73. Then
SEVENTY-THREE
then
It took every scrap of courage I could muster to return to the Strykers’ house.
After dramatically sprinting out of the place as if the flames of hell licked at my bare heels, I ran as far up the shore as my frozen feet would carry me, fighting for breath the entire way. Only after I collapsed in a heap on the ground did I realize I had left everything behind, including my cell phone.
For a long time, I didn’t care. Couldn’t care.
I was too concerned with the notion of Daniel following me. Even though I knew it made no sense—if he wanted to attack me, he could have done it ri ght there in the kitchen. Or snuck up on me some other time.
I folded myself into a ball and hid, shivering in the tall grasses lining the sand, hoping to be still enough to make myself invisible.
Eventually, I felt certain he wasn’t after me and tried to get my body back under control. Watching the waves roll up the sand and fall back helped quiet my mind.
With the benefit of distance, I started to review our encounter objectively.
And the fact remained: I didn’t know it was him. To claim something with absolute certainty based on a handful of words would be… irresponsible. After all, lots of men called women misogynistic pet names. And it was entirely possible Daniel and I had met before… just not on a damp frat house mattress.
I was already anxious when I came downstairs. Maybe I overreacted. Or got triggered enough to spiral and start imagining things. I mean, realistically, what are the odds? Zero, probably .
Sometime later, I noticed the waves creeping further up the beach. The tide changing. That meant I’d been gone a while…
And I had to go back.
It’s fine , I coached myself. You’ll go back, run straight upstairs to your room, wake Gray up, tell him everything, and tell him you have to leave so you don’t ruin the holiday. He’ll be upset, but he’ll understand. And at least you won’t be running out on him without a word .
The house felt eerily quiet when I stepped inside. I left my wet socks on the deck and tiptoed to the second story, choking back bile.
Breathe. Everything will be okay once you find Gray. He won’t let anyone hurt you .
But the moment I burst into our guest suite, I knew he wasn’t there.
The door fell closed behind me, and I jumped, turning to find Daniel with his hand on the handle, locking it in place .
“Hi, princess ,” he drawled, cocking his head at me. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Ted appeared at my elbow, gripping my forearm. I flailed and shrieked, but he only snapped up my other wrist.
“Now, now,” he admonished, his voice oddly serene. “There’s no need for that. I’m here to make sure my son behaves himself this time . I understand he wasn’t a gentleman at your first meeting.”
I barely heard him through my panicked panting. I tried to scream again, but the sound died in my dry throat. Daniel lunged, cupping one hand around my skull and smashing the other over my mouth.
The horribly familiar gesture sent black spots blooming over my vision. I swayed, nearly fainting as my legs went limp.
Oh my God. This is real. It’s actually him.
My worst nightmare… happening all over again.
Daniel’s face loomed right in front of mine. “Are you going to be a good girl and listen to what we have to say? Or do I need to take you to my room and tie you up?”
From behind me, Ted pulled my arms tighter. His tone sounded resigned. “Probably better to tie her up in mine. No one will think to look in there.”
A sick gleam lit Daniel’s eyes as they leered at me, considering. “I’ll have to gag her, of course.”
Hot tears spilled down my cheeks. “No,” I begged, muffled by my mashed lips. “Please. I can listen. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Oh, don’t tell me that , princess. You know what you do to me.”
Ted’s hand released my left arm and flew up to strike the side of his son’s head. “ Daniel . That’s enough. Focus.”
Reluctantly, he took his hands off me and stepped back, glaring as he rubbed his hand over his hair. “She’s still a stuck-up little bitch,” he muttered, eyeing me. “Even though she’s clearly a slut. You should have seen how hot for it she was the other day.”
Ted walked around to stand beside his son, casting me an appraising look. “Yes, ” he agreed dryly, smirking, “I got an earful of it later that night.”
I didn’t even have it in me to be disgusted or ashamed. I only felt terrified. So scared that I thought every particle of my body might vibrate apart.
Daniel’s leer looped back up to my face. “She was riding him, desperate as all hell. I’d probably be doing her a favor…”
Ted’s face furrowed into a frown. “There’s no time for that. They’ve already been gone over an hour. We have to make this quick.”
My mind worked feverishly, trying to piece together everything they said. The Strykers were out somewhere—along with Grayson. There was no time to violate me… but then what were they doing in our room? Were they going to hurt me?
Dear God, why ?
Because they know that you’ll tell Grayson what Daniel did… And then, he’ll kill Daniel. And everything else will fall apart.
Confusion crowded behind the panic. When did Daniel see us? He said something like that this morning, too… How he didn’t really believe it was me when he first saw me… But Gray and I didn’t have sex last night… or yesterday. Not since Saturday night, when he was at me until morning… The same night we found out Daniel was stranded in Dublin.
“What are you talking about?” I squeaked hoarsely. “You just got here.”
His grin took on a crooked quality. “I’ve been here since Saturday afternoon, princess . Arrived right after you, apparently, because when I came upstairs, I caught the little show you two put on.”
None of it made any sense. My first instinct was denial.
He’s lying .
“Why would you claim to be stuck overseas?” I demanded, shrill from fright. “I heard Gray call the jet for you.”
His eyes hardened. “ Gray , is it? Christ. I don’t know whether to laugh or vomit. ”
Ted sighed deeply. “I told you they were sickening.”
My nails dug half-moons into my palms, drawing blood. “Someone answer me!” I begged.
With a scoff, Daniel once again regarded me with scorn. “Try to keep up, princess. I got here on Saturday, saw you fucking my baby cousin, and realized I knew you. But, because of the way I knew you, I couldn’t very well risk you recognizing me. Not if I ever wanted to cash another check from Stryker in my lifetime. No one ever saw me come in, so I just left. Got a room in town to regroup.”
My thoughts spun through the implications. “So, you pretended to be delayed?”
“Mm hmm,” he replied with an indolent shrug. “Figured I’d sit it out until my father could get over here and assess the situation. Once he saw that you had Gray wrapped all around your little fingers, we decided I had to check and make absolutely sure it was you. Then, after our run-in this morning, we knew we had to take drastic action.”
Oh God . I tripped over my own feet, shuffling backward.
“Please,” I pleaded. “Please don’t hurt me. I—I’ll…”
…what?
I couldn’t promise not to tell Grayson. Of course I had to tell him…
Ted made a clucking sound. “Now, dear, don’t make a liar of yourself. You’ll go running to your boyfriend the second he walks in the door if we let you. We can’t have that. Last night, my brother and I hammered out a deal for our company. An extremely lucrative deal. I won’t have anything get in the way of it. Least of all you .”
Daniel’s sneer brought a fresh prickle of tears to my eyes. “I never did catch your name back then,” he said. “ Ella . Perfect for a little princess.”
Grayson once told me the same thing. Remembering, my stomach churned and heaved. “Please,” I begged, still not sure what to ask for. “Please just… leave us alone. ”
Ted actually looked remorseful for a second. “Poor, sweet thing. I wish that were an option. But I’m afraid there’s really no other solution—you’re going to have to leave. Now.”
“ Leave ?” The word snapped out of me, escaping before a rush of bile sprang up my throat.
“We’ve already got you packed up,” Ted went on. “And drafted a message for you to send Grayson before you go. We thought you ought to add your own spin to it, though. For authenticity.”
A flash of anger shocked me. “I won’t leave him! The second I tell him what you did to me—what you’re trying to do now —he’s going to make sure I never have to see either of you ever again. So…” I faltered, losing steam. “Tie me up, I guess. He’ll be back eventually, and he’ll find me.”
All traces of compassion vanished from Ted’s face. “We thought you might feel that way. So I took it upon myself to make a little home movie…”
He spun his phone to face me. My stomach heaved as I recognized our guest room. That room. And Grayson and I, on the bed, twisted together. Naked.
“You two really went at it,” Ted commented dryly, fast-forwarding the footage to one particularly loud segment. Goosebumps prickled over my skin as Grayson’s deep voice roughed out a series of instructions, telling me to flip over so he could?—
Oh God . And they had it all on tape.
Victory lit Daniel’s amber eyes. “Guess I’m not the only Stryker who likes it rough, huh, little princess? I wonder what the press would say if they found out. Or the board of Stryker & Sons.”
This time, he reached into his pocket and flung a folded blueprint at me. I recognized the writing immediately.
Gray’s building .
“If you refuse to leave,” Daniel sneered, “This video will be viral by lunch. And any chance your precious boyfriend had of becoming the CEO and des igning his big-boy building will be history.”
Ted had the gall to look concerned. “Hasn’t this always been his dream, Ella? Would you really want to risk ruining that? Not to mention your own reputation. And your family’s.”
My legs went out, sending me to the cold wood floor. Frantic, my blurry vision swam while I hyperventilated on my hands and knees.
Another desperate rush of rage and denial assailed me. “I don’t—I can’t understand any of this! Grayson told me you went to Columbia! You didn’t even go to NYU. What were you doing at that party?”
“Eh, I prefer not to shit where I eat,” Daniel clipped. “Learned that lesson in high school. Lots of socialites and future colleagues at an Ivy League university—too many people to risk developing an unsavory reputation. No risk of that in the slums, though.” He gave another shrug. “You get it.”
Ted took a step toward me. “So, you know your options now, Ella. You can break up with Grayson, leave now, and disappear from his life. Or we can post this video and everything Grayson’s worked for will be ruined.” Something dark flashed in his eyes. “And, by the time he gets back, you’ll be ruined, too. Or should I say— more ruined?”
I didn’t even have it in me to object. I felt ruined. Utterly decimated. Permanently wrecked. Stained, scarred, burned to ash.
How would Gray look at me if I ever told him what his own cousin had done to me? Especially if he got back here and had to see it with his own eyes ?
How would he ever want to hold me or kiss me again? How would I ever allow him to? I knew I would regress on all the progress I’d made. Possibly to the point of not ever being able to have sex again.
How could Grayson deal with that—on top of losing everything else in his life ?
Gray needed someone sane and whole. A person who would help him, not drag him into a bottomless mess.
My mind kept racing, trying to come up with any way to save us both. And, really, it seemed like the smartest option would’ve been to just… go. Leave and call Grayson the second I felt safe, so I could tell him the truth and he could leap into action to protect himself.
But Daniel read my thoughts. The toe of his shoe hit my knee with stinging force.
“Here’s the thing, princess. Once you’re out of Grayson’s life, there won’t be anyone protecting you anymore. And that’s a very tempting thought, for me. So you won’t call him or text him or try to come back at all. Because if you do, I’ll find you. And I won’t be nearly as polite as I’m being right now. If I ever have to see your pretty face again, I’ll make sure it’s the last time.”
I honestly believed him. The evil in his eyes gave the threat complete credibility. He’d kill me and he would enjoy it. My entire body shook, but I managed to say, “G-grayson would never let you h-hurt me.”
Daniel’s smile was a truly terrible thing. Twisted and full of malice. “Maybe not, little princess. But if I couldn’t get to you, for some reason, I’d just have to find someone else. You have a little sister, right?”
A wash of horror crashed through me. I choked on a gasp. “She’s a kid .”
Daniel shrugged. “I can wait. Although, in the meantime, there’s always that roommate of yours.”
Oh God, oh God, oh God .
Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to run as fast and as far as I could. Sobs began to wrack my body.
“Please,” I cried. “I’ll do anything you say, but don’t make me leave him like this. At least let me say goodbye.” My voice broke. “I have to say goodbye to him.”
My control collapsed as I gave in to my hopelessness, crying into my hands. Above me, they had a whispered conversation .
“What do you think?” Ted asked. “If she breaks up with him in person it would mean fewer questions for us… He might doubt the text message and go after her.”
“Hmm,” Daniel considered. “No. We can’t risk it. All it would take is her blurting out something ambiguous about any of this, and we’d be screwed. Better to just have her send the text and let me deal with Grayson. I’ll convince him not to go after her. Besides, I’ve already called her a cab.”
“Well done,” his father praised. “No need for us to abandon all chivalry just because we’ve gotten our hands dirty.”
My phone clattered to the floor between my knees. “Here,” Daniel said, louder. “Go ahead and add your two cents, but don’t change any of the details. Or I’ll hit send on this video.”
He nudged the phone with his toe. “Go on. Be quick. You know the consequences if all of this blows up in our faces.”
But I couldn’t move. I cried so hard that I honestly believed I’d vomit any minute. With a sigh, Daniel dropped down beside me. My entire body recoiled from his proximity, sending me backward, onto the floor. I curled into a tight ball.
“Oh, princess ,” he said, feigning regret. “For what it’s worth, I never would have taken you that night if I knew how much trouble you’d be. You weren’t nearly worth it.”
“Just pick her up,” Ted chipped, exasperated. “We don’t have time for this.”
Daniel’s hands grazed my shoulders before I let out a deafening, primal screech. “ Don’t touch me! ” I jerked back, scrambling to my feet. “I’ll go now. I’ll leave, and I won’t come back. I won’t try to call him or text him. Just… don’t touch me or anyone I know ever again.”
My attacker rose and very deliberately snatched my hand, pressing his palm into it before handing me my phone. His eyes turned flat and hard. “Add. Something. Authentic.”
I ran my eyes over the screen, trying to read each agonizing word.
Grayson, I’m so sorry to do this to you, but I had to leave. I’ve decided that I don’t want this life or this relationship anymore. It’s all too much for me. I hope you’ll understand and respect my choices. Please don’t make this any more difficult by trying to follow me.
With shaking thumbs, I swapped “Grayson” for “Gray,” and added one final piece. I know I said I wouldn’t run anymore… but I failed. At least, this way, I won’t ever fail you again.
Before I could think better of it, I signed the text. Yours For Always, Ellie .