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“Uh-oh, it looks like our time is up, kid. You might want to head downstairs.”
I hurry to do as he says, and when I get there, I screech to a stop, because standing in the foyer is Gray—but not like I’ve ever seen him before.
He’s in a suit, a waistcoat, tie, and jacket. Even his shoes are polished and his hair is perfectly styled. He looks incredible but nothing like the man I… care for. The only thing that settles my worry is his eyes, which blaze with fury, but you wouldn’t notice until you knew to look for it. For a moment, his eyes land on me before he turns away to greet the same pencil dick whose office I was thrown into the first day I got here. Then he walks away with him, leaving me gawking after him.
“I hope you know what you are doing, Gray,” Hale mutters.
“So do I,” I reply.
CHAPTER17
Zoey
Idon’t see Gray again. I try, but he either spends his time in the office or sneaks out when I don’t notice. Instead, I pretend to watch TV, even as I let my mind wander.
With nothing else to focus on, it goes back to those memories.
First, the one in the office, then the one in the bathroom.
It’s clear they are real, but how can that be? Did Layla and I come here after Mom’s death? Was this the group home we had been placed in before we went to Aunt Lucy’s? If so, was Gray here with me? It would explain a lot, but that means he also knew me before I remembered he even existed.
I’m so confused, my past and present colliding, until I feel like my head might explode as I try to figure it out, and the one person I need to ask isn’t here.
Sighing, I give up and head to bed, deciding to nap to get rid of the headache. The familiar pain makes me wince as I drag my feet, and for a moment, I panic that the tumor is back before I breathe through it.
It’s just stress, that’s all, Zoey. You know the doctor said it’s all gone.
Get your shit together, girl.
Escaping my worries and confusion, I collapse onto the bed, and before I can even wonder if I will fall asleep without Gray, the darkness takes me under.
* * *
I’m shaken awake.
I jerk around, searching for the source, expecting Gray to be lying at my side, but standing above me in the blackened room is a guard smirking down at me. I blink to focus. The room is dark, and girls are sleeping next to me. Did I nap all day?
That means I missed meals, Maeve, and Gray.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Time to earn your keep,” the guard sneers as he grabs me and hauls me up, dragging me from the room.
I don’t know what he means, but I can guess, so I start to fight his hold before I relax, knowing Gray is watching. If something is wrong, he would come for me. “I need to pee,” I snarl, and the guard groans before dragging me to the bathroom and tossing me into a stall.
“Thirty seconds, or I’ll come in after you.” His arms go across the open door as he grins at me, his brown eyes filled with lust. “And trust me, you don’t want that, little girl.”
No, I don’t. I pee quickly when he shuts the door, not risking calling to Gray through the earpiece. I wash my hands, only for the bathroom door to fling wide open, and then the guard yanks me down the corridor before I’m even done. The guard’s rough, bruising touch makes my heart slam in fear.
I’m led up the stairs I was curious about, the hallway so narrow it feels like the walls are caving in. The rooms have cell doors on them, and a bad feeling starts to build in my stomach, crawling up my throat and making it hard to swallow my dread. I want to scream and fight. I could take this one guard and get out; that much is true.
But then the mission would be blown.
Gray will kill them all, and everything we have done will be for nothing.
Instead, I pretend to sag in fear, trusting Gray like I’ve never trusted anyone before in my life.
I’m led to the last door, which the guard opens before tossing me inside. I stumble but manage to stay on my feet as it slams behind the guard with a bang loud enough to jar me.
