Down the hall, up the stairs—one flight, then another—until I’m standing in front of a closed door at the end of another hall. One of the guys shoves it in. The other pushes me after it.
“Wait here,” B.O. says gruffly. Booze gives me a mock salute, then closes the door. I can hear their footsteps as they depart, leaving me alone.
Once they have, I race toward the window. Sure, I’m on the second floor, but I’m not above leaping out of it. To avoid Chase… to avoid Darryl… to run after Maverick and kick his cop ass… I know that I’m willing to do anything to get out of this room.
I’m pretty sure the door is locked. A couple of rough tugs on the window and, yup, so is that.
Fuuuuuuck.
Okay.Okay. Let’s just check the door?—
Nope.
Also locked.
I go to the closet. At the very least, there’s got to be something in there that I can put on. I’ll even wear one of those dresses like Darryl’s wives if I have to, but after I throw the door open, I curse. It’s empty. All that’s in this room is a bed with a single sheet on it, plus a wooden chair propped in the corner.
I’m wondering if it’s worth ripping the sheet off the bed and fashioning some kind of toga out of it when the doorknob turns.
I suck in a breath, hiding my hands behind my back so that whoever walks into the room doesn’t see them shaking.
It’s Chase.
Chase Knight walks into the room.
He has Rory’s jacket in his hands. Since I’d left it with Maverick this morning at Chloe’s suggestion, I have no idea how he’s gotten it, but I’m glad to see it. It’s the one thing in this fucked-up world that helps me make any sense of it.
He looks different than when I left him in the Grave. He’s given up on styling his hair at all, letting the sandy strands stick up in every direction. Chase’s eyes are no longer rimmed with red, but the dark circles underneath make him appear paler than he is. There’s a long scratch from the height of his cheek down to his chin; clotted with blood and puffy around the edges, it looks fresh. So does the bruise on the side of his jaw.
“Holden,” he begins, back to calling me by my last name, and that’s all he gets out before the door swings open again.
I expect it to be Darryl or one of his boys. Nope. To my surprise, it’sMaverick.
He eases the door shut behind him. If it wasn’t for the fact that Chase is standing between us, solid as a statue and as quiet, I might’ve launched myself at him, throwing as many punches as I could.
He’s oblivious to how pissed I am at him. He glances at the back of Chase’s head, then moves his attention to me. The cop opens his mouth, but as his gaze roves over me, he pauses.
For a split second, I think he’s checking me out. Seriously? I know I’m in a skimpy bikini, but this is the worst possible moment for him to… oh.Oh. He’s not looking at my boobs or my figure.
He’s staring at the burn that covers my entire upper left arm.
It hits me. Not counting when I was on the stage, this is the first time Maverick has seen me without my jacket on; the rope he gifted me was stowed in my pack and never mentioned again. But that was when he was far enough away that Chloe’s handiwork kept my burn concealed. This close, he can’t miss it.
I move my hand so that it’s covering my arm.
Maverick gives his head a shake, like he’s trying to erase the image of my burn. “Okay, okay… I’ve got to make this quick. Darryl’ll be here any minute, and I won’t be able to stall him anymore than I already have.”
I don’t know what that means. Before I can ask, Maverick has stormed around Chase, his hands on my shoulders. “I didn’t get to win you, but this is okay. Right? I remember this guy from your settlement. You know him.”
Considering Maverick’s possessive grab on my shoulders seems to have broken the spell on Chase, making my twin’s fiancé growl under his breath as he surges forward as though he’s about to rip Mav’s hands off of me…. yeah. We know each other.
Me? I kind of just stand there. To be honest? I’m still in shock over what happened, but even as stunned and freaked-out as I am, I know Chase offering up a priceless vial of antidote to “win” me is anythingbutokay.
“Listen to me. Just follow the rules, do what you have to to make it until I can get us out of here, and you’ll be fine. Rules are everything here. Do you understand?” When I don’t answer him, Maverick squeezes my bare shoulders enough for me to feel the pressure. “Understand?” he repeats in a voice that telegraphs “cop”.
Bewildered, I nod.
“Good.” Letting go of me, he turns to Chase. “Look, you own her now?—”
