I take a shaky step back, feeling overwhelmed by their closeness. “W-what is my brother doing here?” My eyes bounce between them, hoping to God my brother has this all wrong and one of them will tell me the truth. Because they feel it too, what we have is something, this isn’t a lie.
Asher moves through the room, closing the gap between us. I try to take another step back but hit the wall. He searches my face, concern etched into his features. He holds out a hand for me to take. “You shouldn’t be snooping, little princess.”
I stay where I am, not ready to just leave with them so easily when I have no clue what’s going on. “Answer me.” I plead with my eyes for him to give me any small snippet of information he can.
“We don’t have time for this shit. We need to leave now.” Cruz’s voice is harsher than I’m used to hearing from him. He looks deranged and on the edge of losing control completely. Today, that look sends fear rocketing through me. Until now, I never thought he would hurtme. But I’m not sure I ever really knew him at all. He was just showing me the side he thought I wanted to see, not the truth.
Jagger forced them to show me the truth today, but that in itself could have been a trick to isolate me and turn me against my family.
“Hard way it is.” Asher takes me by the waist and tosses me over his shoulder like I weigh nothing.
“Asher,” I growl out a warning. But if he hears me, he doesn’t care. He marches me past the security guard with me kicking and screaming for him to let me go. “Put me down.”
“What the fuck has gotten into you?” he mutters, trying to control my flailing limbs.
“I don’t want to go back to the apartment. Take me to The Raven’s Nest,” I cry as he hurries down a long corridor into the underground parking lot I came in through earlier.
Cruz opens doors for him, and he shoves me in the back seat of Jagger’s Range Rover, closing me inside. Nope, not just closing me inside. When I try for the handle, I find, sure enough, I’m locked in. Then Cruz gets in the front beside Asher. He tosses a blanket at me. “Lie down and cover yourself with that,” he tells me.
I stare back at the two of them, tears streaming down my cheeks. “Not until one of you tell me what on earth is going on.”
Cruz’s eyes meet mine, and his face softens, seeming to remember he’s talking to me. He reaches his hand out for me, holding it just far enough away that he’s not touching me. “I don’t want to scare you, little darlin’, but right now, it’s important that you don’t ask questions and you listen to us.” He keeps his hand out, waiting for me to take it.
I swallow the lump in my throat, not sure what to do. My brother says I should run. But the passion in Cruz’s eyes tells me he would burn the world for me alone.
“We need you to trust us, Daisy.” His fingertips brush my knee softly, like I’m a timid horse about to bolt.
I don’t flinch away. I can’t, because even though I’m scared, my body trusts him. “It’s hard after what I have seen today,” I whisper.
“All for you.” His fingers brush my knee again, then slowly he moves them higher. I let him intertwine our hands. Deep down inside, I know he’s telling me the truth. He was trying to keep me safe.
“I’m scared,” I admit.
“We’re doing everything we can to keep you safe, princess, please just trust us.” Asher’s voice is strained with almost a hint of pain.
Is this nice-guy act all just them playing a part so they can use me? For what I don’t know, money from my family maybe? Leverage with my papa? I have no clue, but right now I have no choice but to comply, and I need it to look like I still trust them because all my stuff is at their apartment, and I know I can’t go anywhere without it. I nod and lie down. Taking the blanket from Cruz, I place it over myself. Bide your time, Daisy, and as soon as their backs are turned, run like the fucking wind.
Chapter 35
Harden My Heart
I’mrushedfromthecar back into the elevator and back into our apartment with no chance of escape because the two of them are right there by my side the entire time, and I know like this, I can’t outrun them. Jagger was right behind us on his bike and followed us the entire way home. I feel their protection, or is it really protection? Maybe all this time I have been a hostage, not protected by them, but kidnapped and guarded twenty-four seven so I can’t escape.
The more I think it, the more my ridiculous scenario makes sense. I’m a hostage. Jagger’s words from the cabin in the woods come back to me: “Every relationship is a business deal of some sort. Anarrangement where one person or the other, sometimes both, trade something they want for what the other is willing to give.”
But this isn’t a trade, at least not a fair one. He’s getting something out of it, all right. My guess is money, probably auctioning me off to the highest bidder. And what, he started building a relationship with me to earn my trust? Is that what this thing is with all of them? That thought is like thousands of tiny knives stabbing at my heart. I’m so stupid for falling for them, for believing my life could be better. If my own papa wants to sell me off, why would three bikers give two shits about me? The only answer is they wouldn’t. My brother is the only one I can trust.
I can’t breathe any better when I get inside the apartment and they close the door. One of them says something to me, but I don’t hear it. I need to get away from them. I practically run through the apartment, heading right for my room. Once inside, I pop my headphones on and find a playlist. Sinking down to the floor of my room, I cradle my knees up to my chest.
Why was my brother at The Precinct? The only explanation was it was some sort of business deal gone wrong. The Stryker brothers were supposed to hand me over to him, but they refused. I’m sure it’s not my imagination running wild. I saw them fighting, with Dante being kicked out of the bar. And his words to me over the phone: “You can’t trust them, they are using you. I was an idiot for ever thinking they could be trusted with your life.”Something more sinister is at play here. Something Dante was trying to warn me about, but he couldn’t because he was at The Precinct at the time.
I turn the music up, trying to block out all the uncertain thoughts. I feel sick in the stomach but numb all over at the same time. Who the hell do I trust? The boys tell me it’s them, they have since the start, but Dante has always looked out for me, been my strength whenI was falling apart, and I’m sure he was the one who helped rid me of Valentine. He’s my brother, my blood, my family, and I know I have to listen to him. I need to escape the Stryker brothers’ clutches before it’s too late.
With shaky legs, I move into the closet and find my duffle bag, shoving in as many clothes as I can, followed by my passport and the wad of cash I have been saving from the club. Then, I rush into the bathroom and grab a bag of toiletries and slip them into the bag as well. Zipping it up, I leave it in the closet, knowing I have to bide my time. There is no escaping them in the middle of the day. I have to wait until their guard is down. Tonight, when they are all asleep, I will make my escape. Get on the first bus I find and get as far away from Ravens Hollow as I can. Then maybe I can call Dante to come and rescue me. But right now, I can’t think that far ahead.
When I walk back into my room, Cruz is waiting for me. I flinch, my body so on edge I don’t know how to react around him anymore. I shove my headphones off my ears and try to stop the trembling of my hands.
Like he knows it, he keeps his distance and drops his gaze away from me. There is something about the slight movement that’s unnerving when his gaze is normally permanently on me. “The massage lady from the day spa is here for your appointment. I didn’t want you to miss out.”
