It’s just another room, perfectly decorated.
I’m bored to tears in twenty minutes. There’s nothing here. Not a fucking thing.
I message my sister again, telling her I hid the mini camera in the room the best I could without being obvious, and have nothing left to do. She tells me to do what Colton told menotto. I can almost audibly hear her rolling her eyes.
“You have to go and dig up shit! Do it or you’ll regret it! Be brave, Myles! Be a man.”
I grumble, my heart pounding in my chest, but with her blessing and aggressive encouragement, I end up leaving the room.
I walk around the hallways of the massive house and get lost several times. It’s like a maze, a creepy one. There are no pictures on the walls, no plants. Everything is cold and hard, everything fake.
This is like a model home and not a place that’s really lived in.
My hand twists the knob of every door I pass, but most are locked. Some from the outside.
Fucking weird. This place is giving me the worst vibes.
I turn a corner and nearly bump into a man I don’t recognize. He looks surprised that I’m here. Were they not informed that I was coming? I know Colton told his mom.
“Who are you, sir?” he asks. “Are you lost?”
“Uh,” I mutter and then shake my head before nodding. “Kinda. This is a big house.”
“It is. Where would you like to go? I can show you the way.”
“Do you know where Colton is?”
The man’s eyes shutter. “He’s with his father.”
“Stepfather,” I mutter, and the man’s lips twitch.
“Yes, of course. He’s in a meeting and cannot be interrupted.”
I manage a small nod as the man turns away, leading me down a few corridors, and a moment later, we both end up outside. I blink in the sunlight. Despite the sun setting, it’s incredibly bright. The sky is purple, pink, and blue. It would be beautiful if I weren’t standing on this property.
The man beside me slips away, and I’m left in the garden, not sure what to do. I see a pergola in the distance and what looks like an outdoor pavilion beyond that. They must entertain a lothere. I can see it now: lavish parties, fake laughs, and drunken trysts. The life of the rich, I guess.
I step toward those structures and then stop, hearing a crash behind me. My heart thunders as my eyes dart around, trying to find the cause of it.
The back door creaks open, and Colton appears. I can see from here that his nose is bleeding.
I stumble, rushing toward him, his body visibly trembling.
“Fuck.Fuck,” he mutters as I stop right before him. I want to gather him into my arms, but I can’t. I don’t dare. Not here.
“What happened?” I ask, but before Colton can respond, I see his stepfather lurking in the window, his eyes narrowed, his hair askew. His thumb moves across his jaw, his gaze steady on the two of us.
“Fuck, I don’t know. He lost his temper in the meeting, and I was just the asshole who took it. I’m never strong enough when it comes to him. Why can’t I be? Why can’t I fight back? I know I can, so why don’t I?”
I stare at him and feel my chest constrict, and my face feels hot with fury. I fucking hate that this is happening to him.
“Tell me what happened?” I ask, letting my hands settle on his shoulders. Colton steps away from me, my arms falling to my sides.
“It’s fine. I just need to fucking pull it together so we can get this done and get the hell out of here. And don’t fucking touch me. He already…I think he already knows.”
“About what?”
“Us.”
