Shattered Dynasty

I force myself to relax. I’m not doing anything illegal. I can take a little break. Trent never said I have to be at his place every minute of every day. He just said I have to live with him. Not one time did he state that I cannot stay with Heather for a few days.

Or at least tonight.

As long as I maintain everything else, it’s totally reasonable.

A sleepover, a little girl time, is exactly what I need.

Throughout the rest of the ride, I still feel as though something is wrong. Maybe Trent is having me followed.

I wouldn’t put it past him.

He has the money to. And the astounding lack of boundaries.

Of course, he would.

Anyone who has gone through betrayal from a father would not be above having me followed. I know because if I had the money, I would have someone track Erin. Make sure she’s still alive. That whatever sicko she’s dating isn’t getting her into something dangerous and destructive.

But you don’t have the money. And whose fault is that?

My stomach growls out of nowhere.

I forgot to eat.

Maybe I have a protein bar in my bag. Normally, I carry something to munch on since I’m always running around.

I start to go through my bag to look for a snack. When I get to the small side compartment, my finger slips through a hole in the bottom.

Dammit. This is a new bag, and it’s already torn.

It feels like something is stuck in there, too.

Carefully, I probe the hole to see what it is. When I find the small object, I fish it out.

I stare at it, brows furrowed. It’s some kind of weird black metal device in my grasp. Never held one in my life before. It reminds me of a USB flash drive.

Lifting it up to get a closer view, I realize that’s not what it is at all because there is no plug for the computer.

That’s when I realize where I’ve seen it . . .

Every stupid spy movie I ever watched flashing before my eyes.

It’s a tracking device.

Trent isn’t having me followed; Trent is fucking tracking me.

He already mentioned his access to my phone. Now I realize he put a tracking device in my bag as well. Probably because he knows if I don’t want him to find me, I could turn my phone off. This, I can’t get rid of, because I didn’t know about it.

A great idea forms.

That’s exactly what I should do. I should turn my phone off, but first, I keep it in my palm and head down the aisle. Normally, I would never go in a train’s bathroom, but I find my sense of humor at the idea of one of his men going into the public bathroom of a train to locate me.

I can’t stop laughing at the thought. I can’t stop laughing until I bump into someone.

“I’m so sorry,” I say, but the man just grunts, his head down as he walks away.

It reminds me of the jackass who bumped into me on the street the day that Trent cleaned my leg.

The day he touched me. Really touched me.

The day a part of me ignited and lit a fire that has yet to be put out.

His lips.

It’s as if I were branded.

I can feel his mouth on mine.

No, don’t think about that.

He’s not a good guy.

He’s a jerk.

He’s the reason I left tonight.

I need to remember this every time I think of his lips on mine . . . Trent Aldridge walked out after kissing me to go do whatever it is he is doing tonight with his date.

Finally, in the bathroom, I look at myself in the mirror. It’s dirty, and my reflection looks cracked.

It makes me look as sad as I feel.

Removing the tracking device from the palm of my hand, I search for a place to leave it.

A place where it won’t shut off, then he will have to search for it.

I decide to place it on the floor behind the toilet. Holding my breath, I kneel and drop it.

My gag reflex kicks in, and I’m sure I will vomit, but I hold it in.

Pushing the feeling down, I stand.

Good.

Take that.

I hope he’s the one who looks.

I hope he vomits all over himself.

It would be the best karma a girl can have.

34

Trent

* * *

Two days.

Payton has been gone for two damned days.

The first thing I did when I got home that night was try to find her. I called her a bunch of times, but she never answered. She’s ignoring my texts too.

A part of me, a very big part of me, wants to call Jax, but seeing as he’s been clear on his feeling about tracking her, I know he won’t help me on this.

I’m sure she’s okay, but with everything happening with Paul, I just want to make sure. That last time anyone has seen her was at the presentation. Apparently, she stormed out of there. Which makes sense, seeing as I kissed her and then left her standing in the hallway like a dick.