Seduction - Chapter 24 #2
I laughed. “Justin doesn’t hate you.” At least…
I thought he had stopped hating her. It had been a little touch and go there for a minute.
But he’d stopped calling her a barbarian, which was definitely a step in the right direction.
“I’m pretty sure he’d have a hard time getting another wedding gig if he murdered a bride-to-be. ”
“Fair point.” She nodded like she was encouraging herself. “Let’s do this thing.” She climbed out of the limo.
It was true. It would be career suicide for Justin to murder Daphne or Bee.
But me? He’d already planned my wedding.
Maybe he was trying to get out of the baby shower he’d promised to throw me.
If this were a horror movie, I’d kill Kristen first. Just because I’d want to.
And then Alina, only because I didn’t know her as well.
But this wasn’t my crazy plan. Justin was the evil mastermind here.
He’d probably kill Kristen and Alina first too, just because he didn’t know them.
But then it would be me because he’d already planned my wedding.
He’d keep Daphne alive for tomorrow. And Justin was basically obsessed with Bee, he didn’t even try to hide it.
Yup, I was going to die third for sure. Or maybe he’d kill me first so he could steal James even faster…
“We’re waiting, Penny,” Justin said. He ducked his head into the limo. “It’s fine,” he whispered just so I could hear. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I swear.”
Which was exactly what a tricky serial killer would say before he killed you first or third. “I’m actually pretty tired. Do you mind if I just take a nap in here?”
“Penny, it’s 1 in the morning. Bedtime isn’t for another 2 hours.”
I groaned. “There’s a wedding tomorrow!”
“Yeah,” he said and leaned in further. “And the wedding is going to be great. But I swear tonight is the main event. I did it partially for you. Come on.”
Serial killer words. But Justin wasn’t a serial killer. And now he’d really piqued my interest. How could whatever was behind that broken door be for me?
“Promise you won’t kill me?” I asked.
He laughed. “Cross my heart.” He put his hand out for me. “You’re my favorite, you know that. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Good. That meant Kristen was definitely getting offed first. And if Kristen died, I wouldn’t stick around like bait. I’d run away before the murderers got me. Thank goodness I’d switched into a pair of flats. I grabbed Justin’s hand and he pulled me out of the limo.
“Time to get our drink on!” Justin said.
Everyone cheered other than me.
Seriously…none of them were going to remember tonight or tomorrow at this rate.
But a drink meant there was probably a bar inside.
Which meant other people. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I really hated this trend of top secret, password only bars in sketchy places like this. Why not just put it somewhere well lit?
A rat scurried past, and I swallowed a scream. And somewhere with less rodents?
Justin marched right up to the door. But he didn’t do a weird knock or whisper a password. He just ducked under one of the broken boards. “This way!” he called back to me.
We took turns ducking into the building.
Justin turned on a flashlight to light the way. There was definitely no one else in here. And it definitely wasn’t a bar. It was just a rundown building for sure. I heard something dripping and shivered. It hadn’t rained recently. So what was leaking?
Bee screamed and grabbed my hand. “Was that a rat?”
“Probably,” Justin said. “It’s an abandoned warehouse. Now quiet, ladies,” Justin said. “You don’t want to scare them.”
I gripped Bee’s hand tighter. “Scare who?”
“Our murderers?” Bee asked.
I swallowed hard. Yeah, that sounded about right.
“Justin, I swear to God if you murder me before I get to walk down the aisle…”
“Daphne,” Justin said in a calm voice. “I’m the best wedding planner in the city. How would I have a perfect 5-star rating if I murdered my brides?”
“Maybe because you murder all the ones that give you less than five stars,” Daphne said.
He laughed. “Touché you sassy thing. Ah, here were are.” He put his hand out to make us stop wandering around. And then he pulled out his phone. “Raphael, we’ve arrived.”
“I thought he said Raphael went home,” Bee whispered.
“We’re definitely going to die here,” Kristen said. “Or…we’re about to get totally rammed by Raphael.” She bit her lip.
“I don’t want either of those things,” Alina said.
Yeah, me either. But if I had to choose…
The lights went on, blinding us for a moment.
I blinked. Behind us was…sure enough…a warehouse from a horror movie. But in front of us? A fancy couch, velvet chairs, and tons of booze and snacks.
“Perfection,” Justin said. “Time for a show.” He closed the big doors behind us that I hadn’t seen before and strutted toward the couch.
“What kind of show?” Daphne said and quickly followed him.
Bee and I both shrugged. Honestly, if there was a cheese plate then I was totally on board for any show. Although…since Raphael was involved, I was pretty sure it was strippers.