Without another word, no second chance or any warning, Mr. Cream Suit raised his gun and put a bullet clean between my stepfather’s eyes. My head got yanked back as he dropped to the ground, tearing out some of my hair from my scalp. Just like that. Bang. No second chances. Dead.
Gone.
Stepping forward and dipping, Mr. Cream Suit took the fifties from my dead stepfather’s hand and offered them to me. “No second chances,” he said, simple as that. “You got any family?”
I took the notes and shook my head. “No, sir.”
He slowly rose to his full height, his lips twisting. He was thinking. “Two fifties aren’t going to get you very far in life, are they?”
At that moment, I felt like the richest kid in the world. But I knew a hundred quid didn’t go far. “I suppose not, Mister. Wanna gimme some more?” I threw him a cheeky grin, and he returned it.
“Get in the car.”
My eyes widened. “In your car?”
“Yes, in my car. Get in.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re coming home with me.” On that note, he turned and started strolling away, leaving me chasing his heels.
“But, Mister—”
“Do you have anywhere else to go?” He continued walking, passing his gun to one of his men when he reached his shiny Merc.
“No.”
Lowering to his seat, he left the door open, looking at me standing outside his car. “You didn’t even flinch when he cuffed you.”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t hurt anymore. Besides,” I went on, feeling my scrawny chest puffing out, like this big, imposing stranger might be impressed, “I would never let him see even if it did.”
He smiled. It was a broad smile, and I got the feeling they didn’t happen often. “I don’t give second chances.”
I got straight in the car.
Prologue - Part 2
Miami—Ten Years Ago
* * *
ROSE
* * *
The pain was unbearable. My whole body contorted, tensing, trying to stem it. My bare back grazed the concrete stones beneath it, ripping at my flesh through my torn T-shirt as I squirmed, clenching my tummy, my cries high and howling. My long, dark, scraggly hair was wet with sweat and sticking to my face. It was suffocating. I thought I’d pass out at any moment. Maybe it would be best. Unconsciousness felt like the only way out of the endless pit of pain. Or death. But I didn’t want to die, especially since I finally had something to live for.
I don’t know how long I’d been there. Hours. Days. Forever? My life felt like one big hole of agony.
When would this be over?
I rolled onto my side and curled up, making myself as small as possible. I was alone. Fifteen years old, just a girl, and I was alone.
Always had been. Why now that hurt almost as much as the physical agony was beyond me. I cried. I screamed. Wave after wave of pain kept coming and coming. I couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t control it. I was helpless, at its mercy.
“You silly girl.”
The voice pierced the darkness and my pain, replacing it with fear. I quickly sat up and scrambled back until my back hit the rough bricks of the wall. I don’t know why. There was no escaping him.
His expensive dress shoes hit the concrete before me, getting louder, more threatening as he got closer. He bent down, getting my cowering frame in his sights.
And he smiled. He smiled so wide. “Let’s get you home, Rose.” He stood and clicked his fingers, magically making five men appear. Two scooped me up, just as another wave of pain took hold, bowing my back and having me wail in their arms.
“She’s bleeding everywhere, for fuck’s sake,” one man grumbled, looking at me like I was the most disgusting creature in the universe. I said nothing. Accepted their revulsion. It was ironic that either of the two men carrying me might have been the reason for my state. I was virtually tossed onto the back seat of his swanky car, and then driven back to the place I’d not long escaped. The whole time, my fears started to counterbalance the pain.
When we arrived, I was put in a wheelchair and rolled to a private room. Laid on the bed. Hooked up to machinery.
A nurse hovered over me, as the men who’d carried me in guarded the door, ensuring I wouldn’t escape again. I couldn’t now if I wanted to. Fear paralyzed me and pain ruled me.