Chapter 1

ChapterOne

RUE

This is not how I thought my day was going to go. I’m not sure if I should be more concerned that the man standing in front of me with a gun might be a cop or that there’s a dead body a few feet from me.

This is what I get for trying to save the day. It’s come back to bite me in the ass. I suppose no good deed goes unpunished. This is why I do bad deeds. It keeps me out of trouble. Or maybe it keeps me from getting in situations like this.

My ears are still ringing from the gunshot, and my fist is throbbing from when I punched the dead guy. Well, before he died. As I assess the situation, I’m pretty sure my chipper disposition won’t help charm my way out.

“He’s dead,” the young boy named Marco mutters. He’s in the corner of the room, but his eyes are trained on his father.

I nudge the body with my foot. “Yep,” I chirp, confirming that Vince Sledge is truly dead.

I’ve only been in this city a month and even I know of Vince. He was a very bad man. One that was trying to put his hand up my dress until he took three bullets to the chest.

“Who the hell are you?” the man that fired those shots asks. His gun is hanging down at his side.

“She’s Rue,” Marco answers for me. Damn it. Why did I give the kid my real name? It was a moment of weakness when being kidnapped.

“Are you okay?” Kelly, Marco’s sister, asks him before putting her hands on his shoulder.

This has got to be a lot for him. I’m guessing the kid is maybe thirteen. We didn’t have much time to talk during our kidnapping.

“He’s dead,” Marco repeats, and it’s not so much shock as it is relief. “Do we have to bury them or something?”

I’m not doing that.

“Why don’t you go to your room and grab anything you want to take with us,” the guy named Luke tells Marco.

Kelly said he would come and save us, but I didn’t believe her. Most of the men I’ve met aren’t the save the day type, but she was right. Luke came to our rescue, but I guess more specifically to Marco and Kelly’s rescue. I’m still not sure what they plan on doing with me, and I don’t want to know. I just want to get the hell out of here.

The man with the gun is staring at me, and I’m trying to pretend I don’t notice. I keep using my chipper smile and easy disposition that has people thinking I’m not a threat.

“I’ll clean this up if you want to get them out of here,” Mr. Stares-A-Lot says and then tucks his gun into the holster under his arm. And so what if I notice how hot he is? Or that I thought he was even hotter when he shot Vincent?

“Great. I’m going to dip out. It was nice meeting everyone.” I creep toward the door, hoping they won’t miss me. They have this under control, and I’m no longer needed.

“You’re not going anywhere.” His stare becomes more intense somehow, and I know he’s not joking.

With the life I’ve had, reading people is easy for me, but somehow I can’t with this guy. I also can’t figure out why he wants me to stay.

“Who is he?” Kelly asks Luke in a low whisper, and I’m wondering the same thing.

“My foster brother Maxim.”

Well, that name fits. He’s easily three times my size, but being this small, most people are bigger than me. Sometimes my size works in my favor but not always. Brute force can get things done if they can catch me.

“You a cop or something?” I ask Maxim, putting my hands on my hips and giving him my sweetest smile.

I’d never make it in jail. I don’t like staying anywhere too long. I’m sure it’s partly because of how I grew up. We never stayed anywhere long, and even now, having been here for a month, I’m getting anxious.

“Or something.” He nods toward the couch. “Sit your pretty ass down.” The smile drops from my face, and I shoot him the same glare he’s been giving me. Maxim isn’t going to make this easy, and I think he might be good at reading people too.

“She kinda helped us.” Kelly comes to my defense.

I ran into Kelly outside of an urgent care, but I did it on purpose. I might have snagged a few things out of her purse, but she didn’t notice. Hey, a girl’s gotta eat, and my fingers have been sticky since I was a little. One of the many skills I acquired in my childhood.

That should have been the end of my interaction with Kelly, but I felt a twinge of guilt when I saw how much money she had. She wasn’t dressed like she would be carrying that kind of cash around. It was wrapped up in a plastic bag, which made me curious. That’s always what gets me into trouble. I knew it had to be the kind of money you had when you were on the run. I knew because I have my own stash like that.

Then I spotted two men watching her and Marco. That damn curiosity had me following them to the back of the building, and when I saw the guns, I knew I had to do something. The second they came back out with Kelly and Marco and I saw them trying to force them into the SUV, I struck.

Literally.

I hit my target, but there were two of them. Why I bought a metal bar to a gunfight, I have no freaking clue. It’s what got me kidnapped right along with them.

“She stays put,” Maxim responds, pulling out his phone.

I plop down onto the sofa as Kelly and Marco collect their things and leave with Luke. Maxim talks in a hushed voice on the phone, never letting me out of his sight.

Deciding it’s easier to do what he says, I sit back and bide my time. He can only watch me for so long. Then I’ll do what I do best and disappear. It will be as if I was never here to begin with.

It’s better that way. Not only for me but for everyone else too.