He glanced at me, one brow lifting. “You ran so far away that it’d take at least thirty minutes to walk back there. I figured you wouldn’t want to do that.”
“Wow, what a gentleman you are,” I grumbled. “So thoughtful.”
“I try,” he said dryly.
“So where will this car be taking us, exactly?”
“The Dionysus estate. I believe you’re quite familiar with it,” he said, lips quirking again.
“So you’re taking me there as... what? A prisoner? A hunting trophy?”
He didn't respond immediately. When he did, his voice was measured. “I’m taking you there so you'll understand why I chose you.”
“Chose me,” I repeated flatly. “Like I'm just some kind of prize you can select at the fair after you’ve won a game. Not a real person with their own thoughts or agency.”
“You’re not a prize,” he said. “But yes, I chose you. Your name on that List wasn't random.”
“I figured that much,” I snapped. “You put my name there because I was investigating the Club. Because I got too close. So this is your way of getting rid of me, right? Making me disappear.”
“That's not why.” His hand tightened on my arm. Not painfully, just firmly. “But you'll learn soon enough.”
His words made my skin crawl.
“How about you stop with the bullshit cryptic non-answers and just tell me what happens to women at that estate?” I said in an acid tone. “Are you going to toss me into an alligator-infested lake? Or is it more like those mafia movies where you make me dig my own grave before you shoot me in the back of the head?”
He chuckled. “You’ve got quite the imagination, Violet,” he said. “But it’s nothing like you’re picturing.”
“What is it, then?”
“I can’t tell you right now. You need time to go through it all. To process and understand everything,” he said. “But Icantell you one thing: I’m not going to hurt you.”
“You’ve just hunted me through the woods, and now you’re kidnapping me. That's literally hurting me.”
“Is it?” He stopped walking and turned to face me. “Because five minutes ago, you were kissing and fucking me like you wanted to be caught all along.”
Heat flooded my face. “That was…”
I trailed off, not quite knowing how to finish my sentence.
Julian smirked and started walking again. “Come on. Those alligators are pretty hungry. We shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
“Oh, ha-ha,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You’re a real comedian.”
“Again… I try.”
“How about you try to be a decent person and not abduct women in the woods?”
He ignored that. Just kept walking.
“I have another question,” I said a moment later. “What would you have done if Ginny didn’t go for your deal? How would you have found me then?”
“I knew she would.”
“You can’t know that for sure,” I said.
“Yes, I can. Everyone has a weakness,” he replied. “So if you want something from someone, all you need to do is figure out what that weakness is. Then you can push that button until they deliver what you want.”
I lifted a brow. “So what’s yourweakness?”
