Because there was absolutely no logical explanation for being able to giggle and make jokes the morning after killing a man. I should have been a mess, cowering under the sheets and sneaking my phone to call the cops.
A part of me was certain that whatever fate awaited me from Gabe couldn’t be worse than being a murderer.
But then I remembered how he’d made me feel, the way he was always flirting with his secretary. The way he’d flinch when I looked over his shoulder. The way he yelled whenever I didn’t do as he asked.
And then I remembered what Grant was going to do to that poor woman.
No fate would be worse than spending a lifetime cowing to men like that.
By the time I was downstairs, I’d reminded myself that being here with my captors was far safer than Gabe’s army waiting for me outside the gates of this sanctuary.
I stopped in my tracks as I passed the living room.
It must have been a big day. Even Dom was home, her laptop open as she sat in a plush chair at the corner of the room. She lifted her gaze from the screen, just enough to look me dead in the eyes before turning back to her work.
Fucking asshole.
Breakfast was a welcome distraction, thirty minutes later and Spencer had prepared a gorgeous meal for all of us.
“Thank you, Spence.” I smiled at her, a blush or the heat of the kitchen warming my cheeks.
Leo scoffed and leaned against the cool kitchen counter. “No thanks for the doctor? I did shit.”
With a laugh, Spencer rolled her eyes. “Yeah, peeled a fucking mango.”
“Got my hands all sticky too.” Winking at me, Leo passed me a plate.
There was a delectable buffet set out for all of us, cheesy eggs, crispy bacon, brightly colored fruit. A few warmed pastries were stacked up on a platter.
Once our plates were full, we all made our way back to the living room. Dom went back to work at her laptop, taking bites of food and sips of her protein shake between emails.
The rest of us laughed, throwing on Parks and Rec as a mutually agreed upon comfort show — skipping the first season because we all hated Mark. Two episodes in and my mind started to race again.
This time, it went back to what Grant had said aboutme.In the chaos of the cleanup, I’d completely forgotten about it.
He knew me.
I must have looked like I’d seen a ghost, because Leo grabbed the remote and paused the TV. “What’s wrong, Princess?”
Biting my lip, I met her eyes. “Why did he know me?”
“Who?” Spencer shook her head.
“Grant.” Leo tossed the answer to Spencer, not breaking her eye contact with me.
But Dom’s eyes lifted ever so slightly from the computer.
The adrenaline had worn off and now the details were becoming disturbingly clear. “Why the fuck did he recognizeme? And what did he mean about the reward?” Shaking my head, I felt my chest tighten.
Spencer shrugged. “Well, they did project your face on local news from here to fucking Timbuktu.”
“And Gabriel did offer a reward. Probably just some rando who saw the news while he was taking a dump or something.” Hoping it would comfort me, Leo chimed in.
But that wasn’t right. “But I had a disguise and everything. And he mentioned his creepy sex trafficker bosses wanting me found.”
Dom’s chin lifted up, watching us closely now but keeping her mouth shut for once.
Spencer exhaled, trying to tie up the loose ends in her own mind. “His scummy bosses probably want to look like heroes turning in some missing girl. It might keep whatever heat they’re catching at bay.”
