Chapter Sixty-Eight
Brooklyn
The door clicks shut behind me, and the sound sinks right into my bones. It feels like every breath in my chest slows down and curls tight, like my body recognizes this place before my mind can even catch up. Teddy’s apartment smells the same way it always used to, like stale smoke mixed with sweat and cheap cologne, and my stomach twists so hard I almost fold in half.
I tell myself I’m fine, that I’m ready for this, but my hands shake anyway. Jackson stands a few feet from me, playing Monroe like he was born in that skin. His shoulders are loose, his posture easy, and his smirk makes him look like he doesn’t care about a single damn thing in this room. I can feel him though. I can feel how tense he is just under the surface.
Teddy doesn’t notice any of it. He’s too busy eyeing me like he’s been starving. He leans back in his recliner and spreads his arms wide, that cocky grin stretching bigger when he takes me in from head to toe.
“Kitty,” he drawls as if he owns the air in here. “You look good. Look real good. Thought you ran off on me.”
My lungs seize, and for a second I can’t talk at all. It’s like hearing my name dragged through glass. I force myself to lift my chin even though every part of me wants to shrink. “I didn’t run,” I lie, because the truth would get me killed. “Just needed some space.”
He laughs like I said something adorable. “You’ve always been cute when you lie.”
Jackson shifts his weight behind me. Only a little. Just enough for me to feel that he’s still right there. Still watching. Still ready. I know the moment Teddy sees it too because his eyes flick toward Jackson then narrow.
“Monroe,” Teddy says, sounding annoyed that I’m not giving him all my attention. “You gonna show me what you brought or you just gonna stand there drooling at what’s mine?”
My spine snaps straight. Jackson’s jaw twitches but he keeps the mask on. He steps forward slowly and lazily and hands Teddy the bag of product like he doesn’t care what happens next.
“Got what you asked for,” Jackson says. “Picked it up on the way.”
Teddy grabs the bag quickly, sits up, and gives it a little shake. “Good. Real good. Been waitin for this.”
Jackson nods once, then tilts his head just enough to look at me again. The look is nothing, just a split-second glance, but I feel it all the way down to my bones. It’s a silent check-in. A silent I’m right here.
Teddy notices that too. And he doesn’t like it.
“So,” Teddy says slowly, dragging the word out as he settles back in his chair. “Didn’t expect to get the girl and the goods tonight.”
I feel my throat close up. “I’m only here because I felt like it,” I say, keeping my voice steady even though my pulse is screaming. “Don’t make it something else.”
He smirks like I just told him his favorite joke. “Kitty, everything about you is something else.”
Jackson coughs under his breath, just loud enough that Teddy glances his way. Jackson looks bored when Teddy turns though, which is good because if Teddy sees even a hint of the truth behind Monroe’s face, we’re done. All of us.
I wrap my arms around myself and sit down on the couch across from Teddy. The cushions sink under my weight and the air feels thick and stale, like heat trapped in a room too long. Jackson sits on the loveseat, slouched back like he’s got nowhere else to be. Teddy’s eyes go between us again, sharp and curious.
“So where’ve you been hidin',” Teddy asks me. “Thought you were stickin' close, but you disappeared.”
My mouth dries out so fast I almost choke, so I shrug instead of answering.
Teddy raises an eyebrow. “You ain’t got nothin to say about it.”
“There’s nothing to say,” I say softly. “I just needed time.”
He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. “Funny, because I heard something different.”
That makes my blood turn cold as I wait for what he's going to say next.
“What’d you hear,” Jackson asks, voice lazy but careful.
Teddy smiles slowly. “Nothing solid. Just talk. Streets got a lot of stories, Monroe.” His eyes slide to me again and I barely suppress a shiver. “Some of them sound a whole lot like her.”
I grip the cushion's edge to hide the shaking of my hands and wait, hoping and praying I'm not giving us away.
“What kinda stories,” Jackson presses, still casual.
Teddy taps his finger against the arm of his chair and watches me like he’s waiting for me to flinch. “Like how someone went missin in the dark of night, someone who shouldn’t be walkin around right now.”
I feel sick, actually sick as my stomach flips and my breath turns thin. Jackson shifts again, subtly, like he’s putting himself between us even though he hasn’t moved an inch.
Teddy smirks when he sees the tension between us. “Relax,” he says. “I ain’t sayin anythin except it’s strange how she shows up tonight, lookin all fine when there’s talk about some girl bein snatched and then runnin off.”
“You listen to too much bullshit,” Jackson says, voice flat.
“Maybe,” Teddy says, but there's an edge to his voice as he continues, “Or maybe I know more than people think.”
The room goes quiet, too quiet. My heart beats so loud in the quiet space that I swear Teddy can hear it.
Jackson leans back, stretches his arms out across the loveseat, and looks Teddy right in the eye. “Where’d these stories come from?”
Teddy shrugs, all nonchalant like. “People say what they say.”
Jackson smirks. “People also say you ain’t been keepin' your business as tight as you should.”
That's makes him sit up straighter, eyes pinched in suspicion as he asks, “What business?”
Jackson lifts his shoulders. “Just talk, same as yours.” He glances at me, then back at Teddy. “Talk about how someone’s been losin' things they’re supposed to keep.”
Teddy goes still, completely still and I physically feel the shift in the room, and it's cold and furious.
“You callin' me sloppy,” Teddy asks, that edge back in his tone.
“Not my words,” Jackson says. “Just what I heard.”
Teddy stands up, trying to look imposing as he asks, “Where’d you hear it?”
Jackson shakes his head, not the least bit bothered by Teddy's short stature and quips, “Doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter,” Teddy says. “Because people talk, and a lot of them don’t know shit. And you got the nerve to come into my place and tell me I ain’t takin care of what’s mine.”
I freeze because I know then that he's talking about me.
Jackson meets Teddy’s glare without flinching. “I’m sayin someone’s pokin around your business. That’s all.”
Teddy laughs once, short and sharp, shaking his head as he growls, “You and your big mouth, Monroe.”
I sit there barely breathing as Teddy grabs the bag again and checks it like he’s using it to ground himself. His eyes move to me and linger, and I feel that familiar dread crawl up my spine.
“You shoulda told me where you've been,” he says quietly.
“There’s nothing to tell,” I say, trying to sound bored. “I told you, I needed time.”
“You don’t get to take time,” he says. “Not from me.”
My heartbeat stumbles, but I swallow and try to hold steady. “I’m not yours.”
His eyes flare. “Who told you that?”
Before I can say anything, his phone rings, the sound slicing right through the air.
Teddy curses under his breath and pulls it out of his pocket. He looks at the screen and freezes for half a second before answering.
“Yeah.” His tone changes, getting softer, lower, and way more serious. His eyes flick toward Jackson and then back down. “Yeah. I got it. I’ll handle it.”
My blood turns to ice because somehow I know that he's talking to Grant, I can feel it it my bones.
Teddy hangs up quickly and pockets the phone. When he looks up, he’s flustered, sweating a little, and pacing like he can’t stay still.
“Problem,” Jackson asks casually.
Teddy waves him off, even though he’s clearly shaken. “Just somethin I gotta deal with.”
Jackson raises an eyebrow. “You need backup.”
“No,” Teddy snaps. Then he looks at me and his voice softens in that way that always made my skin crawl. “You stay put.”
My chest tightens. “Why?”
He doesn’t answer as he walks toward the door. Right when he reaches it, someone knocks and all three of us freeze.
Teddy looks back at us, then cracks the door, peeking through the gap.
I only see the man’s boots first. They look heavy and dirty with snow on the treads.
My heart spikes before I even see his face.
He steps forward and I recognize him as one of Grant’s men.
He's the one who used to stand outside the room where they kept me, making sure no one disturbed us as I was violated. He would also drag me by my arm when I fought too hard and whisper that I should give up because no one was going to help me, save me.
My breath vanishes and suddenly I feel like that same helpless little girl again.
“Teddy,” the man says. “We need to talk.”
Teddy tries to block his view into the apartment, but it doesn’t matter because his eyes land on me anyway, and something ugly lights up inside them.
I feel sick, frozen. And suddenly I'm back in that bedroom, terrified and helpless. Jackson shifts beside me, just enough to show he clocked the look too and it helps to bring me back.
Teddy turns around and forces a smile that doesn’t match his eyes.
“Kitty,” he says softly. “Come here.”
Every muscle in my body locks at his words.
“No,” I say.
His smile drops, his eyes angry as he says, "I said come here.”
But I don’t move, I can't.
Jackson stands up slowly, carefully, the way we planned, but Teddy snaps his arm out and stops him.
“You sit,” Teddy says without looking at him. “This ain’t your business.”
Jackson opens his mouth but doesn’t move. He can’t blow the cover yet.
Teddy walks toward me, each step slow, controlled, like he’s hunting.
“Don’t,” I whisper, my entire body trembling.
Of course he ignores me and reaches for me, grabbing my arm hard as he ya is me to my feet.
It's then that everything inside me shuts down.
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