Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
WREN
Elias made us keep driving for three hours before we arrived at a hotel. We stopped once, about an hour ago, to stretch our legs and eat, but I can feel the tension radiating off everyone, and I’m glad to find somewhere we can finally settle for the night.
“I’ll go get us a room. Wait here,” Elias says before jumping out and heading inside to the lobby.
The second he’s out of view, Pete crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at the door he just vanished through. “I don’t trust him.”
“Peter, he helped us all escape,” I remind him gently.
“I’m still not buying his story.”
“What other reason could he have for doing all of this?”
“We don’t really know anything about him for certain,” Sly says, taking Pete’s side. “He could be lying about being an FBI agent. He had access to Robert’s cameras; he could be working with him, not against him.”
The thought sends a chill down my spine. Elias wouldn’t take me back there, would he? It’s hard to believe he’d betray me like that, but I haven’t seen or heard from him in seven years.
“He may not be the same person you knew when you were nineteen,” Pete adds.
I think about the way he’s been looking at me, and everything he’s done to help us escape, and what they’re saying just doesn’t add up.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “You’re wrong. If he’s working with Robert, he never would have helped me escape in the first place.”
Sly presses his lips together, forming a tight line. I can tell he wants to argue, but he knows my point is valid.
“Either way, I’m not leaving you alone with him. I don’t trust him,” Dex says, reaching over and squeezing my hand.
“I second that,” Pete adds.
“I agree,” Sly says with a nod at the same time Jagger signs that he agrees too.
I sigh, glancing around at them, then shrug my shoulders. “At least you four agree on something for once.”
“He’s coming back,” Dex says, nodding his head at where Elias is jogging back toward us with a room key card in hand.
He climbs back into the passenger seat and points to the side of the building. “If we park over there, we can use the side entrance. Less chance of being seen.”
“Isn’t there some safe house or something you can find for us?” Pete asks as Sly drives us around the parking lot.
“They all have alarms that will alert head office if used.”
“I thought you were some amazing hacker? Can’t you bypass it somehow?” Dex asks skeptically as we pull to a stop.
“It’s not that easy, but maybe. I’ll see if I can work on something. If I can, it would be much better than staying at hotels. There is too much risk here, I don't like it.”
He glances back at me before climbing out of the vehicle. We all pile out, grabbing most of the duffel bags as we follow Elias into the side entrance and up two flights of stairs to our room.
Once inside, I look around, surprised by the size. It’s a suite, but much bigger than the last one, complete with a large sitting area, big enough to seat us all around the TV, a table with six chairs, and on either side of the room are doors that look like they lead to large bedrooms.
“Wren?” Elias motions me over to one of the bedrooms. “You and I can take this room.”
Before I even have time to process that statement, Dex and Sly are in front of me, blocking me from Elias’ view.
“You’ve got to be kidding?” Dex asks, arms crossed over his chest with an angry scowl on his face.
Jagger places a hand on my shoulder from behind, and I glance up at him as Sly speaks. “That’s not going to happen.”
I manage to tilt my body to the side so I can see between them, right at Elias’ confused face. “I thought we were past this? I’m not going to hurt her.”
“Regardless, she’s not sleeping with you,” Sly tells him.
“She doesn’t even know you,” Pete adds from where he’s leaning against the wall, arms crossed with annoyance darkening his glare.
“We’ve known each other our whole lives!” he yells back angrily.
“But you haven’t spoken to her in seven years, and you expect her to what? Jump into bed with you?” Sly asks.
I have to admit, he makes a valid point. And did Elias expect me to never cuddle with the other guys again? It’s not like he and I were ever a couple. Sure, I had a huge crush on him ever since I was a teenager, but we’d never crossed the line of friendship.
“I didn’t mean it like that! I just don’t want her sleeping alone.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Dex says, his tone confident and knowing as he takes a step back to stand beside me. “She never has to sleep alone again.” He wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side.
Elias’s eyes bounce between us, and his frown grows bigger by the second, as if he’s confused by what he’s seeing.
I feel like he is judging me, and it makes my stomach tighten in a way I don't enjoy. I know he explained why he couldn’t contact me, but at the end of the day, he’s the one who left me without so much as a word.
Now he suddenly shows up and thinks he has any say in who I share a bed with?
I wrap my arms around Dex from the side, as close as I can considering his size.
“What’s going on here? What does that mean?” Elias finally asks.
“He’s my boyfriend,” I tell him. His eyes widen in shock, and I glance up at Dex to make sure that was okay to say. From the huge smile on his face, I can tell I just made his day.
“Oh, hell no!” I whip my head back to Elias as he cuts his hand through the air, shaking his head repeatedly. “No fucking way are you dating a murderer, Wren.”
“Excuse me? Who are you to tell her who she can date?” Sly asks, keeping his place between us and Elias.
“I’m the one who got her out of that place!” he yells angrily. “I’m the one who grew up with her, who took care of her, who shared secrets with her, and the one who spent the last seven years of his life trying to get her out of that hellhole!”
He takes a few heavy breaths before continuing, a bit calmer this time. “You guys were writing to her for a few months—”
“Nine,” Pete corrects.
“For nine months, and only met her in real life two weeks ago, and you think that gives you the right to fuck her?”
Immediately, Jagger, Pete, and Sly are all standing in front of me, as Dex holds me tighter to his side.
“If you ever talk about her like that again, I’ll rip your tongue from your mouth and shove it up your ass,” Pete seethes.
“I’m not talking about her, I’m talking about Dex! Acting like he has some claim over her.”
“He does, because she says he does,” Sly says, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“She’s not some toy he can just call dibs on!” Elias seethes.
“Did you just call her a toy?” Sly asks, his voice radiating malice and barely controlled restraint.
“No! I said she’s not a toy.”
“Then stop treating her like one,” Pete shoots back.
“I don’t know what the fuck is even happening right now.” Elias runs his hand through his hair, pacing side to side until his eyes catch mine. Then he stops, his arms dropping to his sides, and a look I can only describe as pain crosses his face.
“Is this really what you want?” he asks, sadness etched in his tone.
“I—” I cut myself off, not sure exactly what he is asking me. “What do you mean?”
“Are you choosing him?” He thrusts a finger toward Dex’s chest as my heart plummets.
Is that what I’ve done? Did declaring Dex as my boyfriend signal to everyone else that I had chosen him over them?
I glance up at Sly, Pete, and Jagger, who have all turned to watch me.
Their faces are unreadable, but now I have five sets of eyes on me, begging me to answer, and no matter what I say, I know someone is going to get hurt.
My head starts to spin, my throat grows dry, and the pit of dread in my stomach tightens.
“I… I have to go to the bathroom!” I practically yell as I turn and run to the bedroom behind me, knowing there must be an attached bathroom. I find it and close myself in, quickly turning on the taps to hide the noise of me hyperventilating.
I press my hands to the edge of the vanity and drop my head between my arms, trying to take deep breaths. It doesn’t help as light-headedness creeps in and my whole body starts to feel weak.
Chyort poberi! What’s happening to me?!
I lean over the sink and splash some water on my face, which helps for a few seconds, but then the dizziness returns. Dios mio! I’m going to pass out!
I know I should open the door or call for help, but the thought of facing all their expectant faces has me groaning in pain.
It can’t be normal to have this sort of reaction to a mere question.
But as their faces all flash in my mind, waiting with bated breath for me to answer, I know that this must be some extreme panic attack.
The dizziness becomes so severe that I have to lean against the wall for support. That’s the last thing I remember before everything goes black.