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Chapter fifteen
I always believed life was a straight path from start to finish—ordered, measured, ruled. Like sheet music or notebook paper. There was no veering off the path, and second chances were just myths old people talked about in coffee shops.
But here I was, dead yet alive, and I dared the universe to explain what that meant. What little power I still held in my hands was ripped away the minute Grey tore me out of the bathtub and forced the air back into my lungs. It didn’t even matter how he knew what I was doing. It only mattered that he stopped me.
I threw the comforter back, climbed out of bed, and walked to the bathroom. Grey was right. Underneath the sink there was a little white box filled with everything I needed to take care of my cut.
After lathering some ointment on the wound then covering it with gauze and tape, I grabbed the t-shirt and jeans off the bed and got dressed.
The place was enormous. I retraced the steps I’d taken when Mrs. McTavish led me from the kitchen to my room. Out of my room, down the stairs, and to the right was a hallway lined with tall wooden doors on both sides. Some of them were open. Some were not. Every room was the epitome of wealth.Who the hell was this guy?
I looked around for cameras, breathing a sigh of relief when I didn’t find any. Then panic gripped my chest as it occurred to me there was only one reason a home like this wouldn’t have security cameras.He didn’t want anyone to see what went on inside.
If I turned back the way I came and ran toward the kitchen, maybe I would make it out the door before anyone caught me.
Then what? Then where would I go?
Anywhere would be better than here.Right?
I almost turned and ran when I heard voices carrying across the hall. Someone else was here.
I stopped outside the door to listen before going inside. I knew that voice.
“Feel free to join us,” Grey said, making my breath hitch.
I’d been too wrapped up in figuring out the second voice that I hadn’t even noticed I’d moved in front of the doorway to hear him better.
The room was dark and rich. Bookcases lined the walls, reaching from the floor to the ceiling, with one of those sliding ladders I’d only ever seen in movies. Two brown leather sofas faced each other in the center of the room. A blood-red rug with jewel-toned designs spilled out from underneath the furniture. The only light came from gold lamps with emerald green glass shades, and it smelled like old books and leather.
Grey stood with one hip resting against the back of a sofa. He’d changed into a dry shirt. This one was dark blue, like his pants.Like his eyes.He held a glass tumbler, swirling the amber liquid around the bottom before taking a slow sip.
My gaze roamed to the other man in the room, the voice I knew I recognized, and my heart jumped to my throat. An icy chill skittered up my spine while panic gripped my voice.
No.
How?
Why?
Grey held his glass out, gesturing across the room to the man I could not drag my gaze from. “Lyric, I believe you know Caspian.”
Yes. I knew Caspian. Everyone knew him, including Grey, apparently.
He leaned against one of the bookcases with his arms folded across his chest. He was casual in jeans and a solid black t-shirt, but everything about him screamed intimidation. It always had.
The last time I saw Caspian Donahue, he was walking out of The Chamber with my best friend thrown over his shoulder.
Caspian was Kipton’s son. If Kipton took me, and Caspian took Tatum…
No.
There was no way. He wouldn’t…
Grey took another slow sip, then nodded toward Caspian as panic overtook me. “I’ll let him explain since it’s his show.”
Caspian pushed off the bookcase, pinning me with his stare. Like I had anywhere to run. “There’s only one reason you’re here right now instead of being passed around like a rag doll in the middle of a California sex party or locked in a basement somewhere in Russia.” His jaw ticked. “You’re very fucking important to someone who’s very fucking important to me.”
I sucked in a breath. “Tatum.” It was barely a whisper. I squeezed my eyes shut to blink back tears. Just saying her name broke my heart all over again.
