“Will called me,” Brody interrupts. “He said you showed up at the casino, snooping around.” My stomach drops and my veins run cold. I glance sideways at Garett but his eyes are narrowed at the device in my hand. He looks murderous. “Imagine both of our surprise when we realized that if I wasn’t the one to send you, then someone else must have.”
My insides clench. I open my mouth and close it again. Uncertain of what to say.
“So, I’ll ask you again,wife.” His tone is low and threatening. I know that tone, usually it’s followed by pain. “Whothe fuckare you with?”
Before I can utter a single sound, the phone is ripped from my hand. I’m too stunned to react as Garett brings the phone up to his own face with a growl.
“She’s not yours anymore,” he snarls into the phone.
“There he is.” Brody’s snide voice carries back through the speaker. “I knew she was fucking around on me. Tell me, friend…” There’s nothing friendly about his words. “What’s your endgame here? Why seduce my wife? Why send her to spy?”
“I told you,friend.” The way Garett bites out the last word sends shivers down my spine. If I had any doubts before about his hate for my husband, this would solidify it. “She’s not your fucking wife anymore.”
“By law, she is.” Brody chuckles back at him. “My wife. My property. And you stole her. Just as I’m suspecting you tried toframe me for the whore that disappeared?”
Garett doesn’t answer. His silence says enough.
“Lame attempt to get rid of me,” Brody brags. “My lawyer had me out in a matter of hours. You’ll have to work harder than that.” His low laugh is full of malice.
“That can be arranged,” Garett grits out between clenched teeth, his knuckles turning white around the phone.
Brody laughs, his sinister chuckle bouncing off the tight confines of the enclosed space that I’m trapped in. My breathing is shallow and ragged as I attempt to remain calm despite my rising anxiety.
“I have a feeling Allison will come to her senses and come crawling back to me soon enough.” I swear Garett is clutching my phone so tight it’s cracking. “Especially, once she sees the consequences of this silly behavior. She’s a good wife. She’ll come back to our home, where she belongs, once she realizes just how dangerous this affair has become.”
I can’t take it any longer. Leaning across the center console, I grab Garett’s hand, pulling the phone toward my face. “What consequences? What are you talking about, Brody?”
“Oh, sweet wife.” His tone drips with condescension. “You didn’t think Will would notice that his new toy disappeared while you were here?”
My gaze clashes with Garett’s as fear begins to slither through my core. What the hell is Brody talking about?
“What did Will do?” Garett asks slowly, as if hesitant to even ask the question, knowing that the answer is probably one he doesn’t want to hear.
“You have cameras, don’t you?” Brody snarks through the speaker. “Oh, and Allison? Call me when you’re ready to be picked up. I’ll send a car.”
The phone clicks, telling me he’s hung up. Before I can even react, Garett is flying from the car. I swing my door wide,following as closely behind him as I can. His steps are much wider than mine, and I’m still in my mud splattered heels, meaning he quickly places distance between us.
“Luke!” he roars as he tears through the house and up the stairs.
“Fuck this,” I grumble as I stop to finally kick off my stupid heels. I take off running after him once I’m free of the oppressive footwear contraptions.
“What the hell is going on?” Luke mumbles as he comes down the hallway, pulling a shirt on over his bare chest.
I notice a slight slit of bare skin beneath. He’s muscular too, just leaner than Garett. His dark brown hair is messed up and his normally very stoic demeanor seems to have melted away slightly. He looks almost casual. Behind him, the two women slip from the open bedroom door. Both of them look slightly dazed but in a satisfied way that has my eyebrows hiking up my forehead.
Guess they reconnected.
“Brody called,” I tell Luke as we both head up the stairs, chasing Garett. The wooden treads are cool and slick beneath my bare feet. “He said something about consequences and Will noticing you took something.”
“Shit,” Luke grumbles before taking off, scaling the steps two at a time and running down the second story hall.
I follow after him, aware of Celeste and Liv behind me. I stop in the doorway of the control room, watching as the screens all show the same blurred static.
“What are you doing?” I ask as I hesitantly take a step inside, letting the two women behind me take my spot in the doorway. I glance behind me, noticing the way their fingers are intertwined as they hold hands, finding strength in each other.
“Rewinding,” Garett responds in a clipped tone. He’s clearly piecing something together that I haven’t caught on to.
“The room in the casino?” Luke asks with a hesitant look behind him. He and Celeste exchange a silent agreement, both nodding before looking toward their partner. Clearly, they’re worried how Liv will react to seeing some of this.
