Page 88 of Lethal Attraction

Reed

My consciousness wavers in and out for what feels like hours. Mumbling that sounds like people talking underwater, a rocking motion beneath me that jostles me occasionally, and the distant hum of tires rolling over asphalt are the only indications that we’re moving. I feel like I’m attempting to drag myself through molasses anytime I try to regain consciousness.

I stay in that state for so long that when I finally do become conscious; I think the arguing in my ears is a very vivid dream. I blink, but everything is blurry and out of focus.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Thalia?” Rowan hisses. At least, I think it’s him. It’s hard to tell with the lead in my body and the sudden nausea clouding my judgement.

“What?!” she asks incredulously.

And I must be delusional on the drugs, because I manage to utter what I’m thinking. “So beautiful…and strong.”

“Aw, thank you, baby,” Thalia coos.

A deep, guttural laugh reverberates through the air before Atlas speaks. “Oh, he’s fucking loopy. Reed, how many fingers am I holding up?”

I squint, the overhead lights blinding me as everything moves like I’m on a psychedelic. I try to focus on the burly man across from me, only to realize his fingers look like worms and the sudden urge to vomit strikes. My eyes screw shut as I swallow past the bile. “Pass.”

Atlas sniffs. “I was flipping you off, anyway.”

Prick.

“This isn’t some game!” Rowan bites loudly. “You drugged and kidnapped a doctor, Thalia!”

I lift a wobbly arm, but it doesn’t make it far as I slur. “I’m right…where I…want to be.”

“See!” Thalia says with a hint of a smile in her voice. “He doesn’t want to be saved.”

“BECAUSE YOU FUCKING DRUGGED HIM!”

“Whoa, whoa,” Atlas protests, jumping in the middle of his siblings, “ring any bells, Row? If my memory serves me correctly, didn’t you drug and kidnap a certain brunette?”

“Yes,” Rowan forces between his teeth. “But she became my wife.”

“And who’s saying Reed won’t become my husband?” Thalia asks, her voice taking on a defensive edge that’s turning me on far more than it should. “You and Atlas get to do fucked-up shit and still get your happily ever after. But what about me? What about what I want, Row?”

There’s a long pause that hangs heavy in the air. I almost slip back into my dream realm before the eldest brother sighs in resignation.

“I’m sorry. I just…worry about you. You hardly know this man, Thalia.” He says.

“And you knew Addison before you married her?” She retorts.

He lets out a fond chuckle. “I suppose not. I’m still learning new things about her every day.”

“And I want that,” Thalia breathes. “Mom did a lot of horrible stuff to us. She made me doubt who I was or what I wanted from life, but Reed is one of the few things I’m one hundred percent certain about.”

My chest warms.

She’s certain of me…

Fuck, I wish I wasn’t drugged right now. I would scoop her into my arms and kiss her until she forgot the pain of the past. Anything to erase the sadness that clings to her when she mentions her parents.

“And you’re sure you want to do this?” Rowan asks.

“Absolutely.”

“Then I can’t stop you,” he sighs. “Just don’t…hurt him too much, okay?”

The lightest, most adorable giggle I’ve ever heard bubbles from her. “Don’t you worry about him. He’s in good hands.”