Chapter 32 #2
I glance up at him to see he is making us both a coffee.
Such a mundane chore as he basically threatens my life.
Least I think that’s what is happening here.
I start on the article, finding out that after she left The Beach Bar last night, Miss Arnott was struck by a car.
She’s alive but in a coma in Deadwater Bay Hospital.
She also has a couple of broken legs and terrible bruises.
The story goes on to explain, if she recovers, the chance of her having any memory at all is unlikely.
Sickness swims through me. Oh fuck. This is worse than I thought.
She came to me, risked everything to warn me, and they basically deleted her memory.
That’s if she even lives. The paper scrunches in my hand, fresh anger vibrating through me for her.
“Did you do this?” I wave it at him, shoving out of my seat.
It flies across the marble floor dramatically.
He raises a brow, passing the fresh mug of coffee my way casually. “You know where all of us were last night. With you. I was performing, remember? River was behind the bar, and K, well, he was balls deep inside of you, wasn’t he?”
I stalk around the kitchen island, hand on my hips as I glare up at him. “Fuck you, Slater. You know what I’m asking.”
“Why would you think I would do something like this?” He tilts his head, the way he’s studying me making him look even more sinister than normal. “Unless you think we would have some reason to?”
I glare back at him, panic coursing through me, but I don’t want him to know that’s the reaction he’s getting. So, I tilt my head just a little higher. “You said be careful who I make friends with. You wanted me to read this and be scared. Just so you know, I’m not.”
His brow rises just slightly. “Have you and Miss Arnott made friends, sunshine?”
“No.” I swallow the lump in my throat. Fuck, why am I falling apart right now. Get your shit together, Dove. My fingers dig into my sides and my shoulders stiffen.
He closes the gap between us before I know what’s happening. His hand tangling into my hair roughly, he forces my head up even higher so I’m staring at him because there is no other option. “Lie to my face, brat.”
My chest heaves. Am I in as much trouble as her?
Shit, I should have run while I had the chance.
She was just trying to warn me, and she might have been right.
They have a security system that has all my details on it, and they knew about our conversation in the ladies’ room last night.
I blink back at him, my skin crawling all over.
This is so much worse than I ever could have imagined.
“Did you make friends with Miss Arnott last night?” he demands, his grip on me tightening.
I’m such a mess that words fail me. Do I think Slater would really hurt me?
I hope not, but I’m not ready to take the risk either.
He’s not the same boy I once knew, so who knows what he might be capable of.
Or what he is really trying to protect. “She…” I inhale a shaky breath.
“I ran into her in the bathroom,” I whisper.
He grins and nods just once. “Better, and what did you two talk about then?” His grip on me loosens, his hand sliding down to my waist so he is still holding me close but it’s not painful anymore.
My chest heaves, and I inhale a full breath. I have to tell the truth, he clearly already knows, and if I don’t, I’m in as much trouble as she is. “Slater, you’re scaring me,” I whisper. The time for being brave is long gone. Now I just don’t want to be dead.
His face doesn’t soften. “I know, sunshine, but if you tell me the truth, you have nothing to worry about. We will protect you.”
I try to look away from his piercing eyes, but he won’t let me. I can’t help the well of tears prickling in my eyes. “She said I needed to be careful, that I can’t trust Kasen or I might end up dead like my mother,” I say so softly, my voice is hardly audible.
He releases me, a smile twisting onto his lips. “Good brat. See, that wasn’t hard, was it?”
Wasn’t hard! Fuck, I’m about to be sick.
I take hold of the kitchen counter and suck in deep breaths so I don’t actually vomit again.
In for three, out for three like Talon taught me.
Today it doesn’t help. My heart races like I’m going to have a heart attack, and I’m sweaty all over.
Being trapped with them is one thing when I thought it was some protection thing.
That they might actually care about me. But this is more, this is something different.
“What do you want with me?” I whimper, so ready to fall apart.
These boys are worse than I ever thought possible, brought up in the mold of Keller Throne.
The reality of what they have become is devastating to fifteen-year-old me and disastrous to me now.
Because for the first time since I got back in this town, I realize just how truly fucked I am.
They kept saying they own this town and people do as they say.
Part of me was just thinking, yeah, it’s all scare tactics.
But this is reality. They have something huge over this town. And me.
He moves round to take one of the bar stools, drinking down his coffee. His grin twists to motherfucking evil. “Everything. You fit in with us perfectly, so we have decided to keep you.”
I shake my head slowly from side to side, willing my brain to catch up. “I don’t want to end up like her. You… you tried to kill her, to silence her.”
“As I said, sunshine, you know where all of us were. With you all night. Miss Arnott had a terrible accident, it’s really very sad.
But I think we can all learn something here today.
” He stretches out his hand, lacing his fingers with mine before his hold on me tightens.
“Don’t keep shit from us. We own this town, and we will always find out.
” He bonks me on the nose playfully, stands, then strides away.
I stare at my hands, trying to make the trembling stop.
I’m not weak. I have been through so much shit in my short life I should be able to handle anything thrown at me and come out on top.
But knowing what the boys I once loved have become is shattering.
And they want me to stay here with them, be a part of this life, theirs.
Why would anyone ever choose to do something so insane?
Truth is, though, I think my choice has been taken away.
They have decided to keep me, Slater said so himself.
Kasen was furious last night when I came out of the bathroom, because he already knew what she said.
That’s why he was trying to get me to make promises to him.
It was all tricks and control to protect them.
And with a security system like they have on this place and them all watching over me like fucking stalkers, I’m trapped, and there is nothing I can do about it.