If they’ve done that, then what else have they done?
And now I’m back to my logic of why I brought her here, to the house my parents own in Blackwater.
Clearly, she wasn’t safe in her dorm anymore, and it’s not as though I could have brought her to the cottage.
Well, I could have, but that would mean too many questions for me to deal with, and I honestly have no idea how I would answer such questions.
I take a deep breath and remove the mask from my face. I slide my fingers through my hair and take one final breath before opening the door to face Gracie.
FORTY-FIVE
GRACIE
The door opens, and there stands Noah.
Without the mask, this time.
I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to act surprised? Shocked? Upset? Angry?
Well, anger I can certainly do.
I glare over at him, and he frowns at my reaction.
Because of course, he does.
He was probably expecting me to either cry out in relief at a familiar face or be screaming with rage at the fact that it was him all of this time.
But I do none of that, because I’m honestly sick of the theatrics and tired of trying to keep up appearances.
“Hey,love,” he says, emphasizing the nickname as though he’s trying to drive home the point of who he is, and I just continue to scowl in his direction.
“I know you’re probably surprised, and I—” he starts, but I cut him off.
“You fuckingkidnappedme.”
If possible, he frowns even harder at that. “Look, I know you’re confused, but you should listen to what I have to say firstbefore you make a decision,” he says and takes a deep breath. “I’m y?—”
I cut him off again, simply because at this point, aggravating him is all I have left.
“You scooped me up outside of my building, put a bag over my head, dumped me in the trunk of your car andkidnapped me,” I say, my voice a little hysterical because seriously, what the fuck?
He sighs again, this time with a look of sympathy crossing his features. “I know this is crazy, I know that. But if you would just listen to me for five minutes, I’ll explain everything, okay?”
He looks so hopeful with those puppy dog eyes staring at me and I shake my head.
“No.”
“No?” he asks, his brows raising up to his hairline.
“No,” I deadpan. “You do not get to explain why you stalked me, wore a mask to hide the fact it was you who was fucking me and then used that fact to get closer to me before we started dating. You don’t get to explain yourself about all of that Noah because I’m pissed at you. I know you’re unhinged. Iknowthat, but your weird obsessive tendencies don’t give you a right to do what you’ve done to me.” My voice is shrill now, and I take a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down, cursing as I go to rub a hand over my face but can’t because he freaking handcuffed me to the bed.
“You do not get to explain your fucked up logic and reasons for why you did what you did. Do you have any idea how that felt? And on top of everything else, you picked me off the street and dumped me in the trunk of your car. Do you have any idea of what was running through my mind? You know as well as I do that our families have people who would love to hurt us. I didn’t know if it was you or someone else, and can you imagine how fucking scary that was? Now, you can either uncuff me from thisbed and let me go, or so help me God, Noah, Iwillmake your life a living hell.”
He takes a step back, as though my words were a physical blow before his face completely shutters and gone is the Noah I know and love, in his place is… darkness.
That’s all I can describe it as. His features have hardened, and there’s a feral glint in his eyes that doesn’t belong. He prowls towards me with both his jaw and fists clenched.
“Now, let’s get one thing straight, love,” he says, his voice deep and guttural. “You will not leave. Not here, and certainly not me. You are mine, you have always been mine and you willalways be mine, do you understand that, Gracie? Because I’m beginning to think that maybe I haven’t been very clear with my intentions.”
