AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Great.
A whole fucking party.
“Talk,” Kyle tells me, shoving his finger in my face. “This is going to take a little while since I don’t have access to Dad’s shit, but I’ll get it done while you give us story time.”
Kyle has been learning to hack for years, since he first stole his dad’s laptop and found all his fancy tech. He’s pretty good at it, and whenever we need access to shit, he usually gets it to us quickly.
He grabs his laptop from his room before dropping down onto the couch. The others follow him, their watchful gazes cautious as they stare at me.
Who thought I’d have to do this with a fucking audience.
“Fallon was sold.” The moment the words come out, a choked gasp comes from both Noah and Betty, the pair looking at me like I did it.
Neither Kyle nor Gage outwardly react, but the way their bodies tense tell me everything they’re thinking.
“It was about seven years ago, and her mum made a deal with a man named Gregory. He paid an excessive amount of cash, meaning Fallon would become his when she turns nineteen.”
A chorus of expletives burst around the room. Noah jumps up, pacing the floor, muttering to himself about what a cunt Caroline is—he’s not fucking wrong.
That bitch is a real fucking snake.
I still don’t understand any of why she made the decisions she did with Fallon; I’m not sure I ever will. She doesn’t need money, being Robert’s wife, but, then again, money corrupts.
“How do you know this?” Betty slides beside me, her voice quiet and her eyes shining with unshed tears. She places a hand on my bicep, her gaze never leaving my face.
“I overheard Robert and Caroline talking about it when I snuck in the house once.”
“You said seven years, right?” I nod at Betty, confirming the thought I know she’s having. Seven years ago, right around the time I shoved Fallon out of my life. “Why?”
“Caroline found me lurking around the corner. I got a backhand across the face and told that if I didn’t walk away from Fallon, and if I ever told anyone what I heard, she’d move the timeline up and hand her over right then. She was eleven, Betty. I couldn’t do that to her.”
“She wasn’t bluffing,” Noah assumes dryly. “God that fucking cunt.”
“I’m confused, though, she’s not nineteen for another couple months. So why now?” Kyle pipes up, lifting his head from his laptop for a moment to flick his gaze to me.
“I dunno.” Shaking my head, I try to work through the reasonings, but I come up empty-handed. Unless it’s because of me. Because she’s here and I’m here . . . shit. “Her mum’s panicking.”
Betty squeezes my bicep, not a harsh grip, but an offer of silent comfort. I tuck her under my arm, taking the comfort my girl’s best friend offers me. “You’ll get her back.”
“I will, Red,” I tell her, my voice smooth and unwavering. “I promise.”
FORTY
Forthelasthour,Gregory has been peppering me with questions. All the fucking questions. He knows everything from my favourite colour, to my favourite meal, and all the things between. His shirt has been unbuttoned further, and now his round stomach is almost fully on display, his dress trousers digging into the fat at his waist.
There has been no dinner despite this whole thing supposedly being a meal with my mother’s friend. I have heard nothing back from Noah, and I’m wondering if he read the words I wrote in my message as an actual message.
God, I hope not.
Though I’m not sure that he could help me. I’ve tried to leave a few times, but each time, Gregory has clamped a hand on my body and stopped me. He’s too large for me to fight; not that I know the first thing about self-defence or fighting anyway, beyond a basic bitch slap—which I don’t think will work on this man.
“I think I should probably head home now,” I tell him when he asks me for the name of my favourite teacher. This has all gone way beyond weird and is bordering creepy-as-fuck territory now. “I have coursework to do, and my dad won’t like it if I’m late with any of my assignments.”
“Let me worry about your dad. We’re having a lovely evening, sweetheart. It would be a shame to end the night early, don’t you think?”
Shaking my head, I move to stand, but his eyes lock on me as he leans over my body. A hand presses against my shoulder, pushing me flat against the bed. His knees land either side of me, his body pressing me into the firm mattress when he crawls over me.
The heady scent of body odour combined with cigars and whisky lingers on his skin, my stomach churning as it permeates my nose. “See the thing is, Fallon, you belong to me. You won’t be going anywhere.”
