Chapter Thirteen
Romy
I ’m almost certain I know what I’ll find when I open the closet door.
My expectations are met when I see rows of my familiar clothes lining one side of the enormous closet. The other side is nothing but neatly hung masculine suits and crisply ironed dress shirts. I recognize all my shoes, organized just the way I like them.
A shiver quakes through me. It’s warm in this house, but I’m chilled to the bone about my situation. Everything looks right, except it feels so wrong.
I find a dresser with drawers filled with my bras, socks, and underwear and then grab my baggy designer jeans and a comfy sweater. Shakily, I make my way into the adjoined bathroom to change. Once I have the door locked and set my clothes down on the counter, I recognize my toothbrush sitting in a holder next to another one.
That one’s his.
The intimacy of having our toothbrushes next to each other is too much. I snatch my toothbrush up and move it to the other side of the sink. It’s stupid and petty, but it makes me feel better.
After I dress, I conveniently find my hairbrush in a drawer. I brush out the tangles and put on a headband to keep my messy hair out of my face. In the same drawer, I find a hairdryer and straightener, neither of which I’m going to use.
He doesn’t deserve your efforts.
I pace the bathroom a few times as I try to piece this all together. Megan was my partner in class. We became quick friends. She randomly disappeared and everyone acted like it was normal. I found a lead that took me to a Crowne event and was then lured to a bar where I ran into Theo. After that, I blacked out from being drugged and woke up in a coffin-like space in their floor. It’s been mental head games ever since.
This is a head game.
But why go through such effort and considerable detail to fool me?
Because you’re important.
They can’t just erase you like they did Megan.
It’s getting harder and harder to stick to the facts. My reality. What I know. But I have to or else this facade they’ve created will consume me.
I’m going to have to play along.
Not just for my sake and safety, but for Megan’s too.
I stop my pacing to look at my face. Dark circles ring my eyes, and my skin is splotchy. The manic twitching in my eyes tells me I won’t be fooling anyone anytime soon that I’m okay with this game of pretend. I’m going to have to work on my poker face.
I brush my teeth and then splash cold water on my face. Finally, I escape the bathroom and sit on the vanity chair. I’m not keen on making myself look prettier for them, but I do need to make sure I don’t look so pitiful. I swipe on some concealer around my eyes and powder the red spots before glossing up my dry lips.
I definitely look less like a prisoner.
After adding a little mascara, I abandon the vanity to hunt for a pair of shoes. I choose a pair of hiking boots just in case I need to make a run for it.
Outside of the closet, I get a whiff of something cooking. My stomach grumbles hungrily. I creep out of the bedroom and follow my nose through the living room and into a dining area. Beyond the dining table is a door that leads to a kitchen. I peek my head inside, not exactly wanting to come face-to-face with Caius again but curious nonetheless.
Two people in chef’s attire are working in an industrial kitchen, oblivious to my entry. I wonder if I should tell them I’m being held here against my will. Not sure that’ll achieve anything, though. One of the men glances briefly at me but then goes back to chopping vegetables. He didn’t seem surprised to see me.
I leave the kitchen to explore other parts of the home. It’s two stories high, but I’ve yet to find a staircase.
Something moving outside through the window catches my eye. A vehicle. This one, too, has the strange wheels. Someone is coming to visit. Will they play along in this charade too?
Prowling over to a window, I watch as the vehicle gets closer. I squint in an attempt to see who’s behind the wheel. Soon, I discover it’s someone I know.
Theo.
Unlike his brother, he’s actually wearing a coat and a beanie to protect from the cold. I wonder if he’s coming to retaliate for earlier when he tried to stop me from going down the chute and I bit the hell out of his arm.
A smile tugs at my lips.
I’m glad I hurt him.
Not wanting to converse with him, I tiptoe down another hallway where I finally locate the stairs. My boots thud on the hardwood as I hurry up the steps. At the top, it opens into a lounge area with another fireplace, bookshelves, and more cozy-looking sofas. I dip into the first room to the right.
A game room.
There are several game tables in the room. Some have neat stacks of chips and decks of cards. The other tables have various games on them, some of which I have no idea what they are, and some that are more familiar like chess and dominoes. Behind the tables along one wall are stacks of board games and puzzles.
Caius doesn’t seem the type to enjoy anything other than scowling and keeping college-aged girls captive.
I peruse the games on the shelves and pluck one of the five-hundred-piece puzzle boxes off the shelf. It’s a picture of a lone wolf in a thick forest. Not a difficult one, unfortunately. I take the puzzle with me into the lounge area outside of the game room and sit down on one of the sofas in front of a coffee table.
A door opens downstairs and then a few minutes later, I hear men talking. Their voices are muffled, so I can’t make out what they’re saying. I open the box and dump out the puzzle pieces.
Puzzles are not only something that reminds me of my brother but something I’m quite good at. Since I have a knack for pattern recognition, I find them enjoyable, especially the more challenging they are.
You’re living inside a puzzle box now—all your pieces broken apart and mixed together.
I quickly flip all the pieces over and sort them by edge pieces and then by color. By the time I start snapping parts together, footsteps can be heard climbing the stairs.
My first instinct is to run.
Two of them. One of me.
But last time I ran, I nearly drowned in one of their traps. This time I need to be smarter. Obtain information. Get a feel of what I’m dealing with.
“I see you found your things,” Caius says by way of greeting when he reaches the top of the stairs. “Good. Maybe now you can stop being crazy.”
I flip him off and then go back to my puzzle.
So much for playing it cool.
Theo sniggers from behind him. My back stiffens at his nearness. I’m tempted to look for the damage I caused his arm with my teeth, but I remain focused on my puzzle.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Theo takes a seat nearby, but Caius remains standing. They’re both watching me with interest. I do my best to ignore them.
Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap.
This puzzle is easy. I may not be able to piece together my life right now, but the five hundred pieces of colored cardboard are something I can control without effort. It all makes sense when it’s laid out in front of me.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Neither of the men says anything. I can feel their eyes boring into me. I’m able to tune them both out, focusing only on completing the puzzle.
Time bends and blurs until I snap the final piece into place.
I stare at the completed picture and smile a little before leaning back on the sofa, sinking into the cushions. Finally, I glance over at Caius.
His dark eyes are narrowed, but his features give nothing away. I flick my gaze over to Theo. He’s a little more expressive. His eyebrows are lifted in surprise and his full lips slightly parted.
“What?” I ask, glowering at him. “Why are you looking at me like I’m a freak?”
Theo snorts. “You kind of are a freak. I mean, seriously, who the hell puts together a five-hundred-piece puzzle that quickly?”
“It was easy,” I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest. “It’s just a puzzle.”
Theo, no longer wearing his coat and beanie, leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees as though to study me close up. Like I’m some sort of zoo animal. I bare my teeth at him. He laughs.
Asshole.
“Theo is going to have dinner with you this evening,” Caius says to me. “I have a meeting in the city. I’ll only be gone a few hours.”
In other words, Theo is going to be my babysitter.
“What city?” I ask as I start breaking down the puzzle. “Maybe I could go along with you.”
Theo chuckles again, clearly delighted by everything I do and say.
“You know I don’t talk business with you, little girl,” Caius clips out, tone bitter and cold. “Be good while I’m gone.”
He may have moved all my things into his home and forged some pictures of us together, but I know for a fact I’d never date a man like him. Ever. And, despite this whole production he’s put on, I’m clearly not Caius’s type either because he treats me with such blatant disdain.
“Bye, sweetheart,” I say with sugary sweetness. “Hope your car doesn’t hit black ice and run you off a cliff.”
Theo cackles and slaps his knee. At least someone’s enjoying this.
I slam the lid back onto the box and rise to my feet. When I start for the game room, Caius blocks my path. Then, with surprising speed, he grabs hold of my chin and tilts it up so I’m staring up at him.
His lips brush over mine—cold and firm—and then he’s gone.
Was that supposed to be a kiss goodbye?
I glower after him as he descends the stairs, using the back of my sleeve to wipe his chilly kiss from my lips.
Needing to get away, I rush into the room to replace the puzzle box. When I turn around, Theo is leaning against the doorframe.
“Does your arm hurt?” I ask, hands on hips. “I hope it gets infected.”
His lips curl into a wolfish grin and his eyes twinkle. “You’re fun when you’re not…”
He trails off and the humor is wiped from his face. I think he wanted to say, “drugged,” but then that doesn’t play into their new game of how I live here and Caius is my boyfriend.
Caius is difficult to read, but Theo doesn’t play this game as well. I wonder if I could use that to my advantage.
“I had a dream you kidnapped me,” I say as I turn from him to look for a puzzle that has at least a thousand pieces. “Weird, huh?”
“So weird.”
“How long have me and Caius been together?”
He pauses for a moment and then utters, “Like I know. I’m not a chick. I don’t keep up with dates and shit.”
If I were anywhere else with anyone else, I’d believe the typical guy answer. But I’m not anywhere else with anyone else. He’s a Crowne and they’re slippery as snakes.
“Does he love me?” I ask, trying a different tactic. I glance over my shoulder and give him my best puppy dog look. “It doesn’t feel like it.”
Theo studies me for a beat and then looks away. “As much as Caius can love anyone.”
Another stupid answer.
“Where did we meet?”
“San Francisco,” Theo answers as he walks over to a small bar in the corner. “A charity CUP event.”
I want to roll my eyes. That CUP event is when I fell onto the Crowne radar and Theo subsequently took me.
“Hey,” Theo says, turning to face me, shaking a bottle of liquor. “Want to get wasted and forget about this whole day?”
Getting drunk with the man who stole me sounds like a terrible idea.
However, if I can get him drunk enough to spill some secrets, maybe I have a better chance of getting out of here.
A smile tugs at my lips. “Would my beloved boyfriend approve?”
“Nope.” Theo’s grin is wicked. “He’s a stiff.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
Game on, Theo.