Heart Beats (Joker's Sin #3) - Davidson King Page 0,59

it’s Neil.”

Charles leaned into me and whispered, “Tell him you’ll be out in a minute, you’re just getting your bag.”

I so wanted to scream for him to help me, but I doubted I’d get to finish the sentence before there was a hole in my head. “Be out in a minute, just getting my bag.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you by the elevator…Everything okay, Shane?” Neil asked through the door, the knob shaking like he was trying to get in.

“Yeah getting my bag, be right there. Door’s locked, sorry, Ciro’s orders.” I kept eye contact with Charles, and he seemed pleased.

“I’ll be at the elevator.” Charles didn’t move for a few seconds until I assumed Neil was away from the door.

“Very good. Now, where were we? Oh, yeah.” He chuckled, lifted his hand, and this time I didn’t get a chance to block from the hit. There was a burst of pain, and everything went black.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Ledger

Any chance of watching a movie with Shane was quickly dwindling away. He’d been gone for three hours now, and I was beginning to worry. The last text I’d received from him was an hour ago and no updates from Ciro or Riordan’s guys. I snagged my phone off the kitchen counter and texted Ciro again. My phone buzzed a moment later.

“Ciro, what’s going on?”

“Neil texted me that he got to Shane’s fifteen minutes ago, he was going up, relax.”

There was no way I was relaxing until Shane was here. Something in my gut was telling me there was a problem. “Can you just do me a solid and text Neil and see if everything is okay?”

“Jesus. Yeah, okay.” Ciro disconnected the call and I sat on the kitchen stool, staring at the platter of cupcakes Shane had made. There were only five left because Ciro had devoured them. The lingering scent of vanilla and sweetness made me wish Shane were here right now.

It took Ciro almost five minutes to contact me, and I jumped when my phone vibrated. “Everything good?” I asked by way of greeting.

“Okay, Ledger, you need to stay calm.”

Never a good way to start out a conversation. “What is it, Ciro? You said everything was fine!”

“Shane is okay. But there was an issue. Neil is with him at his place.” I could hear Toby in the background, and while I couldn’t make out what he was saying, he was extremely agitated.

“I’m going over there.”

“Ledger, for fuck’s sake, don’t—”

I didn’t let him finish. I pocketed my phone, ignoring the incessant vibration of Ciro trying to get a hold of me, snagged my keys, and headed toward the elevator.

The door opened and two men walked out. I knew they were Riordan’s men and that Ciro probably called them.

“Listen,” I said. “I’m going over there; you can come with me, or this can turn into a shit show. I’m not a hostage and if you lay a finger on me, Ciro will end you.”

Even though both men smirked in disbelief, they did move aside. But as soon as I stepped foot on the elevator, they came with me. Fine, I didn’t give a shit, I just needed to see Shane.

One of the guys rode with me, and another raced over to his own vehicle. I backed out and didn’t wait for the other man to catch up. If my speeding bothered the muscle I had with me, he didn’t let on.

When I pulled up to Shane’s building, there was nothing out of the ordinary. No cop cars or ambulance so maybe the issue wasn’t related to this, and I overreacted. Shit, Ciro wouldn’t ever let me live it down. I got out of the car and knew the man with me was following. When I got off the elevator to Shane’s floor—that was when I knew something was wrong. I could see the door to his apartment open, and I heard voices.

“Please, sir, let me go first.” The guy stepped in front of me and while I wanted to just go, I recognized it would be irresponsible if I went and got myself shot when these guys were simply doing their jobs. I nodded and proceeded slowly behind him.

As soon as he pushed the door farther open, I heard one of the voices.

“It’s Neil, Gary, it’s good.”

The guy, Gary, gestured for me to go in, and when I stepped into Shane’s apartment, I homed in directly on him. He was on his couch, a bandage on his head, and a bag of frozen peas resting