She vomited again and wiped her mouth after she spit several times, and then she tossed the cell phone and Tuttle’s card right in the middle of the vomit. Let the DEA deal with that. Silence surrounded her, but in her head, she could hear screaming. Raw, terrible screaming that rose up like a wail from the dead. She hadn’t known another human being could hurt her so deeply.

She sensed movement and she turned and walked straight for the stairs. She didn’t run. She refused to give him that satisfaction.

Behind her, she heard Ridley’s voice. “She can’t leave. What the hell, Frank? She needs to be in protective custody. You know he’ll kill her. And what happened to her face? Her wrists? Damn it, I’m fucking going to kill you with my bare hands.”

She let the door swing closed behind her and then she ran, taking the stairs two at a time, and then three. She was fast, faster than she’d ever been as if that being inside of her aided her now, aided her when she was no longer Catarina. Ridley had torn out her guts. Her heart. He’d left nothing at all but an empty shell.

“Cat. Stop.”

She heard his voice and it only spurred her onward. She burst from the building and ran to the line of taxis at the end of the street. She had no money with her, but hopefully the police had left her stash behind. She could barely speak to give the driver the address. God. God. She’d been such a fool.

There was no way his name was Ridley Cromer. She should have known he wouldn’t be interested in a woman who had never been kissed in her life. She’d said it herself, he was a player, and he’d played her beautifully. She’d kissed a man for the first time and she didn’t even know his real name.

He had to have disconnected her security system. He’d taken her gun. He’d left her defenseless. He had tried to get information about Rafe from her, and when his gentle probing didn’t work, he’d told the others she was going to run. She buried her face in her hands and kept breathing in and out. She had to keep breathing to keep the terrible black void inside of her from swallowing her.

For the first time in her life she wished she were back with Rafe. He’d never lied, not once. He’d never tried to use her own emotions against her. He didn’t hide who he was or what he was. She didn’t know how to think. Or function. She didn’t know how to be Catarina anymore.

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