Page 81 of Good Girls Beg

"Are you sure they said there was a camera?" I asked. “In Heartbeets, I mean."

I had an idea they were keeping tabs on me, but not to that extent. No wonder Hel didn't answer when I asked. He'd have to admit to spying on me. If he was here right now, I’d be tempted to stab him with the scissors.

"That's exactly what they said." Victor rubbed his shoulders. "They were proud of it. And pissed off at me for daring to talk to 'their woman.'" He used air quotes and rolled his eyes. "I don't know about you, but I've had enough of being down here. Let's get the hell out of here."

I led the way back to the stairs and up to Oak's room, my head racing.

"I think this is where I say I'm not leaving without you," Victor said.

"I need to get some things." I pointed the way to the front door. "I'll meet you out there. There are shrubs out the front; you should be able to hide behind those if anyone comes."

He nodded and pulled open the front door, looking around before he slipped out of sight.

I swallowed hard, wondering if I shouldn't leave my stuff behind. I could replace it right? Except, I couldn't. I needed my laptop and my notes.

I darted up the stairs and across the landing to my room. I grabbed up my bag with the laptop in it, and a backpack from in the wardrobe. I stuffed a few things inside and swung it onto my back, all but running back down the stairs.

At the last couple of steps, I slowed. Half because I didn't want to fall and break my neck, and half because if Shannon saw me, she'd wonder why the hell I was running. Should I tell her? Did she know what was going on here? She knew the men better than I did. For all I knew, she was in on it too.

I hesitated for a moment longer but slipped out the door behind Victor and over to my car. I unlocked it and threw everything inside.

I was about to look for Victor, but he appeared out of the shrubs, running over to dive into the passenger seat of my new car.

"Is there anywhere I need to take you?" I asked.

“Anywhere but here would be awesome," he said, putting on his seatbelt.

"Right," I agreed. I pressed the button to start the engine, and peeled away from the house, hoping it didn't look as though I was running.

"Actually, I know a place," Victor said. "I'll tell you where you can take me. It's not far from here. Keep going straight for now."

"You know I had nothing to do with locking you down there, don't you?" I glanced over at him.

"Do I?" He twisted around to look out the back of the car. He didn't need to, I could have told him we weren't being followed.

Hel, Oak and Fade would still be at work and even if Shannon saw us, she might not give a shit. Or she might have thought I was off with friends or seeing my fathers. She was good at lots of things, that included not sticking her nose into other people's business.

"You should," I said. "I had no idea you were down there until I saw you." That was mostly true. I hadn't expected to find someone tied up down there. I thought I'd find an empty basement again, supporting the theory the place was haunted.

That might have been better.

“Okay, I believe you." He sat around and smiled like a boy who was on his way to the circus. Was he traumatized after what happened to him? I didn't think I'd be smiling so soon after being tied up in a musty basement. Especially if I was sitting next to the reason for being locked down there in the first place.

The guys said I was theirs. They must have taken that far more seriously than I thought. What about now though? It didn’t matter. I couldn't take their money knowing what they'd done. How the hell was I going to explain all of this to my fathers? We were going to have to come up with another way to save the bar. Right now, that might be the least of my problems. If they caught up with us, they might put us both down in the basement.

"We should talk to the police," I said. Now I was thinking more clearly, we should drive straight to the station.

"No." Victor's vehement response took me by surprise. "I'm fine. No harm done. I don't want to press charges."

I stared at him for a moment before I remembered I was driving and swung my gaze back to the road.

"They tied you to a chair in a basement." I'd see the expression on his face when I found him, for the rest of my life. Despair had turned to hope. Joy. The realization he might get out of there alive. I didn't want to think what they might have done to him if I hadn’t ventured down there. Were they trying to scare him or…

I shoved the thought away for now.

"I'll get over it. Take the next left and pull into the parking lot."

"Where are we going?" I put down the unease down to wondering what the men would do when they found out I was gone. If they'd go to these length to keep someone from talking to me, then fuck only knew what they do to keep me.