Ellie slowly raised her hands and stepped closer. Her fingers were trembling, but she held her chin high. God, he was so proud of her. So proud, and so fucking terrified.
“And another. And just to be clear, if I hear an alarm, or an unusual noise, or even sense that you’ve triggered the fancy new security system I noticed at the front door, I will slit her lovely throat.” Warren shifted his grip on the knife’s handle, and Victoria swallowed heavily, her eyes brimming with tears.
What the hell was he going to do? Josh stalked through the door just behind Ellie, sticking as close to her as possible as she walked into the kitchen and up to the table.
The only thing on their side—the only glimmer of hope to hold on to—was at least Warren couldn’t see him.
For the first time since he’d woken up and realized that everything was wrong, he was grateful that he wasn’t truly a part of the world. That he wasn’t real. He was grateful that only Ellie could see him, and that Warren had no idea he was there.
Ellie’s phone taunted him from her back pocket, but there was no point in calling anyone—they wouldn’t be able to hear him anyway. And he didn’t dare to trigger a panic button and endanger Vic. Watching Warren murder her friend would kill Ellie—and she would risk everything if she thought it might happen.
He had to make sure that itdidn’thappen. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect Ellie, and that meant protecting the family she had created.
Josh inched around Ellie, stepping carefully so that he didn’t jostle her on the way past. He couldn’t leap over the table and risk Warren shoving the blade into Victoria’s throat—not yet—but he could stand beside Ellie. He could let her know he was with her. And he could wait for the perfect moment.
“What are you doing here, Warren?” Ellie asked again.
“Well, let’s see.” Warren shifted his chair even closer to Victoria. “It seems that the police have been looking for me. I’ve had several calls. Even an officer waiting for me outside my house. I’m supposed to go down to the station tohelp withinquiries.” He spat the words, injecting them with scorn. “And as soon as I saw them, I knew exactly where my missing lover had disappeared to.” He pressed a kiss to Vic’s ashen cheek, but his eyes were open and on Ellie the whole time.
“It’snotyour house,” Ellie said quietly.
Warren’s eyebrows shot up. “What did you say?”
“It’s not your house,” Ellie said louder. “It’s Victoria’s.”
Warren barked out a laugh, loud and abrasive in the tense silence. “Oh, Ellie, Victoria’s mine. What’s hers is mine. Surely you know that by now?”
A slow tear tracked down Victoria’s face, but when Warren glared at her, shifting his grip to dig the blade deeper into her skin, she carefully gave a tiny nod.
“So… what?” Ellie prompted. “You realized Vic was here and decided to visit?”
She sounded so confident. So cool and collected. But Josh could feel the way her body trembled at his side. Could see the short, strained breaths she was taking. She was holding it together, but only just.
And then he saw Nissy. She was lying in the corner of the room, blood on her fur. And he almost vomited. His heart thundered in his ears and his palms grew clammy. He couldn’t let Ellie see her, he couldn’t?—
Nissy lifted her head and looked at him. Fuck. What a time to realize that Nissy had always seen him. She blinked, and then lowered her head tiredly. She was alive. She would be okay. And it was time for Warren to pay.
“I caught a cab,” Warren said as Josh dragged his attention back to him. “You owe me two-hundred and twenty pounds for that, by the way.”
“I don’t owe you anything,” Ellie replied, stalking forward. “You’re insane.”
A mottled flush spread over Warren’s face, but he stayed seated. Kept his blade pressed to Vic’s throat. “You’d think you’d be more polite to the man with all the power here,” Warren said as tilted his head toward the empty chair across the table. “Sit down, Ellie. I’m tired of looking up at you.”
Ellie sank into the seat, her voice shaking as she argued, “What’s the point of this? Surely you can see that this ends badly for you. If you hurt either of us, you’ll go to prison for the rest of your life.”
Josh disagreed. Warren didn’t think it was going to end badly for him. He was a narcissist, convinced he would always get his way. It was clear from the look on his face. But Ellie always tried to fix things. She would try to fix this, too. Unless he fixed it first.
Josh squeezed her shoulder, and she tilted her chin, caught his eye, and held it for a second, recognizing him. Seeing him. Even in the middle of this terrible nightmare. God. He loved her. “I’m here,” he murmured, knowing only she could hear him. “I’m with you, Ellie.”
Warren sneered. “I’m not going to jail. I promise you that.”
Ellie leaned forward, her hands spread over the table as she glared at Warren. “I’m not giving you my game or my company, and I don’t have anything else of value. Even if I did give them to you—even if I promised you the whole world and everything in it—as soon as we stepped out of here, it would all be over anyway. No court in the world would uphold a contract signed under duress.”
“That may be….” Warren shrugged. “But that’s not at all what happened.”
Here it was. Josh let go of Ellie’s shoulder and slowly started to step around the table.
The silence stretched until Ellie eventually capitulated. “What did happen, then?”
