Alright, Sev…what do you know?
I know that I’ve been taken. We’ve both been taken. I know that she can’t be dead, otherwise…she wouldn’t be in here with me, would she? I don’t recognize the voices of the men standing outside that door…and I have no idea where the fuck I am, aside from the fact that this looks an awful lot like a storage container. My eyes drifted down my body…it doesn’t look like I’ve been fucked with, and the leftover soreness between my legs…that’s easily explained. I’ve been at it with Malek all night—Malek.
Is he alive?
My chest started moving quicker and my panic settled in. I’m trying to put the blurriest pieces together before everything went dark, but…I can’t. I came downstairs. Bridget was on the couch. I started making breakfast…somebody grabbed me and—
“Nighty-night, cleaning lady…”
They know who I am.
“B-Bridge…Bridget…” I whispered, my hand shaking as I reached for her. She didn’t move. “Bridget…”
“She’s awake.”
I winced and struggled to sit, dizzy and pissed enough to use whatever strength I have to rip the face off of whoever this jackass is that’s facing me from the door. He’s in a clean white button-down with gray slacks and shiny shoes. I’d like to shove one up his ass. His sandy hair isn’t slicked back like Malek’s, but it’s cut the same way. Otherwise…he’s spotless. The guy next to him seems a bit more rugged. Tattooed, but not as heavily as I am. Same color hair. Same blue eyes. He has arms the size of a tanker truck.
“Who the fuck are you? Whadd’you want?”
Neat freak smiled at me with a mouthful of straight white teeth. He’s not ugly, but he’s far from attractive. The other one just stared, crossing his massive arms.
“I can’t believe how much you look like her. Kinda gives me the creeps. It all makes sense.”What makes sense? Look like who? What the fuck is going on?“Lemme get right to the point, so you’ll know what’s at stake if you don’t play nice. I know who you are, and I know what you do when you’re not livin’ out your obviously fucked up childhood, playin’ dollies with people’s corpses.” My stomach flipped and I couldn’t swallow if I wanted to. “I’ll make this easy for ya, cherub. You’re gonna tell me what you did with my brother’s body, and I’ll call off the men watchin’ your family pretend they don’t live in a literal funeral home. And I thoughtourfamily business was bleak.”
“I don’t know your fucking brother. I have no idea who you are. Whatever this is doesn’t have a thing to do with me.”
“Does it not? There’s a tracker on every vehicle that leaves this house. If you don’t know my brother, then perhapsyou could explain why we tracked his truck to the place we found you…among others. Yet…no truck. No brother.” He shoved his dainty hands into his pockets and smirked at me. “Curious, right?”
“Get fucked.”
“Zane…phone.” The beefcake passed a phone to Mr. Clean, and he fiddled with it a little before turning it towards me. “I’d be a bit more careful about your choice of words. I know your invitation over here was a bit rattling, so I’ll give you that…along with one last chance to rethink your answer. Maybe this helps.”
Live video feed of Greg and the girls getting into his car started playing in front of me and my arms felt loose with adrenaline. Like they could start ripping shit apart of their own accord. “I didn’t do anything to your fucking brother. I don’t even know his name. If you know who I am, then you know I get called to clean up messes that sloppy asshats likeyoumake. Why threatenmyfamily? I’m not the one that killed anybody.” I knew in my gut there was something off about this body. I knew it while I stood at the back of that truck with Malek. I never leave them whole unless they’re buried under someone else’s coffin. And I would never have the issue of a whole vehicle to dispose of. That’s why I burn rugs, take apart furniture and leave no trace. I’ve been breaking all my own rules ever since I met Malek, and the truth is…I’mthe sloppy one.
“Because of the company you keep. Didn’t your Mommy ever warn you about that? Do you even know who you’re fucking? Do you know what he is? What he does? You know about the whore sleeping next to you?” I glanced over at Bridget who hadn’t moved at all. “You don’t…do you.” His smile was pure evil, and I’d give anything to watch Malek cut it from his face. “I almost feel sorry for you. You’ve landed yourself in a world you don’t belong, pet. But we’ll fix that. You should thankme for giving you grace, and I’m only giving it because of the reason I’ve come to understand of why somebody like Malek Byrne took a liking to you. You’ve got twelve hours to come clean. Then you’re gonna learn exactly what it takes to belong here. Make the right choice.”
“You hurt them, I swear to Christ, I’ll kill you myself.”
They wholly ignored me, turning and leaving down a dark hallway and no matter how many insults I threw out…neither one turned around. A loud metal door slammed beyond where I could see, echoing down the hall and I pulled my bare knees up to my chest, rocking in fucking delusion.
What have I done…
“Ugh…motherfuckers…”
Bridget is finally stirring. I’ve pressed my back against the wall for the past hour, gnawing holes through my bottom lip and waiting for her to explain all this to me. My arms banded around my knees, and I watched her palm her face, sitting and taking in the catastrophic predicament we’ve found ourselves in. She sighed hard and turned her face towards me.
“I know this is a fucking ridiculous question, but…are you okay?” Understatement. But I know why she’s asking. She’s probably wondering the same thing about herself. No part of me thinks that they tried anything other than knocking us out and throwing us in here. At least we’ve gotthatgoing for us.
“Physically, I seem fine. Are you?” She nodded and adjusted herself against the opposite wall, facing me and pulling her own knees up.
“He’s gonna come for us, Sev. I think that’s the whole point, anyway. If we’re here, then they left him alive. They’re baiting him.”
I laid my head back against the wall and tried to think about anything other than how cold I was or how hungry I’m starting to get. I’m also trying really hard not to get angry. It isn’t her fault, I know it. I only have myself to blame for landing my ass in this mess. But aside from it all, I’ve grown to care for them both. And she knows something.
“Who are these people?”
Bridget shifted and took her hair down to redo it. “They’re Kendall’s other brothers. Jonas and Zane. The prim and proper one is the one Malek is trying to keep from getting me. He’s the prick I’m supposed to be marrying.”
“I heard them talking to each other when I woke up. They’ve got eyes on my family, Bridget. My nieces. My brother. My parents. And Jonas is threatening to hurt them if I don’t tell him where Kendall’s body is. They tracked him to the vacation house.”
