I jerk against the bonds, the movement sending fresh fire through my shoulders.
“You’re dead,” I rasp. “Brady killed you.”
His laugh echoes off the walls. “Oh, sweetheart.” He circles me slowly. “Your brother thought so, too. The bullet took half my face. And when my car went over the cliff, I’m sure he thought the jungle finished me off.”
He stops in front of me and leans in close.
“A group of locals found me. Dragged me out and got me to a hospital. I was in a coma for months, and when I woke up, nothing!” He snaps his fingers in my face, and I flinch. “Nada. No name. No memory. Took a long time for it—well most of it— to come back.” His good eye locks on mine. “To remember how you ruined my life. I knew I had to come home. Finish what I started. But it doesn’t look like you missed me very much. You’ve been a busy little whore haven’t you?”
He holds up my phone. The screen is full of missed call notifications. Finn, Brady, and Liev’s names over and over fill the screen.
They know I’m gone. They’re looking for me.
His fingers dig into my jaw, squeezing hard. My teeth slice into the soft flesh of my cheek until I taste metal on my tongue. “Imagine my surprise to find you living this happy little life. You forgot about me. You and your brother destroyed me, yet here you are with friends, a job and a… husband? That won’t do at all.”
I gasp, trying to twist away, but his grip tightens, forcing my head back.
“I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when they find out you’re dead. When they realize how much I made you pay for my suffering. The man who tried to kill me and the man who took what was mine.”
Terror threatens to consume me, but along with it there’s rage.
“I was never yours, you insecure psycho.” I spit a mouthful of blood on him.
There, have some of my DNA.
Maybe it isn’t the smartest thing to do, but it gives me a second of satisfaction. If I don’t get out of here, at least I’ve left some evidence this time.
His fist connects with my face.
My head snaps to the side, stars exploding behind my eyes. The headache amplifies, a hammer against my skull. But I lift my chin, meeting his gaze.
“We’re going to have some fun before I kill you. See how much more of your pretty skin I can mark,” he hisses, wiping his face with the back of his hand, smearing it over his cheek. “But first, where’s my picture?” He shakes my phone in front of my eyes. “It’s not where I left it.”
My gaze shifts to Hannah, searching for any crack, any remnant of the friend I thought she was. But her expression is blank, bored even. No hope there.
“You set me up, didn’t you?” I whisper, voice cracking despite my resolve.
She shrugs, uncrossing her arms to examine her nails. “I was paid to do a job. Though I have to admit you proved harder to break than I thought.”
“So, Chad...” I swallow, piecing it together.
“Isn’t real,” she supplies. “Just a cover to get close. His mother thought you might open up in therapy. When that didn’t work, I suggested nudging you with that confrontation atthe coffee shop and the text messages. I assumed if you were frightened you might open up. I have to admit, I’m a little impressed with how tight lipped you are.”
“Joelle? She hired you to find out what happened to her son? It wasn’t about the password was it?”
Hannah smiles. “Arthur’s more interested in his money, but Joelle wants her son. This one,” she angles her head toward Aaron. “Just wants revenge.”
“You’re as morally bankrupt as they are,” I snarl, anger overriding the fear for a moment. “You went into a room full of vulnerable women and used it to help an abusive bastard.”
“They pay really,reallywell.”
Aaron’s patience snaps. He whirls on her, face contorting. “You aren’t being paid to chit-chat!” he screams, spittle flying.
Hannah snarls back, stepping forward. “I haven’t been paidat allby you!”
“That’s what I need her for,” Aaron snatches a knife from the table and gestures wildly at me. “Tell me where the photo is.”
I force a laugh, ignoring the agony in my shoulders, and the nausea twisting my gut. “The photo with the password?”
