Two stores short of the vet’s back door, I pick the lock on what used to be a drugstore and toss it half open. When I was casing the lot earlier, I noticed the space hadn’t been completely cleared of merchandise. If my pursuer gives chase on foot, he’s likely to think I holed up in there to find supplies that might stem the bleeding.
Blackness floats at the edge of my vision. More liquid warmth mingles with the rain oozing down my chest. I can’t press a hand to it yet, or the second I touch the vet’s door handle, I’ll leave a bloody print for this fucker to follow.
Limping and dizzy, I finally reach the doggy doctor’s back door. It’s not much of a lock, and I’m in ten seconds later.
If I survive this night and Havana wants to keep working here, I’ll be installing something a lot sturdier.
Breathing hard, I ease the door shut just as an engine revs and zooms down the alley.
It never stops, simply roaring down the narrow pathway, almost careening into a dumpster.
I dare to crack the door, and I understand instantly. Someone called the police, and a squad car now chases my assailant.
That should occupy him for a few minutes.
After I close the door again and lock it behind me, I look around. It’s a dark storeroom. I shouldn’t turn on a light in case the hired gun comes back, but I manage to fumble for my phone and flip on the flashlight. On the floor, I spot a length of nylon rope. It takes a shitload of my remaining strength, but I loop it around the door lever and secure the other half to a nearby metal storage rack.
If he comes back, he won’t get in easily.
Now I have to find Havana, make sure she’s safe, then grab some medical supplies and concoct a way out of here without my assailant being any wiser.
As I stagger to the door, I catch my foot on the leg of another storage rack and trip. The shelves crash down. I stumble against the door.
Blood pours like hot wax down my skin. The floor looks inviting as my consciousness begins to slide away.
Get to Havana, keep her safe.
Gathering the last of my strength, I wrench the door of the storeroom open.
I hear a gasp. With bleary eyes, I look up. In the doorway stands the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever had the fortune to lay my hands on. The girl who’s haunted my fantasies and kept me hard for weeks. The girl who’s legally become a woman today.
“Havana…”
Then everything goes black.
Havana
This isn’t how I envisioned spending my eighteenth birthday. After checking on the animals recovering from surgery and tending to those we’re boarding, I sit under the dim light in the otherwise dark animal clinic where I work. At least I’ve got other people’s pets for company. But I’ve done my duty here for the evening. I should go home and chill. But then I’d be completely alone.
Why didn’t he come for me today?
I push thoughts of Ransom Garrison out of my head. Him waiting for me to be legal so he could sweep me off my feet, tell me I’m the love of his life, and make me his is a ridiculous fantasy. He’s a man in every sense of the word. I’m still a girl. Technically, I’m a woman today. In my head, I’ve been an adult since my parents died three years ago in a car accident, leaving me with a flighty aunt who decided I was “grown enough” when I turned sixteen. More like she hated the fact her flaky boyfriends showed more interest in me.
When she tossed me out, I was almost relieved. But that forced me to grow up fast. I had to get a job to eat. I kept a roof over my head by relying on the kindness of friends and their parents who let me crash on their sofa for a night or two. The school janitor sometimes took pity on me and let me stay in the girls’ locker room overnight. But if I hadn’t left Aunt Tilly’s, it was a matter of time before one of those creeps she dated cornered me and tried to coerce me into something I never wanted.
At least I never wanted it until I laid eyes on Ransom.
The minute we met, all I could think about was sex. But my feelings quickly developed into something deeper.
I never meant to fall for him. His son, Ethan, offered me a place to crash when he found out I was between sofas. We liked some of the same movies. He also understood a dysfunctional household because his mom used to peace in and out of his life all the time, and his dad, while steady, isn’t always home. Ethan seemed cool and interesting, so when he asked, I agreed to be his girlfriend. But he always felt more like my friend than my bae. I never knew why.