Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CONSTANCE
Time’s lost meaning to me. I don’t know how long it’s been since they took me from the parking garage. How long I was out for. Thankfully, my clothes are still on, and there's no throbbing pain between my legs. They didn’t rape me.
That’s a plus. But it doesn’t mean they won’t. Otherwise, why would I be taken? It has to be for some trafficking ring.
My thoughts swiftly change to Chance. Is he sitting alone somewhere, wondering where I am? When I don’t pick him up, what’s going to happen?
I keep my head still this time, forcing myself not to waste energy searching again. I already know what’s here; stacks of forgotten boxes, sagging shapes buried beneath dust, and no windows anywhere in sight. No door I can see from where I’m tied.
Without daylight to measure time, the attic feels suspended, endless. The only light comes from a weak bulb hanging several feet away, its glow thin and jaundiced, wires exposed where the insulation has worn away. It barely pushes back the shadows, leaving most of the room swallowed in gray.
Somewhere downstairs, I hear the echo of a door slamming shut. A deep masculine voice rises then falls, muffled. I can’t make out what’s said. It was quick, almost like he was calling for someone.
Fear hums through me, sharp and relentless, a wire stretched too tight inside my chest. I won’t let it own me. I keep it leashed by holding on to thoughts of Chance.
Chance.
God, I just pray he’s okay. I need to get back to him. I can’t let him think he’s been abandoned by me. He can’t lose me and I can’t lose him.
The creaking sound from the stairs shatters the quiet of the room. It’s getting louder…someone’s coming.
I sit spine straight, back pressed firmly against the chair, staring toward the far end of the attic—the direction footsteps would come from. My mind races through every possible version of what happens next.
The attic door opens, and my eyes go wide at who I see.
It’s not some stranger stepping through the door but her; it’s Creed’s former assistant. The one he had me fire.
What the fuck? Why would she do this? I’m no one to her.
She stands stiffly in the doorway, posture rigid, eyes too bright and a smirk on her face. But as I really look at her there’s something off about her expression—not confidence, not fear—something unstable.
Nothing could’ve prepared me for seeing her.
“Surprised?” she asks, grinning from ear to ear. “Bet you didn’t expect to see me again. At least not after you fired me.” She moves across the room with confident strides, pulling the gag from my mouth.
My pulse races. “I—I don’t understand. Is this about the job?”
The question sounds ridiculous even to me, but my mind can’t grasp anything else that would cause her to have me kidnapped.
“Please, let me go. I won’t tell anyone about this.
I need to get to my son.” I focus on keeping my voice calm and controlled, not wanting to give her any reason not to trust me.
“Awww, how sweet. You think this is about me being fired?” Her laugh is so wicked it would rival any witch. “I barely knew you. Two weeks—maybe less.” She steps back toward the chair, crossing her arms over her chest. “Do you even remember my name?”
I freeze as my mind goes blank. I can see the letters dancing around in my head, but I can’t string together the right ones to make her name.
Her face morphs from her smirking to infuriated. “Say it!” she screams. If she doesn’t care about yelling this loud, there must not be anyone close enough to hear me scream either.
“I don’t remember it,” I whisper.
The effect is instant—like striking a match to gasoline.
“Abi,” she snaps, her hand flying out, making contact with the side of my face so hard my head knocks to the side. “Did you ever bother to check? Did you ever care about the impact of what you did? What it would do to me?”
I shake my head, tears burning my eyes as pain spreads across my cheek. “I never meant—”
“You never what?” Abi screams. “You just let me be fired like I was nothing.”
The words spill out of her, frantic now.
“Do you know how many times I stayed late? How many times the great Morgan Creed walked right past me like I didn’t exist?
” Her laugh cracks. “I knew everything about him. His schedule, his coffee order, the way he loosened his tie when he was stressed. I was supposed to matter.”
She stops pacing, eyes sharpening. “Then Miles noticed me.”
Something cold slides down my spine.
“He saw what Morgan couldn’t,” she continues, almost dreamy now. “He said I was wasted answering phones. Said I was smart. Loyal.” Her smile widens. “He trusted me, said Morgan never deserved loyalty he couldn’t even recognize.”
Understanding begins to form
“I helped him,” she says proudly. “I made sure Morgan didn’t see what was happening right under his nose. I was finally important.”
Her expression twists when she looks at me.
“And then you showed up.”
The hatred in her voice turns razor sharp.
“You weren’t supposed to matter. You were temporary. Just another assistant he’d throw away.” She steps closer. “But he looked at you. Listened to you. And suddenly everything changed.”
My stomach drops.
“You ruined everything. You ruined what we were building. You ruined his plan.”
My voice trembles. “I was just doing my job, Abi. It wasn’t personal, and you hadn’t been there that long. I thought you knew he never kept his assistants around longer than a month.”
“I was going to be different,” she starts then pauses, stepping toward me, head tilted to the side like she’s examining me. “You slept with him. That’s why he let me go,” she snarls.
“No,” I blurt, not caring that I’m lying. I need her to let me go so I can get to Chance. That’s all I care about. Right now, I’ll tell her anything she wants to hear.
“Do you think I’m stupid? That I can’t tell you’re lying?”
“I did sleep with him, but it happened later,” I confess. “It wasn’t planned, and it wasn’t why you were fired. I swear.”
But the only thing she’s hearing is that I slept with Morgan. Something she must’ve been planning to do.
Abi snaps. She slaps me again, sharp enough to rattle my skull. Pain explodes through my face once more; the only difference is this time I taste blood.
“That job was supposed to be mine! Morgan was supposed to be the proof Miles was right about me.”
I keep talking, desperation driving my words. “Please—listen to me. This isn’t what you think. You don’t have to do this.”
Abi only laughs, pacing in front of me like a caged animal. “You’re still pretending you’re special.”
“Why did you take me?”
Abi stops mid-step, her eyes locked on me with a crooked smile.
“Because he told me to.”
The words chill me to the bone. For one horrifying second, I swear she’s talking about Morgan—and the idea nearly breaks me.
But logic seeps in and it doesn’t make sense for him to have her kidnap me. Why when he already has me?
No, Abi is fucking with me. She wants me to doubt Morgan.
Heavy footsteps sound on the stairs, making Abi turn toward the door, almost eager.
It opens and a man steps in.
Am I in the Twilight Zone?
Miles Hunt steps into the attic like he owns it—calm where Abi is pure chaos. His gaze settles on me, cool and assessing.
Understanding slams into me.
Oh.
This isn’t about jealousy, not completely anyway, and it isn’t revenge. It’s about Morgan Creed.
Abi didn’t develop the plan to kidnap me…this was all Miles.