I don’t take my eyes off the road, but all of my attention is on him.“What?”
“Some nonsense texts from Madison.”
“Nonsense, how?”Alarm bells clang in my head.
“The first one says,Have a milk pail beaming.The second one says,Pilates class asks soon.”
I press down harder on the gas pedal.“Who’s at the gate tonight?Kristoff and Hannah?”
“Yeah.”Seth taps on his phone.“I’m sending them up to the house now.”
“We’ll be there in ten minutes.”I stomp on the gas.
MADISON
My gaze flickers around the dusty basement.We’re surrounded by towers of books and papers.A twin bed sits in the middle of the room, and a chair.Dirty dishes taken from my own cabinets are stacked in piles at the base of the stairs.
I don’t know if the guys have gotten my texts.I don’t know if they’ll realize something is wrong.
But something is very,verywrong.
I tried to type out a warning to the guys, but I couldn’t look at the keypad without Cormac noticing.Hopefully something made sense.And if not, hopefully they’ll figure out I’m in trouble.
The fabric gag Cormac tied around my head stretches my mouth.It’s wet with my saliva and tastes like soap.
While Cormac fusses with another candle, I slide my phone into my back pocket, thankful that I put it on silent when I was out at dinner with Danica.
Cormac mutters under his breath when the lighter doesn’t immediately work.Finally, the flame catches on the wick.To think he was down here for months, lighting candles in this hoarder’s hole.He could’ve set this whole house on fire.
“That’s better.”He smiles over at me.“It’s kind of nice with the candlelight.Romantic.”
I suppress a full-body shudder.There’s nothing romantic about the dusty old books towered haphazardly against the walls, the magazines and newspapers scattered about like tinder.
Tiny brown pellets—mouse or rat droppings, I think—pile up along the stacks.
Cormac notices me looking at one of the book stacks.He picks up the top book and hefts it in his hand.“I like to read.I borrowed this one from Vivienne’s library.I didn’t think you’d mind.”
I mind very much, actually, but I can’t say one way or the other because of the gag in my mouth.
I can’t help but look longingly at the stairs leading up to the pantry.
“Now, don’t make any bad choices, little girl.”Cormac gives me a stern look, his gray eyes locked on mine.“I’m going to tie you up.Only for a bit, don’t panic.”
I’m already panicking, darting forward.If I could just get past him…
He catches me and drags me back toward a wooden chair.It exactly matches those in the dining room.He must have stolen it before I moved in, or maybe Great-Aunt Vivienne stored it down here.Did she use this space?There’s an ancient bedframe with knobby posts, with a dirty mattress plopped on top of it.No sheets, just a grimy blanket.
From a pile of junk at my feet, he gathers a few thin strips of fabric.They’re nothing more than rags, really.
“Yes, I didn’t have as much time to prepare as I wanted,” Cormac mutters.“With you wanting to move those low-lifes in, it really threw off my timeline.I wanted to romance you, baby.Seduce you.Show you how good it can be.I know what you like, now.I can give youeverything.”
He yanks my arms behind me and ties them to the chair.The rags are rough, like they’ve been washed and air-dried.I test the bindings, but they’re too tight; I can’t budge them.
I plead with my eyes as Cormac backs away.
“Darn it, I really wanted to do this a different way.”He shakes his head.“Well, we’ll figure things out as we go.In the meantime, I’ll go upstairs and get our dinner.It’ll be nice to have something more than oranges or the little bits and pieces I’ve had to borrow from you over the past few months.”
I cringe at the thought of him going through my refrigerator, my pantry, my cabinets.
