And in one second, she threw all of that to the side because she saw something she shouldn’t have.
He must be crushed.
He confided what his ex-had done to him and she still acted so carelessly.
Oh god.
She gulped in water, tried to shift her legs under her to change position.Her legs needed to flex.Being in the same position for so long made her muscles scream.
“Here, let me loosen these,” Carter gave over and loosened the nylon strap they had tied around her knees.“It won’t be long now.You look so weak,” he leaned in to kiss her.She did her best not to flinch at the sour smell of his breath.
“Carter.I need to talk to you, now,” Jared said.He opened the door.Josie was pretty sure the door led to a garage.So, was she in a basement or living room?She still didn't know.
But the two men stepped outside.Josie pressed her fingers at the side of her temples.
If Ares worked in a profession where he had to make life and death decisions, if he was a doctor…would she feel the same?
You’re being silly.
But thinking kept her occupied, gave her a distraction she needed while she still had consciousness.
It was okay to be choosy about a partner.
Everybody had limits.
Josie guffawed.She’d been exceeding the limits other people had put on her, her whole life.But she was bad at accepting there were things she couldn’t do.
Like, when she took her cane out it was a lot easier than not having a mobility aid.
When she finally gives up the dream of working in a high-end restaurant because though she could do it, the physical demand of that job…
Felt tiring.
Maybe this realization was only because of the drugs flooding her body but it was true.
Her mother was right.
Her friends were right.
It was okay not to struggle.
Her body protested as she shifted, trying to stretch her legs.
That’s what being in Ares’s ropes did too.It gave her permission to just be.To not fight against anything for once, to surrender.
Leaning forward, with her hands on her knees, she spotted her phone across the room.She swallowed down bile in her throat.Could she get it before they came back?They weren’t the brightest kidnappers, letting her keep her phone.If she got kidnapped because of her client list…she giggled.
It was too funny; it couldn't be real.
Her palms grew sweaty, holding her breath, she willed herself to reach for the phone.But she heard a thump, and laid back against the couch, clutching her stomach.The door flew open and Carter swept into the room, his hands in fists.
“He’s not touching you!Who does he think he is?Do you know he invested in my restaurant because I couldn't raise enough capital not even with the money my parents gave me?This isn’t the first time we’ve done this.I hate people who think I’m stupid.”
Josie swallowed, trying to keep herself still.She felt her legs cramping.She desperately wanted to move them but she didn’t want Carter to stop his rant.
“I know what that’s like,” Josie said.
Carter laughed, clapping his hands together.“I guess you do!See we are going to be a good match,” he sat down on the end of the couch.“I met him in college, you know.We would have fun with a girl.We would drug her and do what we wanted with her and the next day he'd always take her to a restaurant and pretend like nothing happened.When I told him you kept telling me no, he said why don’t we do what we did in college?I had to give it a try.You’re going to hate me, aren’t you?”His grubby hands were on her, shaking her awake.
