Stolen from the Hitman: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance by Alexis Abbott, Alex Abbott Page B

male voice somewhere to our left. I open my eyes to see one of Will’s friends taking Maggie by the hand and letting her slump against him. She’s still conscious and grinning, but her expression is dazed. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I see a warning sign flashing dimly in the darkness.
    “ D’accord ,” Will replies. “We’re coming, too. Aren’t we, Olivia?”
    I manage to fight my way through the numbing sensation to push off of him slightly and reply, “Oh, I think we’d better get back to our apartment, actually. I have training early in the morning, and it looks like Maggie’s about done for the night, anyway.”
    “Nonsense,” my sloshed roommate slurs, waving her hand dismissively. “I’m good!”
    “ Oui , you are, baby,” murmurs the guy holding her up. He leans down to kiss her and to my shock she simply accepts it, kissing him back.
    “Yeah, we’d better get going,” I interrupt, reaching for Maggie’s arm. But the guy pulls her away, the two of them all but limping out the door and onto the street. I try to follow after, but I keep stumbling, suddenly realizing just how deeply fucked-up I am.
    “Whoa, there. Wait for me,” Will remarks with a chuckle as he comes up behind me and pins me to his side with a strong arm around my shoulders. We walk out of the bar and I see a black car pulled up to the pavement. Will’s friend is pouring Maggie into the backseat and climbing in after her, beckoning for us to follow.
    My head is swimming, alarm bells ringing. “No, no. I’m not going. I’ve gotta get back home. Right now,” I balk, planting my feet firmly on the sidewalk even as I sway slightly. Will nudges my back, pushing me toward the open door of the black vehicle.
    “Without your friend?” Will reasons. “How’re you gonna leave without her?”
    “I don’t know,” I murmur, fumbling in my pockets, unable to find my phone. I have no idea where it’s gone, so I can’t call anyone to come get me. I haven’t exchanged any of my money for euro yet, so I can’t buy a taxi ride back to the apartment. And I’m realizing just how far away I am — I’ll never be able to walk all the way back home. I’m stuck.
    “Don’t worry,” Will says, his breath hot at my ear as he steers me toward the car. “If you don’t wanna go to the party, it’s fine. We’ll just drop you off at your apartment on the way, alright? I won’t let you go home all by yourself in the middle of the night. It’s not safe out there.”
    Without any other alternative, and with the pounding clouds of oblivion gathering in my drunken brain, I allow him to push me toward the open door, feeling like I’m stepping through a dark portal to a world from which I may never return again.

6
    Max
    I step out of the black sedan and into the morning sunlight that’s lighting up the whole city as it wakes. The university will soon be bustling with activity as always, the streets around and within the campus teeming with fresh-faced or dreary-eyed students, as well as faculty, like myself.
    But I arrive on campus a few hours before most of the activity really gets started. I always do. Before the rest of the faculty arrives, and long before the students begin to show up, I make my rounds about the facilities I’ve been put in charge of.
    I stride into the gymnasium proper, breathing in the air of the training facility and enjoying the moment of peace before the hustle of the day that will be starting before much longer. There’s something about the inside of a gym even more peaceful than the world outside, something unique to this place in particular.
    I know what it is, though I dare not dwell on it long. This place has become something of a refuge for me. A shrine where I can distance myself from the past and maybe earn some absolution for the things I still remember, the things that still keep me up some nights.
    “ Bonjour , Max,” greets Marcel, one of the custodians who is finishing cleaning the floors