I told him I’d be meditating with Scar, and I was since he made sure to check on me. As soon as he was gone, I snuck out of Scar’s room and came here. She’s in her strange zone whenever meditating so I don’t think she even noticed me leaving.
“Zoe?” Natalie’s big doe eyes widen.
“Hey, Nat.” I smile. “I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch and if all of this is too sudden, but can you help me?”
She wipes her hands on the front of her yellow dress. “With what?”
“I need to get out of here. You brought your car, right?”
She appears spooked. “W-why?”
“I just need to meet someone. Please?”
“I… S-Shadow will kill me.”
“If you don’t tell him, I won’t.”
She fidgets, her mocha skin paling.
I hold her hand. “Please, Nat. You’re my only hope.”
She reaches a trembling hand into her bra and retrieves a key. “Meet me outside. I’ll follow you after a few.”
“You’re the best, Nat!” I hug her and take the keys.
Thankfully, there aren’t many people in Le Salon during the day. The car park is even more deserted. I sneak along the walls until I reach Natalie’s small car. I should be worried about security cameras, but I hope to return before anything is reported back to Shadow.
Natalie follows after five minutes and we hit the road. I ask her to drop me near my old neighbourhood. I don’t want her involved in case it backfires.
“Thank you, Nat.” I hug her again.
She stiffens and gives an awkward smile.
Once she disappears down the road, I quicken my pace to President’s Joe’s ‘district’. He owns a club downtown that’s similar to Le Salon. It’s right above the fighting ring where I first met Shadow.
It feels like forever since that day. Who knew that the arrogant fighter will become an undivided part of my life? My chest squeezes into itself about doing this behind his back, but he didn’t leave me a choice. He won’t listen to reason or to my pleas to stay, so this is the only option I have left.
He says he’ll be fine, but Elle’s stories about how Team Zero’s members are tortured in The Pit make me want to vomit. There’s no way I’m letting Shadow go back to that.
Not if I can stop it.
The club sits on a large piece of land near a back alley. A few drunk men stagger by. I blend with the walls to not get into their way. Now and then, the smell of alcohol and disgusting musk hits me, and I swallow the nausea down.
A guard stops me at the entrance of the club. He’s bald and tall and his shoulders fill the doorway. He can probably snap me in halves if I breathe wrong.
“What do you want?” He barks.
“I want to meet President Joe.”
He guffaws as if I uttered the funniest joke. The laughter stops as abruptly. “Go home, little girl. No one meets the boss.”
“He’ll change his mind when you tell him who I am.” I hold my ground, voice confident. “I’m his —”
My words halt when the guard straightens like a snapped cord. A black Mercedes stops in front of the club and President Joe steps out from the car. The three-piece suit hangs on to his slightly chubby frame. His bald head shines under the daylight.
I’ve seen him countless times before, but now, I put him under a different light. He’s not the one I need to exact revenge on. He’s my grandfather who can help in saving my future with Shadow.
The moment he sees me, he stops in his tracks. Wide shock almost drops his jaw to the ground. “Renee?”
Right. I was always a carbon copy of her. To my dismay, I didn’t inherit any physical features from Dad. Not the dark blond hair or the grey eyes. At least, the similarities between Mum and I will help my grandfather in admitting our familial ties.
I couldn’t be more wrong.
Hot rage fills President Joe’s voice as he motions to the guard standing in front of me. “Kill her.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
If there’s something I didn’t expect to see in my lifetime, then it’s Ghost smiling.
He never does that.
Now, he’s grinning like a fucking idiot while sparring with Elle.
One thing for certain, he’s not going back to The Pit. Not even if I sell my soul to the devil.
Wait. I already did that. Does the devil resell souls?
I sigh as I lean against the gym’s doorframe. I should be upstairs with Zoe, but I need