Deliverance (The Maverick Defense #1) by L.A. Cotton, Jenny Siegel Page B

Something. Anything.
    “Baby, it’ll be the best damn feeling in the world.” Donnie slid the bag out of my grip and took out two small white pills, opened his mouth, and dropped them onto his tongue before taking out two more and holding them out in front of me.
    Seven months ago, I would have slapped his hand away and asked him what in the hell he thought he was playing at. I wasn’t that girl.
    Was I?
    I didn’t know anything anymore. But Donnie was right; I just wanted to forget. To lose myself in something other than my plight. Slowly, my mouth opened, and I wet my lips with my tongue. Donnie’s eyes lit up, and he inched the pills closer. I closed my eyes and waited.
    “Drink this,” he said pushing a cup into my hand. I guided it to my mouth and took a long pull, swallowing down the pills quickly before I had time to talk myself out of it.
    When I finally opened my eyes, Donnie was watching me.
    “Now what?” I asked.
    “Now, we wait.”

    Without thinking, I ripped open the bag and dropped three pills onto my tongue before snatching the bottle off the counter and washing them down with the rest of the vodka. The surge of alcohol against my raw insides caused me to grip the edge of the marble and the bottle shattered into a million pieces as it landed next to my feet.
    Surrounded by hundreds of tiny glass shards and the smell of desperation, I crumpled onto the floor and closed my eyes.
    What I had done?
    Blurred images rolled through my mind. Donnie’s wild eyes. Mikey’s frown of disapproval. The regret in Dawson’s stare as he watched Donnie demand that I return to his side. The images came faster … more confused. Dawson kissing me, Donnie holding me, arms tugging at me, trying to pull me closer.
    And then I felt it. The slow burn of euphoria. A subtle tingle built deep inside me, warming my stomach as I dropped my head back against the cabinet. The gentle vibrations grew into a wave of pleasure rolling through me until I felt as light as a feather and my body relaxed into the linoleum like a sponge.
    Warm.
    Happy.
    Peaceful.
    A wide smile spread across my face as I closed my eyes and lost myself to the high.
    Nothing could compare to this.
    Nothing.

S weat poured off me as I bent over, gripping the handle of the back door while I caught my breath. A run had seemed a good idea at the time, a way to clear my head and switch off, but now, covered in sweat and out of breath, I wondered why I put myself through this torture. As I pushed open the door, Lex nodded his head in greeting. He’d set up shop at the kitchen table and was frowning at something on the screen. When I left for my run earlier, he was on the phone to Aidan, his brother, asking him to look into Donnie’s uncle and his connections.
    “Mikey in?” I asked as I opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. Lex shook his head, and I leaned against the counter and downed half the bottle.
    “Something about checking on the garage.” Lex barely took his eyes off the screen.
    “How’s it going?”
    Pushing back from the table, he rocked the chair backward and folded his arms behind his head. The breath he exhaled gave away his frustration. “Slow. All I’m coming up with is what you already knew. Franco DeLuca was a small-time dealer making a quick buck extorting local businesses. Looks like Donnie officially stepped up running things when Franco died twenty months ago.”
    “What?” I paused mid slug. Pushing off the counter, I straddled one of the kitchen chairs and stared at him.
    “Yeah. You sound surprised.”
    “I am. It’s just … fuck, I don’t know. I never thought he’d step up to the plate, especially not after what happened to us … to me.” I pushed up from the chair. “I’m going to take a shower.”
    After a long, hot shower, I felt better, cleaner, but still couldn’t get my head around what Lex had told me. Donnie was running things. He hated drugs, hated his family’s business, and he had been