After I walk out of Ron’s office, I meander over to the bar. Bree is working, her dark-haired Viking of a boyfriend, Declan, hovering nearby. He caught my interest, even as I was being dragged by earlier, but one look at his body language and you know he is a taken man. God that man is sex on a stick with his long hair and gigantic size. I hop up on one of the bar stools with a wistful sigh and Bree quickly makes her way to me.

“What’s your poison?” she says in a goofy voice and giggles. Declan laughs too like she’s the funniest person alive. I don’t know if I should say “aw” or vomit. Jealousy is a bitch. Especially when you’re jealous of an illusion. And that is what love is, an illusion. Something that lulls you into a false sense of security before dropping the bottom out on you.

“I don’t even give a shit, just give me something.” I should be nicer, but I just can’t find it in myself to care right now. I feel so out of my element. I’ve lived my life avoiding people, making myself forgettable, invisible. I’ve always thought I was some sort of a badass but now I feel like a scared little girl in a strange place. I’m used to being the hunter, here I feel like the prey.

“Are you old enough to drink?” Bree asks, her smile fades, a serious look replacing it.

“Of course I’m fucking not,” I answer curtly. What kind of shit is this?

“Bree, let her have a drink. If you’re old enough to kill someone, you’re old enough to have a drink,” Declan says coming to stand beside her. Well, that answers the question of whether everyone here knows who I am or not. He slings his giant arm over her shoulders, almost making her small frame completely disappear into his side. “And you, young lady,” he pauses to point at me, “need to watch your language, a pretty woman shouldn’t have a dirty mouth.”

“Why don’t you let me worry about my own fucking mouth.” I throw my hands up in the air. “I can say whatever I damn well want whenever I fucking want.” I fold my arms over my chest, casting a challenging glare.

“You are also a girl and should try to behave like one,” Declan retorts, pulling Bree closer to him, kissing the top of her head,

“Both of you cut it out!” Bree smacks Declan’s chest teasingly. “I’ll give her a drink, I just wanted to see if she would be honest about her age,” she says, starting to fill up a glass with a clear liquor.

“You’re really giving her straight vodka, babe?” Declan raises an eyebrow at Bree.

“It’s vodka o’clock,” Bree says, sliding an overflowing shot glass toward me.

I reach to grab it, but she taps the bar stopping me. She grabs another shot glass, filling it up just as much, and raises it to me.

“What should we toast to?” She doesn’t seem to be asking anyone specific.

“My sex life!” Someone shouts from behind me.

“Shut the fuck up, Jake!” Declan shouts back. “My brother is a tool,” he adds quietly, speaking directly to me.

Interesting.

“What about girl power or some vagina voodoo shit?” Declan says, earning a soft slug to his stomach from Bree.

“To killing people?” I say, giving them a wide grin.

I learned a long time ago to embrace the labels people assign you. If you wrap it around yourself like a security blanket, it can’t be used against you. I also want everyone in this room to know what they’re dealing with. They already think they’ve figured me out. I might be scared out of my mind but I’m never going to show it openly. At least this is what I tell myself even if I’m not so sure. Fuck it.

They both look nervous for a second and then shrug. Bree taps her glass against mine, tapping it twice on the bar before raising it to her lips. She makes a face, but I’m already committed, so I down mine quickly. God, it burns, like liquid fire sliding down my throat. I must have made the same awful face as Bree because Declan cracks up, walking away shaking his head.

“Don’t think you’re one of us or some shit now. And you should stay away from Bree, Boss won’t like it.” A gruff voice suddenly comes from my right.

Swiveling on the stool, I turn my body to face the sudden intruder. Jake.

“I think it’s going to be kind of hard to get a drink around here without talking to Bree.” I swallow the sudden lump in my throat and give him all the attitude I can muster. I’m not taking his shit.

Instead of getting snippy, he leans forward, a menacing look on his face. “Ron might think you’re cute, and you can play nice all you want, but I know you don’t give a shit about any of this.” He makes a show of waving his arm toward the room. “You don’t want to belong, you don’t know anything about loyalty. You aren’t going to be one of us. You.Are.Not.Wanted.Here.” I think he’s done talking but he just smirks before speaking again. “You’re just a stupid little girl who found something she thinks she’s good at, but when you met someone who could actually fight back, you rolled over like a bitch in heat.” He practically spits the words at me.

There is a second where I want to know why he seems to think Ron finds me cute, as ridiculous as that is, but my anger quickly overtakes it. I feel a brief flash of shame followed by rage. I don’t even think, my fist flying before my mind registers what my body is doing. It connects with Jake’s mouth, hard. So hard, his front teeth cut through his own lips and my knuckles. When I pull back, my hand is covered in blood, I can’t tell how much is from him or my own.

“YOU FUCKING BITCH!” Jake roars, lunging for me. I’ll give him credit, he didn’t even flinch, not even taking a second to wipe the blood dripping from this mouth. He takes me to the ground, the impact of his shoulder in my diaphragm sending all the air out of my body.

My body slams on the ground, Jake on top of me. I hear chairs sliding across wood as everyone jumps to their feet. I give him a wheezing, evil laugh despite the pain shooting up my spine from my earlier encounter with Ron.

“You’re going to have to do better than that, fuck boy.”

Once he has me down, I realize he isn’t going to hit me. He has a frustrated look on his face, I know he wants nothing more than to punch me right in my fucking face. I should be grateful it’s going to end at this, but I can’t help myself. I completely relax my body, going limp underneath him. He starts to pull back to look at me, and that’s the opening I need. I turn just enough toward my right side, bringing my left arm between us. I quickly bend that arm, sending a direct blow from my elbow to his temple. The first one startles him but isn’t enough to move him, so I do it again and again. Finally, he moves farther to the side trying to dodge my blows raising one arm to grab mine. I seize the opening, managing to roll out from underneath him before turning and launching myself at his back. I get him lowered to the ground pretty easily and I’m halfway into locking him in an armbar when someone pulls me back, by my hair. The pain in my head explodes all over again. Can I seriously go five minutes without someone pulling my hair today? I’ve never had my ass kicked so much in one night. At least not since that night.

“Get the fuck off him,” Ron growls, putting me in a Nelson hold and dragging me across the room.

I don’t make it easy for him, dragging my feet and spitting in Jake’s direction.

“I’m going to fucking kill her,” Jake says through gritted teeth, rising to his feet. The bottom half of his face is covered in blood, the commotion from our fight having smeared it to one side and down his neck and shirt. He looks like something out of a horror movie.

“You started it,” Declan says to his brother. There is a smirk on his face, but his eyes are full of concern.

“Don’t start your shit, Dec,” Jake says, his eyes darting to his brother, who has walked out from behind the bar.

“I’m sorry, did you say something? I was too busy enjoying you getting your ass handed to you by a girl,” Declan says, crossing his arms over his chest with a full on smile now.

I realize he’s trying to defuse the situation, despite his antagonizing. I don’t think it’s working judging by the hate-filled look Jake is still giving me. Jake doesn’t respond, he just gives Declan the finger before marching toward me.

“You touch her, you’re going to have to live with the consequences,” Ron says, his tone all business.

I don’t know exactly what Ron means by consequences but Jake hesitates before opening his mouth. “This isn’t over, cunt,” he hisses before giving me his back.

“I knew you were gonna be fuckin’ trouble,” Ron grumbles, releasing his hold and grabbing my arm.

I debate answering him. While there is something about Ron that just makes me want to keep my mouth shut, unfortunately, I’ve never been good at that.

“You like trouble,” I say, catching myself before I shoot him a flirty look too. What the fuck is wrong with me?

He drags me toward the bar, through a door I hadn’t noticed behind it, and into an empty kitchen. I start dragging my feet, not liking the idea of being alone with him in a room full of white, protective clothes. He is clearly pissed and this room looks like a slaughterhouse. He doesn’t stop though, just keeps marching until we’re at a back door. Then he jerks me to the right before we head up a set of fire escape stairs. I bang my shins on the metal steps trying to keep up with him and slow us down at the same time.

It isn’t long until we are standing in a dimly lit hallway lined with rooms that makes me think of an old apartment building. He marches to the end of the hallway until he reaches the last door on the right. I don’t miss the multiple locks on the door. He opens it and pulls me so hard I’m thrust in front of him.

“Welcome to your new home,” he says, releasing me as I fly back, my calves hitting something firm making me fall backward.

Instead of landing on the floor I land on a twin mattress and box spring, stacked on top of each other. I bring my hands behind me to rest on the tattered mattress, trying to keep my balance. There’s a thin pillow at the head of the bed and a sheet that has seen better days thrown on top of it. At least the fabric smells clean. The rest of the room is bare. There’s a small window with bars on it and a door that I’m thinking must be a closet.

“I’ll have someone bring you some food in a couple of hours. I suggest you rest because we have a lot to talk about later tonight,” Ron says before he nods to the other door in the room. “That’s the bathroom, I’ll work on getting you some clothes and supplies so you can shower.”

With that, he gives me one more hard look and leaves the room, slamming the door behind him. I hear the locks clicking into place, one by one, sealing me in. Honestly, I should be flattered he feels like he needs so many locks to keep me in one room.

I throw myself back on the mattress, my legs hanging off and my feet still resting on the floor. This was not how I saw my day going. I snort at the understatement. My humor goes away quickly: I’m a fucking prisoner and I think I just made a real enemy in Jake.

I refuse to cry as I adjust myself into a ball, my head resting on the pillow. My eyes close, the exhaustion from the day from hell kicking in as the adrenaline fades.