I laugh, because it’s the only response that makes sense. “I––I can’t just—”
“I’m serious. I’m just trying to help.”
“I can see that.” I step around him and grab a pen from the counter. “You want to help? Great. Here.” I scribble a few names—the ones of lawyers who’d already said no—and hold the list out to him. “Help me find someone who’ll actually pick up the phone.”
He doesn’t take it.
Instead, he sets the paper down on the table and says quietly, “Chloe. Listen to me. You need to pack. And you need to leave with me.”
My laugh dies.
“What?”
“Please,” he says, voice breaking a little. “Just—trust me.”
“Jamie, what the hell is going on?”
He starts pacing long, tight strides that make the air in the room feel smaller. “I can’t explain everything. You just have to listen to me, alright?”
“No,” I snap. “You show up here, out of nowhere, looking like you know something I don’t, and you’re telling me to flee the country? You don’t get to say ‘trust me’ and expect me to follow.”
He runs a hand through his hair, muttering something under his breath. Then he stops in front of me, breathing hard. “Please, Chloe. Just pack a damn bag.”
I shake my head. “No. You’re scaring me.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“By what? Kidnapping me? I’m not getting kidnapped. Not again.”
His head jerks up. That hits something. He steps closer, and suddenly his hands are on my shoulders. “Don’t say that.”
“Then tell me what’s going on!”
“I can’t!”
He moves faster than I expect. He grabs my wrist when I try to pull away, pushes me back against the wall. The air leaves my lungs in a sharp gasp.
“Jamie—”
“Stop fighting me,” he says through gritted teeth. “This is for your own good.”
My heart kicks hard, panic rising like fire in my throat. “You’re hurting me!”
“Just listen!”
His fingers dig in. I can’t breathe. My mind flashes back to the blindfold, the rough hands, the dark smell of that room, and suddenly I’m not here anymore. I’m back there, terrified and powerless.
“Please,” I gasp. “Let me go.”
“Listen, baby,” he says, softer now but no less desperate. “I want to keep you safe. We need to keep you safe.”
“We?” My voice cracks. “Who the fuck iswe?”
And then I see a flicker of guilt in his eyes. The hesitation. The name hits me before he can answer.
“Miles,” I whisper.
“Look—”
