It was after he’d let me touch him for the first time.Reallytouch him… afteryearsof not being allowed to touchanyone.
‘Uhm, here. I got you this.’His little cheeks had turned that warm, shy shade of pink that I had become hopelessly obsessed with.
‘It’s not much..’he’d whispered as he handed it to me, his large brown eyes full of trust and affection. ‘Not much,’he’d said… but couldn’t he see that it waseverything?
He was everything.
Watching Melanie hold the one piece of him that I’d had to carry with me always between her cold, bony fingers made me so angry I wanted to fucking scream.
What were they going to do to him when he got here?
If they touched him, I would find a way to destroy every single fucking person involved… I didn’t care if it took the rest of my days on this earth.
I would ruin themall.
“If you fucking hurt him, I willkill you,”I hissed, but Melanie just laughed.
“Worry about yourself, Mr. Reynolds. You’re not exactly in any position to be making threats right now.”
I opened my mouth to tell her exactly what I planned to do to her if I ever got free, when the wrecked elevatordinged,and the mangled doors screeched and groaned closed.
The little green arrow pointing ‘up’ lit up, and my body locked up in horror as I realized what was happening.
“Hm… they’re earlier than I was expecting,” Grey mused, glancing down at the needle he’d yet to stick me with.
Melanie shrugged and leaned her hip against the chair, and I watched as she fastened Milo’s chilli pepper to a key chain next to a fob for a brand new Neurocar.
She caught me staring and jingled the ring mockingly in my face.
“I told you Luke was generous with my bonus. My new N-car is only one of the perks of my new role as COO.” She winked at me, and I clenched my fists as the elevator began its descent.
The green ‘up’ arrow was now red, and I knew it would only be a few more moments before Milo was down here with me, and there wasnothingI could fucking do about it.
“You should kill me,” I growled, meeting Melanie’s gaze head-on as the rage I’d worked so hard to keep locked in my chest since the death of my father finally broke free. “Because if I ever get out of here, I will fucking destroy you.”
“Oh, Mr. Reynolds. You’re not going anywhere… Isn’t that what you always told Milo?” she asked, leaning in close enough that her hair brushed over my chest, and I shuddered with revulsion. She gave me a hateful smile, and I snarled at her, imagining what it would feel like to wrap my hands around her delicate throat andsqueeze.
“You’re never leaving here… and neither is he. Together forever. How romantic,” she beamed, and I lunged for her, ignoring the burn and tear of my skin against my restraints in my desperation to break her fuckingneck…
Then, the elevator let out that sickeningdingagain, and I froze.
“J-jay?”
Ice sheeted over my flesh as the voice of the man I’d been foolish enough to fall in love with rolled through the room.
NOVA play: All I Wanted by Paramore
The world felt like it fell away the second the doors to the elevator opened. I’d seen the bullet holes but refused to allow myself to consider what they might mean.
I needed eyes on Jay.
Ineededto know that he was okay—that he wasn’t hurt.
The second my gaze found him, a strangled sob burst through my throat. My body moved on instinct, and I threw myself forward, fighting Sebastian’s impossibly strong grip on my wrists.
“Jay!” I cried, trying to get to him.
Had they hurt him?
