Chapter Eleven
Romy
“I ’m hungry.”
Gareth smirks at me. He’s still carrying me as though I weigh nothing. We’ve gone through several hallways too quickly for me to try to memorize and are now back in the elevator.
“If you stop being crazy, you can eat like a normal person,” Gareth teases. “You’ve got to get it together, silly girl.”
I don’t like how there’s a familiar way in which he speaks to me. Like we’re old friends. Like we have history. It reminds me of Bastian.
My heart clenches in my chest at the thought of my brother.
I miss him so much.
“Hey,” Gareth croons. “I’ll get you food. Don’t cry.”
This only makes me cry more. I desperately try to hold it in, but I’m overwhelmed with defeat and despair. My whole body quakes with sobs.
He gently pats me as he steps out of the elevator. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
God, how I want to believe in his words.
I squeeze my eyes shut and attempt to stop the tears. By the time we reach the door to the guest room I’d left not too long ago, I’ve got my emotions under control.
“I wish I could take a bath,” I croak out.
He pauses, frowns, and then cocks his head. “You can.”
“Where?”
His lips quirk on one side. “I know a place.”
He turns on his heel and heads back in the direction we came. When he stops halfway down the hallway, I pick up the scent of cigars.
“Is this your room?”
“It’s where I chill when I need to get away from everyone,” Gareth says as he pushes through the door. “I actually live in a small cabin nearby.”
My interest piques at that kernel of information. “Where are we?”
He strides through the lounge area with leather chairs, a bar with stools, shelves full of books, and a sleek MacBook Pro sitting on a coffee table.
I wonder if I could use it to reach out for help.
And how will I tell them where I’m at?
I need more information.
We pass through a bedroom and then enter a bathroom. This whole hotel or wherever we’re at is confusing. None of the rooms are the same. It’s been remodeled for these weirdos, and something tells me there’s a lot more to uncover.
The bathroom Gareth brings me into is a carbon copy of all the ones I’ve seen in this place, except this one also has a clawfoot bathtub.
“Can you stand?” he asks.
“I think so.”
He carefully sets me to my feet. Since I’m feeling woozy, I automatically reach out to grab onto him so I don’t fall. His touch is soft as he holds onto my waist to steady me.
“You good?” His eyes burn into me as he looks over my face, causing heat to prickle at my skin. “Caius will kill me if I let you get hurt.”
Hearing that man’s name is the splash of cold water I need to break Gareth’s weird spell. I shiver again.
Slowly, Gareth releases me and then reaches into the bathtub to start the water. I stand in place, shivering violently as he finds a bottle of bubble bath under the sink and pours a healthy glob into the water. The scent of lavender and honey fills the bathroom as it mixes with the hot water.
“I’ll let you get undressed. While you do that, I’ll get you some food. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
I nod and watch him leave. Once the door is closed behind him, I quickly strip my soaked clothes off, eager to get into the hot water. With my eyes on the door, I step into the tub, wincing slightly at the temperature. I don’t dare turn it colder, though. The idea of sinking into the scalding water and soaking my achy bones is too tempting to ignore.
After several seconds of standing in the water, trying to get acclimated to it, I force myself to sit. The last thing I want is for Gareth to come back and see me naked. I still don’t trust these men. I don’t want to tempt him in any way.
I hiss when my butt touches the water and then again when it rests on the bottom. My feet, legs, and rear end are bruised from hitting the bottom of the pool. At least it’s not my tailbone and nothing is broken. Small victories.
By the time Gareth returns, the water has filled nearly to the top and the bubbles fluff out around me, hiding my nakedness. He doesn’t try to catch a peek, which is a relief.
“I got you a bunch of different things,” he says, crouching near the tub. “I know you hate olives, so I didn’t grab any of those.”
I hate olives.
I mean, I do, but how does he know that?
Frowning, I take the plate from him. It’s piled high with grapes, strawberries, salami, cheese slices, crackers, almonds, and a few baby gherkins. Since I’m ravenous, I start inhaling the food, barely aware of the fact he leaves the bathroom and returns a few minutes later. He takes my now empty plate and hands me a chilled bottle of water. Greedily, I gulp it down.
“Can you tell me what city or even which state I’m in?” I ask once it’s gone. “Please.”
Gareth takes the empty bottle and sets it on the counter. “You should already know this, Ro. Think.”
I’m done thinking, though. I want answers.
“Maybe if you helped me piece together my past, I’d get back to remembering faster,” I bite out. “I thought you were my friend.”
I don’t believe a word out of my mouth, but he seems to.
He crouches down near the tub again, studying me intently. “If I do that, will you start trusting me?”
No.
“Yes.” I give him a shy smile. “I really want to.”
He flashes me a crooked grin. “There’s my girl.”
“Am I in New York?” I prod, eyebrows lifted.
A snort of laughter escapes him. “You hate New York.”
It’s disturbing how much he knows about me. When did he learn all this information? While I was being held captive?
Or, it could be that he really knows you… Ro .
“I do hate it,” I admit. “I like LA. Are we still in California?”
His eyes dart away for a millisecond before latching back on me. “San Francisco. You like it better than LA.”
He’s lying.
My heart rate practically trips over itself. I’m not in New York and not in San Francisco. So where am I?
“Any chance you can run and get me a pumpkin pie frappe?”
“There aren’t any close by.” His eyes bore into me. “But we can make one here. You know that.”
I don’t know that. But what I do know is he was telling the truth that there aren’t any coffee places nearby. Since coffee shops are everywhere, we must be away from the city. We’re in a massive hotel, though. People don’t build hotels in the middle of nowhere unless there’s something worth visiting.
“I should call my brother,” I say to him, watching his expression intently. “Can you get my phone?”
“He knows you’re fine.” Again, the slight movement in his eyes. “But yeah, you can call him when you’re back to normal.”
Gareth is a liar.
But he’s nicer than the other men around here. I can continue to work on him.
“Once my memories come back, will I be free again?” I ask, giving him my most innocent look.
He grins. “Of course, Ro. We’re just trying to keep you safe.”
“Your father doesn’t feel that way,” I counter, bitterness in my tone. “He was quite amused that I almost died today.”
His gaze darkens. “Dad is just…different.”
“You’re all his sons, but you look nothing like him.”
The humor on his face is wiped away. “We’re his sons. We share the same last name.”
“But he’s not your blood,” I continue to probe. “Admit it.”
Again with the eye darting. “Better not let Caius hear you talking like that.”
“Like what?” I ask, dropping the friendly mask. “Pointing out that something fishy is going on with you all?”
“There’s nothing fishy going on,” Gareth mutters. “You’re just confused.”
A sudden chill washes over me when I sense the presence of another. Gareth jumps to his feet with incredible speed. He shifts from foot to foot as though he’s nervous or guilty or both. I glower at the man standing in the bathroom doorway.
Caius Crowne.
He wears dark gray slacks, expensive black leather shoes, and a white button-down shirt sans tie. His sleeves have been rolled up his forearms, revealing intricate tattoos from his wrists past the material. It makes me wonder if it’s a full sleeve or if it stops at the elbows.
Dark eyes ignore me completely to face off with his younger brother. I sense some sort of beef between them. If I could figure out what it is exactly, I could dissect it and use it to my advantage.
“Is there a reason why you’re bathing my girlfriend?” Caius demands, voice low and threatening. “You wouldn’t be taking advantage of her situation now, would you?”
Gareth barks out a laugh. “Don’t be a dumbass. Everyone knows she’s yours.”
I want to chime in and shout that I belong to nobody, but the tension emanating from both of them has me keeping my trap shut.
“Come on, little girl, time to go.” Caius tears his gaze from his brother to land on me. “Get up.”
Panic rushes through me and I shake my head in vehemence. “Not with you in the room.”
Caius’s nostrils flare. “I’ve seen everything plenty of times.” He turns his head to glower at Gareth. “He better have seen nothing.”
He’s seriously pissed off right now.
Like I cheated on him with his brother.
This. Isn’t. Real.
They’re still messing with me.
Right?
Gareth mutters something under his breath and stomps out of the bathroom. Caius grabs a white robe off a hook and stalks over to me.
“Up. Now.”
I shake my head again. “No.”
He may be good-looking, but he’s a monster who’s holding me prisoner. I won’t fall for this fake act of his. I don’t belong to him. He’s not my boyfriend.
Like a snake striking, he seizes my wrist and starts hauling me out of the tub. The chill of the air is no match to the embarrassment of him seeing me naked. I shriek and attempt to pull my arm from his grasp, but he has a death grip on it.
He twists my arm until I’m facing the mirror. With a grunt, he pins me against the counter with his hips. I can feel his thick cock, semi-erect, stabbing against me from behind.
Is this it?
Is this where I get raped?
Our eyes meet in the mirror. His are flaming with anger—an unusual emotion from the inhuman robot he usually is. With my free arm, I attempt to hide my bare, soapy breasts from his view. This only makes him grow harder behind me.
I fight against his hold, but he’s too strong. A terrified mewl crawls out of my throat, but I’m coiled too tight to give up now. If only I could get loose, I could run away from him. I don’t have to take this abuse.
My shoulder burns as he twists my arm. It’s then I realize he’s trying to put the robe on me. I relax slightly to test my theory and am grateful when I see it’s exactly what he’s doing.
“That’s it,” he grumbles. “Isn’t that difficult.”
I go limp against the counter, which works in my favor. He pulls his erection away from my ass crack and puts on the other sleeve of the robe. Then he tugs me upright. I notice his gaze go to my breasts briefly in the mirror before he roughly twists me around to face him.
“I don’t have time for all this shit,” he hisses, spittle hitting my forehead. “You’re a distraction I cannot afford.”
I’m curious as to what that means, but he doesn’t let me ponder on it. He jerks my robe closed around my body and then ties the belt of it around my middle. I wince when he makes it a little too tight.
“There.” He snatches my wrist again. “Let’s go.”
I stumble after him, tugging at his hold on me to no avail. “Where are we going?”
“Out of my brother’s ‘fuck room’ for one. You’ll find out the rest soon.”
So he was jealous.
Gareth brings women to have sex with in that room?
These Crowne men are a complex puzzle that I must solve.
My survival absolutely depends on it.