Who am I kidding? My curiosity is killing me already.
I have to deliberately take my time instead of jumping up from the couch and rushing to the bedroom for privacy before checking the message. Acting normal, because nobody else knows, because nobody else is in my head, freaking out with adrenaline pounding through their veins. Only me. I have to remember that.
Once I’m alone, I pull the phone out and open the message. Immediately, my body goes cold, like I just jumped into ice water.
You have three minutes before the power is cut.
“What?” I whisper. My hand starts trembling hard enough that I can barely read the rest. I have to use both hands to hold the phone steady.
There is a utility closet at the end of the hall, to the right of the door leading into the cell. Inside that closet is a panel which opens onto a back staircase. It can only be opened from theinside, meaning you have to open it. My team will take care of the rest.
Christ, no. I lean against the door and almost slide down to the floor, shaking my head, shaking all over. I can’t do that. His team? He has a team again all of a sudden? It was one thing for me to pretend I didn’t know he was still alive, but I sure as hell didn’t know he was, like, rebuilding his empire or whatever. And now he wants me to help him? Why would I ever do that? Even to Liam, even after what he’s done to me.
I’ve never said anything back to him. He has no way of knowing I’m even reading his messages. For the first time, I respond.
No. I can’t.
It only hits me after I’ve sent the message that he thinks he knows me so well. That all he has to do is snap his fingers and I will jump and agree to whatever he says. He didn’t even know for sure that I would see this within the three minutes of him sending it, did he?
But I did, didn’t I? Maybe I am predictable, after all.
Another message comes in almost instantly.I thought you might say that.
Then, a video clip comes through. I don’t want to watch. Everything inside me tells me not to watch, that I’m only giving Dad what he wants. I’m playing right into his hands and being as predictable as he believes I am.
I’m also an idiot. Curiosity won’t let me go without hitting play.
The video fills the screen. There are four faces in front of me. The sight of Selina makes me grind my teeth. I recognize the other two guys as people Liam works with. I saw them the first night. Liam is sitting in his office—I recognize the window behind him.
Selina tips her head to the side and narrows her eyes. “If I didn’t know better, I would say you plan on breaking your arrangement with Gabriel Russo. He still expects a bride out of this.”
A bride?
Liam scowls. “He’ll get his bride. We made a deal, and I’ll uphold my end of it.”
“You sure about that?” Selina asks. She’s so nasty and suggestive, just like she was while we were in the kitchen.
“Did I stutter?” he snaps. “The plan is still in place. Aurora is his once this is all over.”
That’s it. That’s where the clip ends. It’s dated less than a week ago. The night I woke up with a tracker implanted, come to think of it.
I don’t understand. None of it makes any sense! He just asked me two days ago to stay with him, to be his teammate. That’s after he originally handed me some bullshit story about helping me find freedom by faking my death. He never intended to make good on any of it. He was always going to sell me to Gabriel Russo, the way Dad originally planned.
I’m still reeling, fighting back frustrated tears, when another message comes through.What do you think now? Will you open that door?
He knows I will. It’s either side with Dad now, or wait to be sold by someone who pretended to care. The laptop, the promises, all of the things we’ve shared. It meant nothing.
Liam lied to me. He’s been lying all this time. How can he live with himself?
That’s not my problem. My only problem is doing the job I’ve been assigned.
OK. I’ll be there.I hit send before I can change my mind, then release a shaky breath. This is going to be bad. Terrible.
And it’s what the bastard deserves. For lying. For using me. For acting like we were ever on the same team.
When the lights go out and the ever-present hum of electricity goes eerily silent, chaos breaks out.
Of course, the elevator would be down now. That’s why they took the staircase I didn’t even know about. I open the bedroom door and almost get run over by Liam, jogging down the hall in the dark. “Stay where you are!” he barks at me on his way past.
