Chapter 15
MADDISON
Finn and I spend some time searching the room for hidden cameras and a way out. We discovered a few cameras, which we weren’t surprised by that, but we didn’t find a way out. Which, again, we weren’t surprised about.
The room is spacious and fully stocked with amenities to keep us comfortable. It also has a fridge that is stocked with drinks and food with long expiration dates, but it worries me that we’ll have to live off this type of food that isn’t healthy.
Then again, nothing about this situation is healthy.
Finn checks the window for the tenth time, checking to see if he can find a lock to open it.
But we’ve looked enough that I’m convinced that the window isn’t open.
Plus, we’re on the fourth floor. Finn is convinced, though, that if we can get it open, we can use the sheets to make a rope and climb out.
“You’ve seen too many action movies,” I tell him as I sit on the bed, drinking some juice and eating chips.
He presses his palms against the glass and tries to shove the window up with so much force that his face goes red. “It’ll work,” he grunts as he puts more force into it.
But then his hands slip, and he trips, falling on his back on the floor.
I bite down on my tongue, wrestling back a laugh. “Are you okay?”
He dramatically drapes his arm over his face. “No.”
Rolling my eyes, I get off the bed and offer him my hand. “Come on, drama queen. Come get something to eat and sit down with me.”
He lifts his arm and blasts me with an unimpressed look. “I’m not a drama queen.”
I elevated my brow. “Okay.”
He narrows his eyes at me, but then sighs. “All right, I am. But this is a dramatic event, so it’s justified right now.”
“I never said it was a bad thing that you were. I just stated a fact.” I wiggle my fingers at him, urging him to take my hand so I can pull him to his feet.
He does, but doesn’t let me pull him up, instead standing up on his own while holding my hand. He doesn’t let go as I lead him to the bed. I tug him with me as I sit down, then hand him the bag of chips.
He stuffs a handful into his mouth, chewing as he contemplates over what I’m certain is a way to get that window open.
“You know, we’d probably have better luck getting that door open.” I hitch my thumb over my shoulder, aware that Mr. Averson is eavesdropping on this conversation and might even be getting off on watching us struggle.
Finn tosses the bag of chips aside. “That door will only open from the other side. My father has the same door on his panic rooms.”
I grimace. “So there’s no way to get out of here then.”
“Not necessarily. That window—”
“That window isn’t open,” I snap, then immediately regret it. “I’m sorry.”
He’s already shaking his head. “Sweetheart, you don’t need to be sorry for any of this. You can be upset.”
He’s right. But if I start to get upset, I’ll spiral, and who knows when I’ll stop or what I’ll stop on.
So, I deflect. “Did you just call me sweetheart again? I thought that was like a one-time thing.”
He shrugs. “You are my wife, though, so…” He jokingly grins.
Guess we’re both deflecting then.
“Even if I’m your wife, I do not ever want to be called sweetheart.” I reach for the bag of chips. ‘I hate vomit-inducing nicknames.”
He rests back on his hands. “I’m not surprised you’d say that, but, just so you know, you’re the kind of woman that guys are going to want to call baby and sweetheart and other cute nicknames.”
“No, I’m not,” I protest, then toss a chip at him. It pegs him in the head, and he chuckles. “Why would you say that?”
“Because it’s true.” He pops the chip I threw at him into his mouth, then offers me an apologetic look as he leans forward, bends one knee, and rests his arm on it.
“I know you’re feisty. I know you pride yourself on being a touch badass.
And you are those things. But you’re also beautiful, sweet, and really fucking alluring, and that will make a lot of guys fall for you, and that will make them want to, as you put it, use ‘vomit-inducing nicknames’ on you. ”
So much of what he said has me squirming, starting with the fact that he pretty much declared he’s fallen for me, since he called me sweetheart. But he already declared that to me.
“River’s probably called you sweetheart,” he guesses, watching my reaction closely.
“He has a few times. He’s also called me baby,” I tell him uncomfortably. “But I chewed his ass out for doing it.”
“I bet he liked that.”
“Finn, don’t start with me.”
“What?” He bats his eyelashes at me.
I glare at him, but I’m not really upset. “This idea that you think River gets off on my feistiness.”
“River does get off on your feistiness. A lot of guys do,” he insists with a lazy shrug.
I kneel up on the bed. “Take that back.”
“Or what? You’re going to make me?” An amused dare glints in his eyes.
He doesn’t think I’ll do anything. Shows how much he knows about me.
In one swift movement, I’m straddling him and have him pinned down to the bed.
I grin cheekily at his astonished expression. “I fight northside, which is dirty as hell.”
He presses his lips together and takes a measured inhale through his nose. “You know, I could get you off of me if I wanted to.”
“Prove it.”
“Who says I want to?”
“Finn—”
I let out an embarrassing squeak as, in one swift movement, he grabs me by the hips, flips me over, and covers his body on top of mine. For a flash of a moment, I’m back in that room on that bed, being watched as Finn thrusts inside me…
“Shit.” Finn quickly scrambles off of me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” He reaches to touch me as I sit up, but then pulls back. “Are you okay?”
I wait for my breathing to even out before I answer. “I’m fine. I just had a flashback, but it has nothing to do with you. Just the moment.” I comb my fingers through my hair roughly. “I hate that your father and all of the society members watched us do that.”
He nods, staring down at his hands as he sits on the edge of the bed. “Me too.” He looks like a portrait of misery.
I loathe it, so I scoot over to him and wrap my arms around him to hug him. He startles, his head snapping to me. “I’m not much of a hugger,” I explain. “So sorry if this is a bit awkward.”
“It’s fine.” His eyes explore mine. “This is the kind of stuff that makes guys want to call you baby and sweetheart.” He’s not joking this time.
“If you call me sweetheart, I’m going to call you it,” I warn, hoping that’ll deter him.
“You can call me whatever you want.” He’s being serious. “In fact, when I die, please be at my bedside and call me sweetheart right as I take my last breath.”
“Are you being serious?” I ask. “Because sometimes it’s hard to tell.”
He shrugs, a smile quirking at his lips. Although I’m still not positive he’s teasing me.
Sighing, I sit beside him. “How are we going to get out of here?”
A hilarity in his eyes dims. “I’m not sure, but eventually someone will have to open that door because we can’t live forever on what is stocked in that fridge.”
Right as he says it, the door behind us clicks. We both spring to our feet, preparing to jump whoever enters, but the door doesn’t open. A small compartment in the wall beside it opens, and a tray with two plates of food is slipped through it and across the floor.
Finn sprints toward the compartment, but the door closes before he can reach it.
He whirls around to face me, breathing heavily. “Shit, there went our chance.”
I walk over and pick up the tray of food. “What were you planning on doing? Climbing through that tiny door. Hate to break it to you, bro, but you won’t fit through it.”
“I know that, smartass,” he says with an eye roll. “But someone was on the other side of it. I could’ve grabbed their arm and held them long enough to see who it was.”
I set the tray down on the bed. “Why would that matter?”
He carries my gaze. “Because the more we learn about what’s going on, the better chance we have of getting out of here.”
He’s right. Even if we can escape, we still have an entire forest to make it through, and then the ocean.
The depressing reality is that even if we do get out of this room, we have nowhere to go. Doesn’t mean I’m not getting out of here. I will, and then I’ll spend a lifetime hiding on this island if I have to.
I could do it.
I’m a survivor.
I’ve always been on my own.
But am I even on my own anymore?
What if…
My eyes suddenly widen as I remember the point of Finn and me getting taken together.
Because Mr. Averson wants me to get pregnant.
What if I am?
What the hell am I going to do?