I wanted to shudder. I didn’t. I also didn’t open my eyes. Maybe if I didn’t react, Garrett would leave.
He leaned over me, shaking the mattress around my head. “Wake up!” He screamed the words, sending blinding pain through my head.
I blinked against the light, spots dancing in my vision. They did nothing to disguise the monster right in front of me.
“There she is. I was worried for a minute that I might have caused permanent damage.” Garrett’s eyes gleamed as if the prospect thrilled him.
I said nothing. I knew whatever I said would only end up causing me more pain.
The look in Garrett’s eyes hardened. “Thought you could run away from me, did you? Do you have any idea howfoolishyou made me look?” Spittle flew from his mouth, hitting my cheek. I cringed. “I had to pretend you’d been kidnapped to save face in front of my colleagues.”
Garrett pushed to his feet and began to pace. “Thankfully, they believed me hook, line, and sinker.” A small grin appeared on his lips. “I actually think they felt so bad, it helped me get a promotion.” The grin fell away. “But I wasn’t going to just let you go. You belong tome.”
I bit the inside of my cheek.Belong. The way Garrett meant it, was a dirty word. I thought of how it felt to belong to the extended Cole clan, to belong to Liam. That was beauty, light, and love. Garrett had twisted something pure and made it into something evil.
Garrett stalked closer, grabbing me roughly by the face. I couldn’t hold in my cry of pain. His eyes flared, clearly enjoying the sound. “And then you had to turn into a whore. Spreading your legs for that filthy musician. You’ll pay for that.”
Garrett released his hold with an angry thrust, snapping my head back, and forcing me to let out a gasp. He took up his pacing again. “Now we can’t go back to DC. My colleagues have seen the photos. They know you ran away. I’ll never be respected there again.”
I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly through my nose, trying desperately to ease the waves of agony coursing through my body.
“Look at me when I’m talking!”
My eyes snapped open at Garrett’s bellow. “I’m sorry.”
“She’ssorry,” he sneered. “You’re not sorry now, but you will be.”
I swallowed against my dry throat.How long have I been without anything to drink?I pushed the thought from my mind. “Where are we going?”
A slow smile stretched across Garrett’s face. It was pure evil. “Well,sweetheart—” I cringed at the nickname he always used when he was furious with me. “We are going somewhere far, far away. A country where there are no extradition treaties. A place where no one will have the power to do anything about the bruises on your face.”
Nausea swept through me. If Garrett got me on a plane, I was as good as dead. Worse, I’d wish I was.
He stalked closer to me. “I’d like to fuck some sense into you right now, but you know I can’t stand to touch you when your face is messed up.” He gritted his teeth. “Why do you always have to make me so mad? Why do you force me to hurt you? There must be something twisted in you that likes it.”
Rage, hot and thick, swam through my veins. There was a dark time in my life where I would’ve believed Garrett’s words. Thought that I had done something to deserve his slap of my face or the whip of his belt across my back. There was a time I would have believed that there was something broken in me that called out for that kind of attention.
But now I knew the truth. Garrett was the sick one, the twisted mind.
Garrett straightened, pulling a phone from his pocket. “This is my pilot. I need to take it.” The words were so normal, as if he were simply telling me it was the office and he needed to answer. I blinked rapidly but said nothing. Garrett’s eyes narrowed. “The pilot has been paid handsomely, he’ll be of no help to you.”
The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. I didn’t want anyone else getting hurt or worse because they tried to come between Garrett and his attempt to escape with me in tow.
Garrett strode towards the door. “I’ll be back to collect you soon.”
It was a promise and a threat. The door closed behind him, and a lock flipped into place. I sucked in a shaking breath. There was only one person who could get me out of this nightmare. Me.
44
Liam
Iwas back to pacing in the police station break room. Waiting. It felt like all I was doing was fuckingwaiting. Two officers had gone to pick Bridgette up while Walker wrapped things up with Kimberly Speakman.
Jensen was hissing and spitting while Tuck tried in vain to calm her. “Thatbitch! She’s always been jealous of Tessa, but I never thought she’d stoop this low. What’s wrong with her?”
Tuck handed Jensen a bottle of water. “They’ve got her in custody and are bringing her in. We’ll get answers.”
Jensen gripped the bottle so tightly, her knuckles turned white. “Let me at her. I’ll get us some answers.”
