I smile. It's not a nice smile.
"Then we'll be at the cabin for a very long time.”
23
JADE
His words echo in my head, making me panic.
“Cabin? What the fuck is he talking about?”
“You’ll see.”
"No, let me out!”
“Calm down.”
I’m panicking. I can’t breathe.
"This is insane," I say, hating the tremor in my voice. "You know that, right? You're literally kidnapping me.”
"I'm taking you somewhere we can talk without interruption."
I should have known. Should have seen through his calm agreement, his easyfine, I'll drive you. Phoenix Crawford doesn't surrender. He doesn't let things go. He doesn't lose gracefully.
He takes what he wants and deals with the consequences later.
And right now, apparently, he wants me.
"Without my consent!"
"You would never have agreed."
"Because it's crazy!"
He shrugs. One shoulder, casual, like we're debating where to get dinner. "Maybe."
I want to slap him. Want to claw at his face until that infuriating calm cracks and I can see something real underneath. Fear. Doubt. Anything.
Instead, I press myself harder against the passenger door, as far from him as the confined space will allow.
"People will look for me," I say. "My mother. My friends. When I don't come home?—"
"You told your mother you were in California with a man she already hates. She'll assume you're being irresponsible. It'll be days before she worries enough to act."
He's right. God help me, he's right.
Mom warned me. Warned me about men like him: men who use money and charm and isolation to trap women. And I walked right into it. Flew across the country and let him dress me up and parade me around, and now I'm in a car heading God knows and no way out.
Stupid. So fucking stupid.
"The investors," I try. "They saw me leave with you. If something happens to me?—"
"Nothing is going to happen to you." For the first time, his voice carries an edge. "I'm not going to hurt you, Jade. I would never hurt you."
"You're hurting me right now!"
"No. I'm refusing to let you make a decision you'll regret."
