I don’t want to do this. Please don’t make me do this.
Sparrow’s warm maple-syrup eyes and taunting grin flash in my mind. The way he calls me Laundry like it’s every bit of an endearment as honey. His deep, claiming kisses—
Whap!
The fantasy of Sparrow is erased by white-hot pain lashing across my ass. It’s not until I feel it again do I realize what is happening.
He’s not going to…
He’s whipping me with his belt instead.
Whap!
The pain is otherworldly. I claw my fingernails into the mattress material, trying to find purchase so I can crawl away from this madness.
A painful grip on my thigh prevents me from getting away, dragging me back into position.
Whap!
The burning, bruising pain is all I can think about. I want it to stop. Please, God, make it stop.
But it doesn’t stop.
It happens over and over and over and over again until I black out.
When I come to, I’ve been moved. I’m no longer hanging off the bed but now lying on top of it. A thin blanket covers my naked body and I’m alone.
Or at least I thought I was alone.
“Sit up and take your medicine.”
Dad’s cold, soulless voice materializes from a dark corner of my room. He’s no longer wearing his suit jacket and his tie is gone. His face is wearing a neutral expression, the rage having finally quieted.
Medicine?
What medicine?
He holds up a pill. Everything is blurry because of all the crying I’ve done. I blink trying to focus on the pill and figure out what it is. Doesn’t look like ibuprofen.
“What is it?” I croak out.
“It’s to erase your mistake.”
Mistake?
“I don’t understand.”
He scoffs. “There’s a lot you don’t understand about this world, sweetheart. Plan B. Take it willingly or I’ll force it down. I will not be raising some bastard child again.”
“Again?”
“Not you,” Dad assures me, holding the pill to my lips. “Your sister. I’ll never forgive your mother for that horrible mistake.”
Before I can process his words, he holds my nose and shoves the pill down my throat. I gag and choke, but eventually swallow it.
“Sleep, sweetheart. You can rest now. You’re finally home where you belong. With me.”
Chapter Eighteen
Scout
She’s gone.
She’s fucking gone.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to stay with us forever.
How did Alexander find her?
A discarded pink cat sits on the couch cushion beside me. Seeing it punches me in the gut. Della is gone, too. Just when I was really getting to know the kid. She’s back in that hellhole with her evil-ass father.
I pick up the stuffed cat and bring it to my nose. It smells like Della. Her shampoo is lavender scented and I could easily pick it out of a thousand other scents. My chest aches with longing.
“I didn’t tell a soul,” Ty grinds out. Again. “I swear it.” He’s back from his hasty exit now that the cops are gone. “You know I’m telling the truth.”
I glower at him, watching him for any sign he’s lying. Unfortunately, as much as I want to blame him, I believe him. He may hate me for lying to him and for who I am to his family, but he does care about Landry. Ty has a shitty last name but he’s not like his cousin.
The appearance at the fancy-ass party Sparrow went to and the anonymous tips to the cops were supposed to work, at least until Leo found us a new place to lie low. But they didn’t work. We weren’t fast enough and weren’t able to save her in time.
“He found out somehow,” Sparrow spits. “Maybe you were followed.”
“I wasn’t,” Ty tosses back. “I was careful. Maybe it was one of you coming or going.”
There hasn’t been any coming or going, though, aside from my job for Bryant. This entire week, none of us have left the building. Sparrow worked out some, but never left. Even our groceries were delivered. There’s no way they should have found us. I was careful, dammit.
What if the person I felt like was watching me wasn’t Ty after all? Maybe it was whoever pieced together our involvement. That makes me responsible. Fuck.
“Leo?” Sully asks. “I mean, it could have been him, right?”
“Leo wanted to fix the situation,” I say, shaking my head, “not make it worse. This is fucking worse.”
Leo wanted to fix it. He said he understood what I’d gone through. Then who? There’s only one other person who knows where we are. And even though he’s supposed to be an ally—fucking family—I’m beginning to realize we may have just been played. I’m not sure why yet, but I’ll find out.
Their voices merge as one, a dull roar behind me, as they discuss who could have led them to us.
But I know.
It hits me like a ton of bricks.
That motherfucker…
“I have to go,” I growl, jumping to my feet, tossing the pink cat back onto the sofa. “I’ll be back. Keep me posted if you hear anything and start working on a plan on how we’ll get her back.”