Then I hear a car engine.
I stand, walk to the window.
The Charger is pulling away.
No.
I run outside. “Hey!”
He’s already gone, dust kicking up from his tires.
“Fucking asshole!” I scream into the empty lot.
I walk back into the trailer and pace. My hands shake. My chest heaves.
I try to put pieces of the puzzle together. The rope. The blindfold. The voices. The way he tied me to a tree and left me.
I protect what’s mine.
But from what?
From who?
And why did he just abandon me here?
I pull out my phone. No service.
Shit.
I sink onto the couch and stare at the door, waiting.
Waiting for him to come back.
Waiting for an explanation.
Waiting to decide if I should run the second he shows up.
Or if I should stay and demand answers.
My hand goes to my lip where I bit him. I can still taste his blood.
Be a good tiger, and I’ll treat you after.
Fucking liar.
21
Koa
Idon’t want to leave her.
That’s the first thought that hits me when my phone rings and I see the name on the screen. No contact name. Just a number I have memorized down to the last digit because forgetting it means forgetting who owns me.
Lexi’s standing in the doorway of the trailer, looking at me with those big brown eyes—confused, angry, maybe a little scared. She deserves an explanation. Deserves to know why I tied her to a tree, why I brought her here, why everything I do feels like it’s teetering on the edge of violence.
But I can’t give her that right now.
I get in the Charger and pull away before she can realize that I’m leaving her here. In the rearview mirror, I see her standing there, small and alone, and something in my chest twists so hard I almost turn around.
