She couldn’t figure out how they’d known where she was. Where had William’s contact gotten to? Had that been the man who’d turned up while she was running? What had happened to him?
She was screwed.
So now she was hiding behind a dumpster in an alleyway. She had nothing. Her handbag was back in that basement where she’d dropped it. She’d thought about going back to see if it was still there, but she was worried that someone would be waiting for her.
She’d cleaned her injured arm as best she could. Thankfully, the bullet had just grazed her. The injury wasn’t pretty, and she figured it probably needed stitches.
Maybe she should have gone to the police. But how did she know who to trust? William had told her that her father had plenty of cops in his pocket. She didn’t know how, but she believed him.
She shivered. It was cold in the alley and yet her skin was coated in sweat. Her vision was blurry, her breathing labored.
Opening the backpack, she pulled out Piggles. The stuffed pig had seen better days, but she buried her face in the soft fluff. Piggles was the last thing her mama had given her. He’d always been her favorite toy. She started to sing. Making up silly rhymes was something she did when she was scared.
“Piggles, we’re on our own. Piggles, we’re all alone. Piggles, I’m scared, are you? Piggles, what are we going to do?”
Her arm had stopped throbbing. She wasn’t sure that was a good sign or if it was her body shutting down. It wasn’t like she was in the best health to begin with. Over the past couple of years, she’d lost so much weight that she barely recognized herself when she looked in the mirror.
She was a stranger.
The last time she’d taken a look at her ankle it was nearly three times its normal size. She’d had to remove her sneaker and then she’d been unable to put it back on. So now she had one sneaker on. She had her only spare T-shirt wrapped around her injured arm.
Resting her head back against the wall, she closed her eyes. Soon. Soon, it would be over. And she wouldn’t have to worry anymore.
Her only regret was not seeing them one last time. She just wanted to say she was sorry. Grabbing the locket out from under her shirt, she just held it. It was too dark back here to see the photo inside.
She didn’t need to see it anyway. She had it memorized. She was standing in front of Aleki, his arms around her as he grinned down at her. She was staring up at Caleb, laughing. Wolfe was the only one looking at the camera. Well, scowling at the camera was more accurate.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, closing the locket and tucking it safely away. “I love you guys.”
She took in a shuddering breath.
“Piggles, I just want to say goodbye. Piggles, I wish you could fly,” she sang.
“Come on. She has to be around here somewhere. I wish the signal was stronger.” Wow. Now her hallucinations were getting really lifelike. It sounded like Caleb was only a few feet away.
“Why would she be in this part of the city? I think Wolfe has got it wrong. Or likely she got rid of that locket a long time ago.”
Aleki sounded grouchy. Why would she dream of him as grouchy when he’d always been so happy?
“She could have. We could have flown halfway around the world to track down some vagrant. There is no way that Genevieve would be in this alleyway. She was always very aware of her personal hygiene. It was one of her best qualities.”
Oh. Wolfe. She wished they were really here.
“Jesus, Wolfe,” Caleb snapped. “She had lots of good qualities.”
“What? Like loyalty?” Wolfe asked.
She whimpered at the pain those words brought. Loyalty. She had none of that, did she? Why had she never told them the truth? Now, that moment was lost. They hated her. Or they’d simply forgotten her.
She didn’t know which was worse.
“Did you hear that?” Caleb sounded like he was getting closer.
“Could have been a cat,” Aleki replied.
“Or a rat,” Wolfe added. “Remember those rats in East Timor? Bigger than a cat. And nasty.”
“Of course I fucking remember them,” Aleki replied. “One of the fuckers bit me. I could have gotten fucking rabies.”
“It’s rare for a rat to pass on rabies to a human,” Wolfe retorted calmly.
“Oh, I feel so much better now,” Aleki replied.
“But you could have gotten rat-bite fever. It’s nasty. Fever. Vomiting. Headache. Death.”
“Will you two shut up,” Caleb snapped back.
She whimpered again.
“Oh, fuck! No! No, no, no.”
Caleb sounded so upset. She tried to move, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. A strange, pained noise hit her ears making her wince. Someone sounded hurt. Who was it? Were they okay?
“It’s you. You’re making that noise. You are the one who is hurt,” Wolfe explained in a cold, emotionless tone.
She hated that voice. He used it with everyone except Aleki and Caleb.
And her.
Until that day. The day she’d ruined it all.
“What happened to her? Is she hurt? Sick? What the fuck is going on? Why is she sitting in some filthy alleyway, half-conscious?”
“Aleki,” she murmured. Why was he so mad? Her Aleki never got angry.
Well, there was one time when she’d gone out with her friends and hadn’t replied to his texts. He’d gotten mad and threatened to spank her if she did it again. She’d been shocked at the fear-fueled anger coming from her gentle giant.
But everyone had their breaking point.
“What is she saying?” Aleki asked. “She’s mumbling and I can’t understand her.”
“Something about spankings and giants,” Wolfe replied.
Cool fingers pressed to her neck, taking her pulse.
“Fuck. She’s burning up,” Caleb snapped. “We have to get her out of here.”
“I’ll call an ambulance,” Aleki said.
“No!” she cried out. “No ambulance.”
“Oh, jelly bean, what happened to you?” Caleb crooned.
Jelly bean. She’d always secretly loved that nickname.
Fingers brushed down her face. She tried to lean into his touch. How long since someone had touched her so sweetly? Since someone had even pretended to care?
“It’s going to be okay, jelly bean,” Caleb told her.
Where was Wolfe? He was quiet. It seemed that even in her dreams, he was unforgiving.
What would it be like to have Wolfe want her? All-consuming. She’d have to be careful that he didn’t take over. Completely rule her. Hell, just one of them would be hard to take. Imagine all three at once. Caleb with his careful, but firm dominance. Aleki with his big personality but gentle nature. And Wolfe. Loyal. Unforgiving. Overprotective.
“Missed you guys,” she muttered.
“We’ve missed you too, jelly bean,” Caleb said gently. “But we’re here now. We need to get you to the hospital.”
“I can’t,” she said in a panicked voice. “They’ll find me if I go to the hospital.”
There was a beat of silence. This was a very weird dream. Usually, in her dreams, they forgave her, and then they all ended up in bed together.
She sighed. She bet they were really good in bed. Not like William. He’d been a total dud. Jerk hadn’t worried about getting her off.