Chapter 13

I stare at the door, hating that Luke has to put himself in danger for us. I wish there was something I could do, but my only plan has ever been to run. There's no way I would ever be a match against my father. I'm also aware that the older Marco gets, the more he might push back against him on my behalf. That would be just as bad as our father taking him under his wing. The thought makes me sick to my stomach.

It might be selfish, but I want Luke so badly that now I don't want to run. I'm not sure what this means to him and if it's him being a good man and helping us. When I peeked in on him playing video games with Marco last night, my heart melted. Then this morning I witnessed the banter and easiness of all of us simply being in the kitchen together. It made me long for a normal life.

Not to mention last night when I was in bed with Luke. Heat and desire stir inside me in a way I never knew possible. Thinking about it even now has me hot. Luke opened doors inside of me I didn't know were there, but in the back of my mind, I wondered why he didn't do more. I know in my soul I would've let him. This morning he got up before I could try and return the favor. Not that I know how, but I could figure it out. I've read dirty books, so I know some things. Maybe I should tell him about my lack of experience.

"Your face is doing that weird thing again." Marco's voice snaps my attention away from the door and my dirty thoughts.

I roll my eyes at him. When he came up from breakfast, he said it looked like I had hearts in my eyes. I glared at him, but it only made Luke smile and wink at me.

"Did you start your schoolwork?" I change the subject, not wanting him to ask what's going on with Luke. Also because I'm not totally sure either.

"I'm gonna. Getting a drink." He grabs a Gatorade out of the fridge. "You know I'm teasing you, right?" Marco leans up against the counter next to me. "I haven't seen you smile this much in forever."

I hadn't realized I had been or that Marco was old enough to notice things like that.

Leaning over, I kiss his cheek. "I enjoy your teasing. Now go do your schoolwork so you"re free for the day."

"Fine," he huffs, but I catch him grinning as he walks past me.

"Love you," I call after him.

"Love yo—" Marco's voice cuts off, and I hear a loud crash. Jumping off the stool, I rush over to him.

"Marco!" My first thought is that he's fallen down the stairs.

"Shit!" he shouts, and I run around the corner to see him lying on the ground and the corner of the rug turned up.

"Are you okay?" I crouch next to him, and he rolls over, holding his left wrist close to his chest.

"I think it's broken." His eyes fill with tears as his face scrunches in pain. I try to look at it the best I can, but it's already swelling. "Fucking hurts."

"See. This is when you curse," I tell him, trying to get his mind off the pain. Marco gives me a half smile and then hisses through his clenched teeth.

I help get Marco to his feet then get him into the kitchen to get something cold to put on it. I find some ibuprofen to help with the swelling and pain, then debate what to do. The swelling is only getting worse by the second, and I have to admit that it could be broken. I have no way of contacting Luke, and he didn't say when he would be back.

If no one knows we're here, would it be okay to go to an urgent care? If we go straight there and back, then we've got a shot of doing this undetected. Looking at Marco's arm and seeing how much pain he's in, I've got no choice. I have to.

I leave a note for Luke along with my cell phone number before I hurry us outside and wave down a taxi. Thankfully there's an urgent care close, and the taxi gets us there quickly.

"Come on." I help Marco out of the car, then stop short when I turn around and run into a small woman.

"Oopsie-daisy," she sing-songs, giving me a bright smile with two dimples popping out.

"I'm so sorry." She's lucky I didn't knock her on her ass.

"No worries." She steps aside so that Marco and I can get by on the sidewalk to enter into the urgent care.

There's hardly anyone in the lobby, so we don't have to wait long before they take us back and he gets an x-ray. When it's finished they tell us it's only a sprain, but they wrap it up to keep it straight.

"Does this get me out of homework?" Marco jokes.

"Maybe," I respond absently, trying to find my plastic bag of money inside of my purse so I can pay the bill. I'm not sure I want to know how much this is going to cost. "Shit."

"What?" Marco asks.

Before I can respond, the door to the exam room opens, and I look up thinking it's going to be the nurse. To my horror it's two of my father"s men, Stoker and Grant. My heart sinks. The blood drains from Marco's face, and he looks ashen.

"Keep quiet," Stoker orders and nods to the door. "Let's go."

Knowing we have no choice, we do as we're told. Grant points us to the back of the clinic, and when we get to the exit, he pushes it open to the back alley.

We're barely across the threshold when Grant lets out a loud grunt before almost falling on top of me. My instinct is to protect Marco, so I grab his shirt and pull him out of the way. Grant hits the ground hard while Stoker pulls his gun out and trains it on the woman standing next to the door. It was the woman I almost ran into when getting out of the cab. She holds her hands up, and I notice her bright pink nails are a stark contrast to the metal pipe in her hand. She lets the pipe fall from her hand, and Grant groans.

"What the fuck?"

"I thought it would knock him out," she huffs with a pout.

"Get up, we don"t have time for this," Stoker tells Grant, who groggily gets to his feet. Blood is dripping from his eyebrow as he takes a few wobbly steps and tries to grab the woman who hit him.

She doesn't get away from him quick enough and Grant manages to grab her long braid. He yanks her back, and her oversized tote that might weigh more than she does falls to the ground. My plastic bag of money slips out of it, and I think back to running into her. Did she steal it from me? It all happened so fast, but she could have easily reached in and grabbed it when I was busy apologizing.

"You little bitch." Grant holds her closer, and she lets out a whimper. "You're going to pay for that."

"Later," Stoker barks. "Everyone in the fucking car. The boss is waiting."

Marco and I get in, and Grant shoves the woman in with us.

"You stole my money," I say to her under my breath as she rebraids her hair.

Her eyes widen, and it reminds me of a doe in headlights. Her expression is innocent, and if I hadn't seen the bag myself, I might think she was.

Who the hell is she?