want to close, so selfishly, I took out a loan to keep it open. I thought I was doing the right thing. Now I realize that I was wrong. Is that why Ethan didn’t come to me? Because he knew I couldn’t afford to help him? He has to know I would have done anything to save him, even if that meant selling the shop. He is the most important person in my life. He’s all I have left.
“April?” Derek comes up to our table with a big smile on his face, but it drops the moment he sees me. “What the hell happened to you?”
“I’m fine.” I wave him off, not in the mood to talk about it. I washed off the dried blood and what little makeup I had left, but I have a bruised face and cuts on my hands.
“April—”
“Bourbon,” I interrupt him, knowing a Corona isn’t going to cut it tonight.
“I’ll have what she’s having,” Grave speaks, and Derek looks over at him. His dark eyes narrow on him as if he just noticed I’m not alone.
Derek’s eyes run over Grave’s tatted up arm and neck. Then the piercings in his face. He is not impressed. “I thought I knew all of April’s friends.” He arches a dark brow.
“You do,” I announce. My words don’t offend Grave in the least. He leans back in the booth, places his arms out wide on the leather, and grins up at Derek.
“April, this is Grave,” he growls, his eyes growing as he realizes who the guy is next to me. “He owns a quarter of Kingdom—”
“I know,” I snap. Derek opens his mouth, but I speak first. “I came for a drink. Not a lecture.”
He turns without saying another word.
“Ex?” Grave muses.
“Something like that.” I place my elbows on the table and bow my head, trying hard not to think about what happened tonight but failing. Tears of anger threaten my eyes. I sniff.
“Hey.” I feel his hand on my back, and I pull away from him.
“Don’t,” I warn. “Don’t act like you care.”
He sighs. “Of course I do, or I wouldn’t have taken care of it.”
“I didn’t need you to do that,” I snap, looking over at him.
His blue eyes roam my face before landing on mine. I plan on getting fucked up, and I know it won’t take any convincing to get him there. “How were you going to pay them off?”
“I would have thought of something,” I hiss, irritated with him. But not sure why. It’s not his fault. I hate asking for help. And I hate it even more that he’s the one who offered. He knows I can’t afford to turn it down.
He leans forward, placing his forearms on the table, bringing his face in closer to mine. I refrain from pulling away. “What would you have done if they would have demanded payment from you?” He arches a pierced brow.
My stomach knots at his words. “What exactly are you implying?”
He reaches out, taking a few pieces of my purple hair between his fingers. His eyes watch the motion before running up my neck and over my face. “You’re very beautiful, April.” His eyes meet mine, and my breath picks up, remembering the weekend we just spent together and how it feels like it was a lifetime ago. “Men like the Mason brothers take whatever they want. So my question is, what would you have done if they wanted you?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
GRAVE
THE MASON BROTHERS don’t rape women, but that doesn’t mean their thugs wouldn’t. I have no doubt that if one of them wanted her, they would have done it. The only thing that kept her from being sexually assaulted was that they wanted money from her. If they would have forced themselves onto her, they would have killed her afterward. Then the Mason brothers would have killed them.
She looks away from me, dismissing the direction this conversation was going just as the punk returns with our drinks. “Here you go.” He hands her hers and slams mine down on the table. Then he turns and walks back toward the bar.
I pick mine up and joke, trying to lighten the mood. “They don’t keep rat poison in the back, do they?”
She snorts and places hers down and yanks mine from my hands. She tosses it back, hissing in a breath.
_______________
Two hours have gone by and I’m craving a hit. April is drunk. She can barely keep her eyes open. She hasn’t said much. But Derek