Every calculation I’d made, every contingency, evaporated in one fucking instant.
Benny’s voice on the other end rises, incredulous. “They are screening all his last visitors. If I get implicated in this, I am fucking screwed. Everything’s gone to shit.”
“Yeah,” I mutter, teeth grinding. “Every last bit.” My stomach twists. Chloe. She’s innocent. Oblivious to all the games that brought her here. To all the men like me she’s been dragged into. And because her father fucked everything up, because of his cowardice, she’s now a bigger target.
With no other Ashford in sight, my uncle will hunt Chloe down like a fucking animal.
Fuck!
I wish I could go back, rewind, and do it differently. I wish I could bring her dad back and make him suffer, make him pay for everything. But that’s impossible. He’s gone, and now it’s my responsibility to move, to think, to protect.
I end the call without answering Benny’s next question, quietly slipping back inside. The mattress is quiet. Chloe has shifted onto her stomach, curled in on herself like she’s still holding on to the remnants of a dream. I take a silent breath and nudge Jamie’s shoulder. He stirs, groggy, and I gesture for him to follow me.
We step outside into the night air, the quiet broken only by the wind and distant traffic. I pace a few steps before finally speaking. “Everything’s fucked,” I admit, voice low, almost swallowed by the night.
Then I explain everything to him.
Jamie swears under his breath, running a hand through his hair. “Shit. Shit. That means—” His words trail off, but I know exactly what he’s imagining.
“Yeah,” I say, bitter. “She’s a bigger target now. We don’t have a lot of time.”
Jamie’s gaze hardens. “So what do we do?”
I pull out my phone again, thumbs hovering over the screen. “Call X. Maybe he knows someone who can transport her out. Even illegally, if it comes to that. We can’t keep her in Pointe. We move her immediately. We figure out a plan before anyone even knows Matthew’s gone.”
Jamie nods slowly, his jaw tight. “I wish you had told me what you were planning on. Did you forget just how badly the lasttime you kidnapped her went? This is such a mess. I think I can get X to help but I don’t know how long that would take. I’m pretty sure…”
“Dead,” she whispers, voice small, trembling.
I glance back at the building, the faint shadow of Chloe still visible through the window. She’s sitting up, almost a ghost against the bed. Shit! We hadn’t realized she was awake, hadn’t realized she’d heard everything.
I freeze for a moment, searching her face. She’s flushed from sleep, hair sticking in soft tufts, eyes wide and shining. She looks smaller, more fragile than ever, but there’s something else in her gaze—a mixture of fear, understanding, and something that makes my chest tighten.
Jamie steps forward, protective, but I raise a hand. “Baby, it’s about time you learn the truth.”
31
Chloe
Theyreleasemyhandsfrom the cuffs. I rub my wrists but that’s the least amount of pain I feel. I’m numb. I pull my cardigan tighter around me, the fabric thin and inadequate against the chill creeping through the cabin.
I can’t look at either of them, and not remember every touch, every whispered lie that has twisted my world inside out. All this fucking time, and I had no idea.
Miles. I questioned myself earlier, not wanting to believe that he was my kidnapper last school year. But it was him. He’s destroyed the only semblance of safety I thought I had.
Jamie. I’d thought he was separate from this, clean somehow, but he had known. He had let it happen.
I stop mid-step, jaw tight, stomach in knots. My father. My dad is dead. I can’t wrap my head around it. I don’t think he committed suicide, I think that’s just what they’re calling it. And now, to realize that Miles and his uncle had been part of the chain that led here? It’s like my world is tilting, like gravity has betrayed me, and the air is too thick to breathe.
Jamie shifts behind me, voice careful. “Chloe.”
I whip around, pointing an accusing finger. “You knew! You knew about this and you let it happen. And for what? All for… money!” My voice is raw, jagged, slicing through the cabin like glass.
“Baby, I didn’t—” he starts, but I cut him off.
“Don’t bullshit me, Jamie! Don’t pretend you didn’t know! You were part of this. You stood on the sidelines, Jamie. You don’t give two fucks about me!” My hands are trembling, I can’t stop them. I cover my ears, trying to block the world, trying to stop the spinning in my head. “I need… I need to leave!” I scream, and the sound ricochets off the walls.
Jamie takes a step forward, hands raised in some sort of placation. “Chloe, please, calm down. Just listen—”
