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Yet, as Geo ran his hand down her face, I’d never been more fucking pissed at my twin than I was in this moment.
“Did you really think you could disappear?” Geo murmured, grabbing her chin when she tried pulling away. “I’ll give you credit though. Six months was a good run.”
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to stay sitting. I knew what he was doing. It had come down from the group. They didn’t trust her. They were letting her stay with Alex as long as she behaved. But they also wanted her too terrified to try to leave again. I told them I’d do it. And I was going to. She hadn’t even been here a day. Apparently, they wanted the threat to come from more than just me.
“I was just trying to survive.” Her hands were grasping the railing as she leaned back as far from Geo as she could get.
“We’re everywhere, Sage.” He finally let her go, and she flew past him.
The chair scraped against the porch when I shot up and stepped to the side, blocking the door before she reached it. Unable to stop in time, she slammed into my chest. Whirling back around, she attempted to bound down the steps, but I caught her arm and pulled her back. Keeping my expression blank, I pushed her forward until her back hit the side of the house.
“What are you doing?” she cried out, her eyes darting between the two of us.
She was in the corner where the railing connected to the house, and I stood in front of her, not leaving enough room for Geo to stand beside me. He brushed against my shoulder, trying to shove me to the side, but I planted my feet, staying where I was.
This conversation was going to happen. The elders wanted it done. Geo wouldn’t leave until he said whatever was on his mind. And his favorite way to intimidate people was by getting in their personal space. Me staying between them while it happened would make this talk more bearable for everyone.
Because fuck me, I didn’t want to see him touch her again.
“Did Alex and Niko tell you how we found you?” Geo asked, still standing behind my shoulder.
Her gaze darted to me, and my heart thrashed. If she blurted out anything about me knowing where she was, I wasn’t sure Geo would keep that secret for me. Twin or not, the group came first. I caught the smallest flash of betrayal before she raised her chin. My nostrils flared. Did she really think I’d given her up? After everything I’d told her?
“No. They didn’t,” she muttered after a few moments of silence.
“Someone recognized your car when you left Michigan,” Geo told her as my breathing returned to normal. “We lost you again. For weeks. I’m guessing you were in Chicago that whole time?”
She swallowed hard and didn’t answer. She hadn’t moved a muscle since I had pushed her into the corner. I could tell the fear was there, but she was doing a better job hiding it than I thought she could. She was learning to lock up her emotions while mine seemed to be all over the damn place.
“When you stayed at that motel, you went to a small market to shop,” Geo said as her eyes widened. “It took him a couple weeks to place you, but he finally realized who you were.”
“Who?” she snapped.
“The manager of the market.” His voice turned deadly. “He’s in the group. Still searching for you, like everyone else was.”
“Imagine that luck,” I spoke up, knowing Geo was going to wonder why I was being so silent. Sarcasm was what everyone expected from me. One girl wasn’t about to make me start acting any differently.
“You didn’t find me because of the party I went to?” she asked, confusion crossing her face.
“We knew where you were the second you stepped into the market that morning.” I shifted when Geo tried stepping closer. “We followed you back to your hotel. You must have felt really comfortable there, because you didn’t look like a girl who was hiding.”
“No, she didn’t,” Geo agreed. “Is that where you stayed the entire time? Thinking you were safe?”
“I can’t exactly survive without food. I needed to buy it somewhere,” she said snidely. “Believe me, I knew I was still hiding.”
“Then you drove to some café.” The fear returned to her eyes in an instant, and Geo might be clueless, but I knew exactly why. We had almost lost her. She drove into the city and parked on the street, then disappeared into the crowd when she walked away. Alex was pissed. All three of us went searching for her. I was hoping to get to her first and somehow get her the hell out. I saw her through the café window hugging another woman. Alex had caught up to me as Sage left the café.
“Why’d you wait until the middle of the night if you knew where I was?” she asked, obviously trying to get off the subject of her talking to the woman. My curiosity was burning. When I took her bags from the hotel, I searched her phone and saw a number other than her dad’s. I bet it was the lady’s number.
“Don’t you get it, Sage?” Geo managed to squeeze in next to me, and our shoulders touched as he kept speaking. “Nowhere is safe. A market. A motel room. A party. We can get you anywhere.”
Understanding dawned over her features. “You waited until I was in public to prove a point?”
“Did it work?” I asked her, my voice going cold. “Do you realize that if you leave again, we’ll find you?”
“I’m not going anywhere.” She crossed her arms. “I’m staying with Alex.”
“Your hate for us is almost tangible.” Geo cocked his head to the side. “How can you despise us and love our brother?”
Like me, he was suspicious of her. He didn’t believe she still loved Alex. He wanted to make sure she had enough fear to stay with Alex anyway. And a part of me agreed. Because if she didn’t…she’d end up like Lacey.
“Unlike you two, I know Alex had nothing to do with Lacey.” Tears filled her eyes. “He was protecting me.”
“That almost sounds believable.” Geo shook his head. “If you hadn’t stabbed him.”
“Fuck you. You have no idea what I’m thinking,” she snarled, not realizing she was playing right into his hands. Geo wanted her mad. He wanted to play with her emotions, to get her to slip out truths. Ready for this conversation to be done, I opened my mouth to say the words I knew were going to push her past the brink. But it was better than Geo dragging this out even longer.
“You’re here because Alex loves you. Not because of anything you’ve said. It’s because he still wants you. All he needs to do is say the word, and your life is gone. You will become another missing person. Like your mom.” My gut twisted at the pain building in her eyes, but I kept going. Because my words would be better than anything Geo said. “You’re going to be the girlfriend he misses. The love of his life. You’re going to obey, Sage. You belong to the group now.”
The only reason I caught her wrist before it collided with my cheek was because I was expecting it. Damn, she was quicker than I remembered.
