My brows knit as I searched the glint hidden deep in his eyes.
There was no way I saw what I thought I did. It simply wasn’t possible. Preston Whitley wasn’t capable of love and compassion.Was he?
He seemed to care about his brother. We may not have gone to the same school, but we grew up in the same town. No one messed with Parker, not on playdates, in school, or on the playground. The whispered threats traveling from kid to kid were enough to stop that.
Trina looked out for me the same way. While bullies taunted Riley, I was left alone because my sister threatened anyone who bothered me.
And now it was my turn to protect her.
“Will Micha really hurt Trina?”
It was a valid question. He was marrying our friend. Would he hurt her like that? Not that she would ever know it was him, but still. His love for Riley was something I never questioned. It was his moral standing I had a problem with.
Any hope of that being a fake threat died with one word.
“Yes.”
That was that. It was me against them. Somehow I always knew this day would come. I never thought the stakes would be so high, though. My death I could live with, but Trina was innocent in all of this.
“I’ll never give you what you want.” I don’t know why I said that.
Despite everything, I still hoped I could get Preston to listen to reason. Or maybe I was trying to reason with myself because some part of me felt...free.
For the first time in my life, I wasn’t pretending to be someone else. Even my sister believed I was that meek little girl with glasses and a notebook. But not Preston. He saw past all my guises.
With a sharp exhale, Preston backed away and sat down next to my legs. “I admire your spirit Marnie, but you need to accept the loss. You can’t win this fight.”
“I disagree.” He may have turned my body against me, but my mind remained intact. That he’d never break. All it took was one moment, and the tables would be turned.
“All right.” His lips pursed together as he nodded. “I’m going to show you something.”
My heart practically leaped out of my chest when he pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked my ankle cuff. Automatically my eyes swung to the door as I calculated the probability of me making the distance before him.
“Go for it.” Preston challenged. “You won’t get far.”
Like it or not, he was right.
Damn him and his superior build. I needed to start an exercise regimen.
“I could still try.”
“You could.” He nodded. “And who knows, maybe you’ll luck out…but would you make it to your sister in time?”
My stomach dropped.
That was one thing I hadn’t taken into account. If I ran, then Trina would be in danger, and that was too much of a risk. I’d have to make sure she was safe before I did anything.
Without another word, Preston got off the bed and held out his hand.
Resigned to my fate—for now—I sighed and placed my palm in his.
He pulled me out of the room and around a corner. I took in everything I could, placements of possible exits, where stairs and doors were, how many turns we took, and hiding places. All of it was tucked in the back of my mind for future use.
Then he opened a door, and I no longer cared about collecting information.
A whoosh of cold air and a darkened stairwell into the ground instantly brought me back to every horror movie I’d ever seen. The wooden steps even creaked as we walked down them. But it was the faint sound of music that sent a chill up my spine. Someone was down in this dark stone pit of misery.
The further we descended, the more my situation didn’t seem so bad. I at least had comfort and warmth. All that was down here was a cold earthy scent draped in desperation and death.
