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There is scaffolding above us with a guard watching everything from above. I point and aim, my bullet hits right between the eyes, and he falls. We hold position for a moment, waiting to hear if anyone heard his body fall the twenty-feet to the ground and the clatter of his rifle hitting the floor.
A door opens, and six sets of footsteps fill the silent chamber. The three of us spread out, still able to have each other’s backs but far enough apart to make it difficult. Sawyer takes out the first guard that comes into view. Bullets tear into the crate above his head. These guys have terrible aim and no stealth. Both of those are advantages to us. Nolan disappears around the corner of his crate, and two more bodies hit the floor. I take out a guy sneaking up on Sawyer, and he returns the favor with two behind me.
“Come on,” Nolan says. “More will be coming in the same direction. I’m pretty sure we’ll have to get into the room they all keep coming out of.”
27
OLIVIA
My eyes fighttheir way open. I blink a few times, trying to clear water or a tear, but after a few more blinks, I realize it’s blood. My temple is throbbing. That’s when everything comes back to me and a sob rips through my chest. Grant is dead. I watched him die from a shot that should have hit me. Why didn’t I throw myself in front of that bullet to save him?
My body wracks with sobs, and my stomach pitches, forcing bile from it. I can’t move my arms because they are zip tied together, so a strand of salvia hangs from my lip. I try to look around, but wherever I am is dark aside from one flickering bulb in the corner of the room.
“Good, keep vomiting Olivia. Maybe you’ll lose the weight you gained while you whored yourself out to four men.” Tripp steps into the light and sneers at me. “You look like a whore. You act like a whore. From now on I’m going to treat you like one.” He punches me in the side. “Tell me where my money is.”
“Awww, did it go missing?” I feign innocence. “I’m not sure where your money is, but I know exactly where mine is. A nice little account Nolan set up for me, recovering all the money you’ve stolen from me over the years.”
My head flings to the side as he backhands me. Instead of shrinking back and crying like I used to, I look inside myself, tapping into the strength I’ve been reminded I have. I look up at him with defiance. “I’m not afraid of you. I’m not yours to punish anymore.”
“I can make you afraid of me.” He says with venom. “How do you feel knowing you are the reason your parents are dead? I never would have killed them had you not been so close and needy with them. If you would have just let them live their do-gooder lives without constantly talking to them, I wouldn’t have had them killed.”
“I am not to blame for their deaths.”
“Oh, I think you know you are. Sometimes I wish I could have done it myself, then fucked you while you cried about it.” The sky blue eyes I once found so intriguing now disgust me. The time we’ve been apart has made him age and not the sexy, Hollywood way. He looks gaunt and strung out, all the capillaries in his eyes are red.
He grabs me by the neck, squeezing until I can’t breathe, and then he covers my mouth with his. His lips and tongue revolt me, so I bite down as hard as I can. Blood coats my tongue, but I don’t let go until his fist connects with my stomach.
He wipes the blood from his chin and looks at me with shocked fury. “You fucking bitch!” He flips the chair I’m tied to back, causing my head to slam off the concrete floor. “You’re going to fucking regret that.” The last thing I see before I black out is his foot slamming down on my chest.
I don’t know how long I’m out. When I wake up, it looks like I’m back in the panic room in our basement. My heart pounds against my chest furiously as I run my hands over the smooth metal walls.
No no no no no no no no no.
Am I already back in California?
My nails break as I claw at the walls around me. A loud, wailing noise pierces my ears. I start kicking the walls of my cold, dark prison. I will escape this box, even if I die doing so. Blood roars in my ears, pulsing with every erratic beat of my heart.
I crawl in circles searching for a doorknob, a crack, anything, but there’s nothing. I collapse into the fetal position, my ankles and wrists still bound together and rock back and forth. My mind replays every good minute of my time with the guys. The way they held me. The way they protected me. The way they loved me.
I think about Lake making me breakfast. I think about Nolan singing to me. I think about Sawyer shopping with me. I think about Grant bathing me. I imagine all of them touching me, their warm, sure strokes against my skin.
Guttural sobs escape my chest as I think about watching in horror as Grant was shot. I think about the ways I could have done something different. How I should have moved in front of him because Tripp wouldn’t have shot me. I could have been his shield, instead I’m the reason he’s dead.
Suddenly the door is wrenched open, the bright light silhouetting three tall forms. I shrink back in the corner, terrified that this is it. He’s brought his friends to rape, torture, and murder me. I turn my head away, pushing it down into the metal floor of the box even though my head is already pounding.
“Livvy.” Two warm hands pull me away from the corner. “Fuck. Livvy. Look at me.”
I recognize the voice, so I peek out of the corner of my eye. I blink when three familiar faces fill my vision. I blink again, the relief so potently stark. Lake cuts the zip ties off, and I’m dragged fully into Nolan’s lap.
I’m a mess of blood, snot, and tears, but it doesn’t stop him from kissing every inch of my face. He’s holding onto me so tight, his body shuddering against me, and when I look up into his beautiful hazel eyes, I see them glassy with tears. One falls, rolling down his cheek to join mine that transferred to his face.
“My turn,” Sawyer says roughly. He lifts me from Nolan’s lap and begins checking every cut and bruise he can see. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry he caught you.”
“Where is he?” I swallow nervously. “And can we get out of the box?”
“Yeah, of course.” Sawyer hands me off to Lake who stands with me in his arms like it’s nothing.
“My team knocked him out and are on their way upstate with him.” Lake carries me out of the box and keeps going until we’re out of the building entirely. Sawyer and Nolan are following close behind. “You’re safe. You will never have to fear him again.”
