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I go to the kitchen and wait.
A few minutes later, Rhett’s beautiful, curious face peeks out from behind the basement door.
Shock and fear cover her features the moment she sees me. “Where am I? What are you doing here?”
“The only question that matters is why are you outside the walls of the Village?” I step toward her, closing the basement door behind her. “When I told you not to leave?”
“Yeah, about that. I’m really sorry.” She looks away.
“There’s more, isn’t there?”
“Yeah.” She messes around with the toe of her sneaker, dragging it against the grain of the wood floor.
“Tell me.”
She takes a deep breath. “I wanted to warn Trevor. I know what you’re planning for him. I couldn’t stomach the idea of it. I was looking for a phone.”
Part of me feels like she’s cheated on me or something. But that’s ridiculous. First of all, she’s not mine, and secondly, she’s just a good person with a big heart.
Of course, she would want to warn him.
“Makes sense,” I say.
Her eyes flash with surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah. And the second reason?”
She studies my face, then looks away. “Never mind. I got confused. There was just the one reason.”
She doesn’t want to share more. I let it go.
“I’m taking you on a beautiful trip to Greece. So far from the city you’ll have nowhere to run and there’s no way Trevor can find you,” I say. “And you can take a mental break from worrying about him. What has to happen, has to. There’s no way around it for your safety. But Greece will take your mind off it. I promise.”
“Greece? Wow.” Her eyes light up. “I’ve never left New York. But I don’t have a passport.”
“We’ll take care of all of that.” I reach out, smoothing her hair back. “We have a lot to get done before we leave but first, there’s one, more important thing we have to do.”
“What?” she asks.
My hand reaches the nape of her neck. I circle my fingers around it. “I have to punish you for running away.”
My words make a shiver run through her. I pull her close and kiss the shudder from her lips. As I swipe my tongue against hers, I think of the third-floor bedroom in this house, and the wonderful things in the cabinets that line the wall.
The perfect tools to punish a naughty girl.
Chapter Nineteen
Rhett
He leads me up to the third floor. I don’t say a word. I can’t think of what’s to come, I’m in too much shock. This is not how I envisioned my escape ending.
The bedroom looks like a normal bedroom, save for a bay of shiny, black-lacquered cabinets that line one wall. I wonder what they hold. Do I want to know? I go to the window, crossing my arms over my chest as I stare down at the street.
Is that Brady?
“How embarrassing, Beckett. Brady knows I’m going to be punished. Doesn’t he?” I point out the window. Brady stands on the sidewalk, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I see him out there. Looking up here. He knew exactly why you wanted to bring me here, didn’t he?”
He peers over my shoulder, down at the street. “Nosy motherfucker. Good for him.”
