He laughs.
“Yeah, you take after your mom. She had a great body too.”
Something inside me fractures.
“If we had more time, I was planning to have some fun with her before Richard slit her throat.” He shrugs. “I mean, I still could’ve. But the job was done. Your dad was dead. So we had to go.”
I scream against the gag.
Grant tilts his head as if listening.
“What was that?”
He leans closer.
“I can’t hear you.”
He reaches forward and loosens the gag.
I don't hesitate. I spit straight into his eye.
He jerks back with a curse, wipes his face, and then laughs under his breath. He leans forward and spits at me. The saliva slides down my cheek, and I wipe it off on my shoulder without breaking eye contact.
“I’m warning you,” he says quietly. “Don’t piss me off.”
He pulls out his phone and taps the screen. The glow lights his face as the call connects.
Grant angles the phone toward me.
Kristie Talbert, Nick’s mother, the mayor, appears on the screen.
“You’re on.”
“Brooke Sinclair,” her gaze drags over me slowly. “The little slut who thought she could touch my son.”
I don’t look away.
“We’re almost there,” Grant says. “Everything’s arranged.”
“Good,” she replies. “I don’t give a fuck what John told you. He doesn’t have the money or the standing to pull rank. Not with me.”
Grant chuckles softly.
“You killed my son,” she continues. “You humiliated our family. You made us look weak.”
Nick’s face flashes in my mind, his weight pressing down on me, his voice in my ear, the way he laughed when he said he would split me open.
He had it coming.
“The Manor is the best punishment,” she smiles. “I’m going to love watching you suffer.”
Grant’s grin widens.
“See you soon, Brooke” she murmurs. “I can’t wait to see you break.”
Grant ends the call.
Only then did the jet change, the vibration shifting as the nose dipped. The engine tone drops into a deeper grind. My stomach rolls with the descent.
