The Deal

Chapter 26 - Part One - Bloody Knuckles

*Unedited*

{will your lover caress you the way that I did ~ will you notice my charm if he slips up one bit

Will He - Joji}

Chapter 26 - Part One -  Bloody Knuckles

I didn't have Damon's number, but he had mine. He'd tried to call yesterday - before the second 'altercation' with Warren - about my wallet.

Frantically, I searched for my phone, nearly crushing Lucy as I lunged over her to get at my bag.

And then I was blindly hitting the keys on my phone until I managed to pull up my missed calls list, squinting at the most recent numbers and seeing his there, waiting expectantly right at the top.  

I could barely bring myself to press it. What if this was all a misunderstanding and nothing had happened? What if Lucy had just finally cracked and conjured up some half-arsed scenario in her mind that satisfied her desperate need for a love-fueled fistfight? 

But even if it was all in her head, it was now also in mine, and I couldn't calm down unless proven otherwise. So I girded my loins and hit call.

I held my breath as it dialed, trying unsuccessfully to calm my nerves as I paced back and forth out on the landing. Lucy's shadow was hovering on the other side of my bedroom door, and I could only imagine she had her ear pressed up to the wood, determined not to miss out on what was about to happen after I'd forced her to stay back. 

Two more rings, and then it stopped. 

My heart lurched in my chest. 

Then, an automated message told me flatly to leave my name and number. I hung up.

"Damn him," I muttered, gripping the phone tightly in my hand as I tried to think of who else I could call. 

A light bulb went off. 

If Damon wasn't going to answer, there was still someone else I could try. In fact, it might be better to hear the story of what might have happened from the mouth of the victim. 

I thought the line was going to ring out, but right before it could, someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hi?" I said, taken aback by the strangers voice on the end of the phone. "I-I'm sorry, I'm trying to get a hold of Warren Samuels. Is this his mobile?"

"For now Annabelle, it is, yes," the male voice replied, tone clipped. "As long as your bodyguard doesn't come back to finish him off, he can keep it. Otherwise, I call dibs."

"'Bodyguard'?" I repeated, confused and needing to talk to Warren. "'Finish him off'? Is-is he okay? Can I speak to him please?"

"Not right now," the unidentified voice replied, sounding patronizing. "He's too busy licking his wounds to talk to the person who sicked their new buffed-up boyfriend on his ass."

"Damon went after Warren," I said weakly, confirming what Lucy had already surmised. Knowing the truth left me feeling horribly light-headed. "Is that what you're telling me?"

"You bet," the voice huffed, sounding put out. "You really had everyone fooled, you know. No one pegged you as a cheater, let alone an assassin."

"I didn't ask for this," I grit out. "I thought we'd sorted everything out!"

"Oh Annabelle, don't pretend like you don't enjoy it. Isn't this every girls dream?"

My mind flashed to Lucy before I could help it. I shook away the thought.