. Hard. “Now we’re even.”
The apartment door opened and Tony returned with Logan. I hobbled over to Tony, wincing at the pain in my thigh, and dropped the tracking device into his hand. “Here you go, Asshole. It’s out. Now you can destroy it.”
Tony’s gaze darted from me to Nate. “You took it out for her?”
“Yeah, so you would leave her alone. Stop picking on her, Tony. She’s not the enemy here, or she wouldn’t have saved me. Now, go away. All of you. I need to sleep.”
Tony grunted in response, and we all turned to leave the room.
“Not you, Alissa,” Nate whispered, causing me to slowly turn around. “I want you to stay.”
He did? Pleasure swept through me. My heart beat kicked up. “Okay.”
Tony grunted again, loudly, then marched out of the room. The outer door slammed moments later.
Logan chuckled. “You’re doing great, Alissa. Don’t let Tony intimidate you, or he’ll just get worse and worse. If he senses weakness, he pounces. But if you stand up to him, he’ll eventually back off.”
Tony knew I was damaged inside. He’d commented on it. Was that why he was so rude to me?
“Thanks, Logan.” I appreciated the advice, but I honestly wasn’t sure if I could stand up to Tony for very long. He was a brute, and in a battle of wills, I had no doubt he would win.
Logan smiled and nodded, his shaggy hair falling into his eyes. Then he left.
I turned back to Nate. His eyes were closed now. Was he asleep? I hesitated, then leaned over him to check his wounds again. He didn’t stir. Right now he needed sleep, so he could recover.
I decided to leave him alone so he could rest. I left his bedroom and closed the door so I wouldn’t disturb him, then went into his living room area and turned on the television, keeping the volume low.
Settling back into the recliner, I let myself relax.
I would need to find somewhere else to go soon, even though I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay here with Nate. Forever. I wanted him to kiss me. To touch me. To hold me close like he had when he’d carried me in from his car earlier. I sighed dreamily as I thought of his powerful, muscular chest and how safe and secure I’d felt in his strong arms. I wanted to mean something to him. I wanted him to think I was special. I wanted him to want me. I wanted to be his girlfriend. His lover. His best friend. His everything.
Stupid, stupid girl. You don’t even know if Nate’s attracted to you.
Nate had already done so much more for me than I deserved. It would be wrong for me to assume I could just stay here with him indefinitely. But I wanted to. Oh, how I wanted to stay. Nate made me feel safe. Secure. For the first time in years.
Stop fantasizing. Nate’s a dreg. You don’t know anything about him.
I knew enough. And what I knew was all good.
Truthfully, I didn’t belong here. I wasn’t one of them. And if Tony had his way, I imagined he would make sure I was gone sooner rather than later. I didn’t want to come between Nate and Tony. But I couldn’t leave until I knew Nate would be okay.
The thought of leaving him was too painful, so pushed it from my mind.
I would just stay for a couple of days, and maybe, once he was better, he might ask me to stay.
I held on to that fantasy until I finally fell asleep.