“Wait… you don’t even have a sister, do you? Oh my God, was any of it real?”
He shrugged, his amusement not quite reaching his eyes. “Could have a sister. My mother was a whore and all that.” The casual cruelty in his tone made my skin crawl.
I gritted my teeth, trying to keep myself calm. “Ryder. Give me a phone.”
For a moment he simply watched me, weighing how far I might push. Then, slow and deliberate, he flicked the knife closed and opened a desk drawer. “Take this, but be quick.”
Grabbing the phone before he changed his mind, I stepped back as Ryder returned his attention to his many screens.
The phone was as basic as they came, with buttons rather than a touch screen. There was no internet access or anything other than a way to call or send SMS. Dialling Bug’s number from memory, it immediately clicked straight to her voicemail. Which wasn’t a surprise considering she probably had her music up to max while sculpting.
“Bug, it’s me. I need you to cancel my class, and…” My mind stalled. What do I even say? “Just… there’s something I need to take care of, so I won’t be home for a few days.” I glanced sideways, finding Ryder watching me from the corner of his eye. “I’m safe, don’t worry. I just?—”
The screen on Ryder’s left flashed, revealing my flat. Two men stood there, opening my door with an ease as if they had a key.
“Bug, I have to go. I’ll call you when I can, okay?” I hung up quickly and stepped closer to the screen, pulse hammering as the men vanished inside. Then the feed went black. “Wait… where did it go?”
“Signals been going in and out,” Ryder said evenly. “Possible they’ve got a jammer.”
“We should call the police.”
“And what are they going to do?” He turned to fully face me. “See, this is why I didn’t want to give you a phone. You honestly believe the police would lift a finger to untangle whatever shit your mum’s dragged you into? Half of the force are on the take, and the other half are either too scared, or corrupt as fuck.”
“She hasn’t got herself involved in anything. She’s sick?—”
“Yeah, right. Tell that to Cedric, the guy I left hogtied in your bedroom. I’m sure the police will find thatreeealkinky. By the way, he’s not just a thief; he does wet work too. But go ahead, call them. See how this all plays out.”
“Wet work?” I repeated, my voice barely above a whisper.
Ryder rolled his eyes, as if I was a child asking why the sky was blue. “He’s the sort of guy that if you hired him to steal a ring, he’d bring you the entire finger, still bleeding.”
I immediately rang 999.
“Hello, emergency services. How may I?—”
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” His grip clamped around my wrist, yanking the phone from my hand. “Did you not hear a single word I just said? Call the police, and the people after your mum vanish. Along with any chance of answers and protecting my fucking reputation.”
Leaving the room, he tossed the phone into the microwave, turning it on for a full minute.
I just gaped at him when I followed, the phone sparking a little through the glass.
“What are you?—”
“Is that what you want?” he snapped, glowering down at me. “You might have the survival instinct of a goldfish, but I’m not letting you drag me down with you. Now sit over there and keep quiet.”
His tone made me bristle. “I’m not a dog.”
“No, at least a dog knows how to obey.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, fighting to steady the panic and anger surging through me as I trailed behind him back to his office.
My leg bounced while my fingers twisted the hem of mysleeve. Every part of me refused to stay still, which was usually why I always had a sketchbook. I wasn’t used to feeling this out of control, not even when mum was losing it.
“You’re impossible, you know that?” Ryder muttered, catching my hand. “Can’t even trust you to stand still.”
With one sharp tug he hauled me closer, and I stumbled straight onto his lap, facing the wall of glowing monitors. His arms locked tight around me, a cage I couldn’t slip from, while his fingers flew over the keyboard as if I wasn’t even there.
I froze, my brain taking a moment to catch up because what the fuck? Did he just put me on his lap? Like a child?
