Deciding I don’t want to be groped any more than necessary, I lean forward and tell him, “Right back pocket.”
He grunts in response and quickly pulls it out. For a second, I think I’ve gotten away with my watch again, but he searches my wrists and finds it. The other manfinds Elias’s phone and rolls the window down a few inches, tossing away all three devices from the SUV, and with them our only chance at the others finding us and getting out of this nightmare.
CHAPTER THIRTY
WREN
It doesn’t take me long to figure out where we’re going—to the very place we were about to break into. The guys might be able to figure out that we’ve been taken here. The problem is, they have no idea how to hack the system or use any of Elias’s tech.
I take a deep breath as the panic starts to rise, realizing how screwed we are. By taking Elias as well, these men unknowingly foiled our only hope of rescue.
Moving slowly so they don’t hit me, I lower myself to the floor and pull Elias’s head into my lap. He has a cut on his temple, and I use the sleeve of my jacket to try to clean it up. It’s not ideal, but it’s all I have since my crop top and jeans don’t give me much better options.
A loud sound has me looking out the front windshield, where a pair of tall metal gates slowly pull apart, and we drive between them and into Robert’s compound.
At least it’s not Ivan who’s caught me. Maybe I can talk some sense into Robert, remind him that I’m his sister. We’re family, after all. But a nagging voice, one that sounds a lotlike some persistent men I know, tells me I’m being delusional.
Elias lets out a soft groan, and I stroke his face gently, letting him know I’m here.
His eyes slowly blink open, and when he sees me hunched over him, my face a few inches above his, a look of surprise and something else sparks in his eyes.
“Am I dreaming?” he whispers, but as he tries to lift his hand to touch my face, he realizes they’re bound together, his eyes widening in surprise and fear.
“More like a nightmare,” I tell him as he glances around our SUV. When he sees the gun aimed at him, he quickly sits up. When the gun follows his movement, he moves away from me, putting distance between us.
At first, I’m confused as to why he’s pulling away from me, but then I realize it’s the gun he’s trying to keep off me. I move off the floor to sit in the seat so I can see where we’re going, just as we come to a stop right outside the front doors of the main house.
The side door opens, and three men stand there, with guns at the ready. I suck in a sharp breath at so many weapons aimed my way, and Elias quickly gets on his knees in front of me, clearly trying to shield me.
The other man in the back with us leans forward with a knife and cuts the zip tie around Elias’s ankles. “Out you get, and no funny business or we’ll take it out on the girl.”
Elias glares at the man over his shoulder, but does as he says. Even with his hands bound, he makes it look easy. The man gestures for me to go next, and Elias reaches back with his bound hands to help me down. He tries to keep my hand in his, but he’s pushed forward.
He stumbles but recovers before he falls. We are quickly escorted up the front steps and into the house.
Six people surround us, and I see at least another five scattered around. There was no way we could try to escape right now.
I tug my jacket closed and wrap my arms around myself as I follow behind Elias. I take in the ornate house. It reminds me a lot of our home in Arizona.His home. It was never really mine. There were never any pieces of me in that house.
An opulent chandelier hangs over the center of the foyer, its crystals catching the light and scattering it across the marble floor in fractured rainbows. The air smells of polished wood, and the atmosphere feels sterile and cold. I wonder if Arizona had felt that way, too, and I just hadn’t seen it.
The men in suits flank us, silent but heavy with the weight of their weapons. Their footsteps echo against the tile, too loud in the hollow quiet. My heart thuds in time with them.
We turn down a hallway lined with paintings of random items, a vase full of flowers, and a basket of fruit. The frames are gilded, the kind that demand to be looked at, and for a second, I hate how beautiful everything is. It’s a kind of beauty that hides rot underneath. Being here is like seeing my old life in a new light, like my rose-colored glasses have finally been removed, showing me the real environment I was living in.
My shoes sink into a long Persian rug, muffling the sound of our steps. Every few feet, a sconce throws a pool of gold light against the dark walls, and I catch glimpses of mirrors.
Elias walks steadily ahead of me, shoulders squared, posture calm. But when he glances back at me, I see the tightness in his jaw, the way his eyes hold a determined glintthat tells me he will fight like hell to get us out of herewhen the time is right.
We stop in front of a set of double doors. One of the guards pushes them open, and warm light spills out.
The sitting room looks like something from an old movie: velvet chairs, a fire already burning, the faint hum of classical music drifting from a record player.
And then I seehim.
Robert sits near the fireplace, one leg crossed over the other, a tumbler of amber liquid in his hand. He looks older, even though it’s only been a month since I’ve seen him, but it feels like I’ve lived an entire life in that time.
Someone shoves my shoulder, and I step forward until I’m standing beside Elias.
