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Yeah, like I'd buy that. Asshole.
He stepped back and pulled out his phone. He tapped the screen and put it to his ear. After a couple of moments he said, "She's right here. She came straight to me like you said she would."
I blinked away hot tears and stared. What the—
Who the hell was he talking to?
"Don't worry, she's not going anywhere. Yep, I'll see you soon." He slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"What did you do?" I hissed.
"I covered my own ass," he said with an absolute lack of apology. "The minute they realised you were missing, Mannix knew where you'd go. He told me to keep you safe and let him know where you were." He scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. "If I told you sooner, you would have run."
As if that justified any of that. I was right back to dying being the worst thing that might happen to me. The fact he didn't plan to rape me was a small mercy, I supposed. Very small in the scheme of things. I bet his cock was just as small.
Yeah, it was a petty thought, but whatever right now. I was still pissed and scared.
I gritted my teeth and pulled at the handcuff again. "Of course I would have run," I growled. "Do you have any idea what they're capable of?"
"Probably more than you." He sat down in an armchair opposite the couch, but kept his eyes on me. "After I spotted you on the uneven bars, your dear Mannix paid me a visit. He told me if I touched you again, I'd die choking on my own balls. He wasn't joking."
His mouth twisted to the side. "After you stopped him from firing me, he dropped in again. Him and that Ice guy. He told me he didn't like the way I looked at you, and the way you were nice to me. He said the only reason he was letting me live was because you wanted me to work at the gym."
"And yet, you were quick enough to call him and tell him where I was." I gave up trying to break the armrest, but stayed on alert. What the fuck I'd do was another thing, but I wasn't going to let anyone take me by surprise again.
"You said it yourself, the first place they'd look is at the gym. The second place would be here. How long did you think it would be before they turned up? And how long after that would I still be breathing? What choice did I have?" He almost sounded reasonable.
"You could have ignored my text." I gritted my teeth in frustration. "They would have come looking, but they wouldn't have found me if I wasn't here."
"They would have killed me anyway, to keep me from helping you in the future. The moment you texted me, you dragged me right into the middle of this shit storm. At least this way, I have them grateful to me. That might work in my favour someday."
"You're so fired." I was half tempted to stand up and drag the couch over to him so I could kick the crap out of him. I should have sat in an armchair. They had the same armrests, but I could have picked it up and high-fived him in the face with it.
What was I thinking? I wasn't usually given to violence. Then again, I wasn't usually running from killers either.
Charlie shrugged. "I'd rather be fired than dead. Maybe Mannix will give me a job. Or his father."
"They can give you the perfect job of having your head decorate one of the spikes beside the gate," I said with extra added vindictiveness. "You could serve as a warning to their enemies."
"No wonder you were drawn to those guys." Charlie looked down his nose at me. "You're as bloodthirsty as they are."
"You have no idea," I said softly.
I took several slow breaths to compose myself, then said, "I saw them kill a man. They didn't know I was watching. I didn't even realise it was them until a couple of hours ago. It was dark and their faces were covered. It was…" I shuddered.
"Probably not their first or their last," Charlie finished for me. "That was why you ran? You figured you might be next if they knew?"
"I probably will be, which is why you need to let me go." I tugged at the handcuff again. "Please, before they get here. We could get out of here together."
"And go where?" He almost seemed to be considering it.
“Anywhere," I said. "We have to get out of Dusk Bay first. Unlock this thing and we can go."
Charlie pressed his finger to his top lip and appeared to be thinking. When he lowered his hand, he said, "If I unlock that, what guarantee do I have that you won't cut and run? I'm dead if you leave me behind."
I won't lie, I was thinking exactly that. Maybe kick him in the balls and the way past, but then grab his car keys and bolt.
"I won't," I said, trying to sound as convincing as I could. "We're wasting time. We need to leave now." How much time did we have before the guys turned up? It couldn't be much longer, especially the way Mannix drove.
