Fuck this up and your ass will feel the consequences, Lucas wrote. Although I’m sending a chaperone with you to make sure you don’t. Last night wouldn’t have been possible if Jason hadn’t disarmed your security system. We owe him, and obviously, so do you.

So it was Jason who’d gotten past the security system. I wasn’t surprised; he’d always been absurdly smart.

Lucas went on. Vincent will pick you up on Tuesday after work. You’d better behave yourself unless you want him to bring a paddle along with him.

I’ll skip the paddle, thanks, I said, even though the thought gave me that twisty feeling in my stomach again. I’ll be perfectly behaved, so tell him to bring something to reward me with instead.

Oh, he will. Don’t you worry about that, fucktoy.

The next few days were spent trying to get back into my routine. I woke up early and took my mom’s car to the gym — thankfully, she didn’t mind me borrowing it while she and Dad were gone. I warmed up on the treadmill before I moved to weights, and by the time I was done, I was dripping sweat. The burn felt good. There was something about the pain that made me feel alive.

Unfortunately, while in the middle of my workout Sunday morning, a familiar face approached me in the middle of a set.

“Oh…hey, Alex.” I took my earbuds out as he stood beside me, regarding him cautiously. What the hell did he want? I hadn’t seen him at this gym before, but maybe he usually came at a different time. He had his shirt off, showing off muscles that were chiseled to perfection worthy of a Greek god.

But those muscles didn’t do shit for me when they were attached to his backstabbing face.

“We missed you at Billy’s the other night,” he said, almost too casually. “I wanted to check in. Make sure we’re good.”

“Good?” I stared at him in surprise, then lowered my voice as I said, “You broke into a private garage and fucking abandoned me. Why the hell would we be good, Alex?”

“Things got a little out of hand; I’ll admit. I thought you were gunning for those losers, Jess. The same guy who busted my head open…” The look he fixed me with left me no doubt this was a warning. “I’m just saying I’d hate to see you get mixed up with the wrong people.”

I smiled tightly. “Thanks for your concern. Now if you don’t mind…” I put my earbuds back in, dismissing him without a word. He gave me a forced smile before he walked away, and I felt his eyes on me until I finally walked out the door thirty minutes later.