Chapter Twenty-Three #2
Part of me wants to argue that there’s no way Sophie will believe I left in the middle of the night with nowhere to go but it’s no use. Victoria’s orchestrated this and won’t reason with logic. My sisters know I don’t have money to go anywhere and will assume I went home to Utah.
“They’re gonna call and text me,” I tell her.
“I’m taking care of that.” She winks, then looks at her phone. “Your ride is here. Give me your keys. Time to go.”
“My keys?”
“Yes, my security is driving you to the airport in the Suburban. I’ll handle your car so it looks like you left.”
I have so many questions she won’t answer, so I don’t even bother. Fishing my keys out of my backpack, I hand them over. If anything happens to it, considering Liam’s the one who bought it for me, I’ll be so pissed.
“Anything else?”
Victoria grins, and I can tell she’s used to getting what she wants. She’s probably never heard the word no in her entire life. She’s a mobster princess and spoiled brat. She’d put Veruca Salt to shame.
As the memory of watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as a kid emerges, I grab my bags and quietly followVictoria out of the house. I refuse to show any emotion around her, so I straighten my spine and follow orders.
Two men are standing next to the black Suburban parked out front.
“She’s ready,” Victoria tells them.
One of them opens the back door while the other loads my things. Before I hop in, Victoria grabs my elbow, digging her fingers into my skin.
“Remember what and who’s on the line here. Play by my rules and nothing bad happens. I’ll be in contact with you soon.” Then she releases me and walks back to house—one I’m not sure I’ll ever return to.
After I’m forced to wear a blindfold the entire flight, we finally land. I lost track of time, but a couple of hours had to have passed, though I can’t be sure. The guards talked softly, and I could hear them moving around, but other than that, I sat and waited.
Waited for what? Who the hell knows?
“Can you stand?” one of them asks after unbuckling me. I push myself up and he grabs my elbow. “This way.”
“This would be a lot easier if I could see,” I tell him.
“Not yet.”
I can sense the other guy behind me, his steps tailing mine.
“There’s a railing on your other side you can grab while we go down the steps,” he directs, gripping me tightly. I don’t know if it’s because he thinks I’m gonna bail or if his orders are to keep me alive. Either way, I hold it tightly as I take each stair.
“Your ride is here,” he informs me.
“I’ll take it from here, Oliver,” another man says. This voice is much softer and kinder. Oliver releases me as the other one grabs my arm.
“I’ll let her know she’s arrived,” Oliver says, then he’s gone.
“Okay, this way.” The new guy leads, then a door opens. “It’s a big step in.”
I don’t know why, but he feels safe, which sounds fucking crazy. They all must be criminally insane if they work for the O’Learys.
Once I’m secured and buckled, my door shuts, then they get in the front.
“How many of you are here?” I ask softly as they drive off.
“Two, miss. I’m Ty and this is Eric.”
Well, he sure doesn’t sound like a murderer, but then again, they never do.
“Where’re you taking me?” I ask, hopeful someone’ll give me answers.
“To a cabin. You’ll be safe there,” Ty responds.
Safe? There’s nothing safe about this. Hell, this sounds like some twisted witness protection except the person I need protecting from is the one keeping me hostage.
The drive is long, when I doze off, the vehicle slows down, then stops. My heartbeat races as the fear of the unknown takes over. I tried to be strong earlier and not let my guard down, almost not believing this was really happening. Now that the shock is wearing off, my adrenaline’s taking over.
I can’t be here.
My sisters and Liam are going to freak the hell out. There’s no way they’ll believe I left.
But if what Victoria said is true, then this’ll allow Liam to stay focused on doing what she asks. I don’t even want to think about what Johnny O’Leary would do if he found out the truth.
In some weird, fucked-up way, I think maybe she’s right. I’m the reason he’s lost focus in playing along in their messed-up marriage arrangement. He wants out, but until Victoria releases him, he has to follow her orders and make their relationship believable.
“Ready?” Ty asks after he opens the door. I reach out, and he assists me to my feet.
“Thanks,” I murmur awkwardly.
“You can take off the blindfold as soon as we’re inside,” he says.
Eric grabs my things, then they lead me up some stairs. A door opens and Ty ushers me in.
“Alright, I’m gonna remove your blindfold, but before I do…let’s go over the rules.”
Rules? How about rule number one: don’t kill me.
“There are cameras in every room of the house except the bathrooms. Victoria can see the live feed, so I wouldn’t do anything stupid.
Eric and I each have a room next to yours.
The house will be on lockdown, so even if you stupidly tried to run, you won’t be able to get out without sounding the alarms.”
“And we’re both carrying,” Eric adds roughly. His hoarse voice sends a shiver down my spine and not in a pleasant way.
I swallow hard. “Got it.”
I’ve no idea what they know about me or if they even know why I’m here, but I’m smart enough not to play games around people who could easily end me with one bullet.
Ty steps closer and his fingers brush my neck before he lifts the cloth over my head. I blink, studying my surroundings.
Well, it’s not the worst place to be held hostage. Victoria was right. This is luxury living. This is no small cabin in the middle of nowhere. This is a mansion in the woods.
My eyes finally land on Ty, and he narrows his gaze, studying my face as if he recognizes me.
“You must be Ty,” I say nervously.
If I had to guess, he’s probably a few years older than Liam.
He gives me a curt nod.
“I’m Maddie.” Though he probably already knows that.
His lips part, and his throat moves, but he doesn’t say anything else. Almost as if he’s not allowed to.
Eric huffs and walks past us with my backpack and suitcase. “C’mon. I’ll show you to your room.”
As I follow him, I notice how extravagant the place really is when I see large flat-screen TVs, an oversized gas fireplace, a modern kitchen with high tech appliances, and countless fancy chandeliers.
Why would Victoria send me here?
This looks too good to be true.
Then again, Victoria is the queen of mind games.