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Aidan
Gracewantstocome home. Her text didn’t specify why she wanted to leave campus. Only that she wanted me to come get her.
I’m frantic to have her within reach. Maybe she’s ready to talk about what happened today. Or, perhaps she just wants to sleep in her own bed. It’s possible she’s about to ask me to remove her collar and release her from my control.
It’s the likeliest outcome, and one that might actually kill me.
My hands tighten on the steering wheel. I’ve been going over it all in my head since I put her in the car this afternoon. Things I should have said or done differently. How I can begin trying to make it up to her, assuming she’ll still have me.
I race down the winding country roads going seventy. If a trooper tries to pull me over, he’d better be up for a chase, because I don’t intend to stop for anyone but Grace. I’m about to jump on the highway when my phone vibrates with another text from my little one. Checking to make sure there’s no one behind me, I slow the car to a crawl and open the message.
A photo appears of Grace, handcuffed and hanging from what looks like my bedframe, with tape over her mouth and tears in her eyes.
I slam my foot on the brake, my gaze zeroing in on what looks like a gas can and a lighter on the bed behind her.
Panic burns through me like wildfire. I tap to call Grace’s phone as I step on the gas and hightail it back toward the house.
One ring. Two rings. Three rings—
“Hey, Dad,” Liam says, his tone light. “Not like you to call so late.”
“Where is Grace?” I bark. “And when the hell did you take that photo?”
“Not too long ago,” he says casually, like we’re just shooting the shit. “I showed it to Grace before I sent it off. I don’t think she liked it. Not her best angle.”
“Put her on the fucking phone.”
“Hmm...” He sighs. “She can’t really talk right now. I guess I can put it on speaker phone.”
“Do it.”
There’s a brief pause before Liam says, “Okay, go ahead.”
“Grace, are you there?” I listen for a soft, muffled whine, which I can barely hear. “Hold on, little one. I’m on my way.”
“Aww, you call her little one?” Liam chuckles. “That’s adorable.”
Rage simmers in my stomach. I don’t give a flying fuck if he’s my son. If Liam jumped in front of me right now, I would mow him down like roadkill.
“I swear to God, Liam, if you touch her—”
“Are you scared I’m going to rape her?”
Dread tightens its jagged fingers around my windpipe. I have no idea if Liam is capable of something so monstruous. He’s never kidnapped anyone before, as far as I’m aware. Who knows how far he’s willing to go to make his point?
“Keep your fucking hands off her,” I growl.
“You hurt my mom, Aidan. Seems only fair that I should do the same to your little one.”
My heart pounds like it’s trying break out of my chest. I take a turn going eighty-five and feel the side of the car lift off the ground. “I didn’t mean to hurt your mother. It was an accident. Do not punish Grace for my mistakes.”
Liam doesn’t respond. A second later, I’m greeted with a chorus of distressing high-pitched cries. Every muscle in my body tenses with the need to act now. I white-knuckle the steering wheel, keeping my gaze on the road. I need to stay sharp if I hope to be of any help to Grace.
I hold my breath through a stretch of silence.
“Honestly, rape’s not really my style,” Liam says. “Good thing there’s no shortage of other, more creative ways to break someone. You know that better than most.”
He ends the call.
