45. Vanessa
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
VANESSA
The elevator dings open on the basement level of the funeral home. A dim, cinder-block hallway leads to a lit doorway at the end of the corridor.
This would scare the shit out of me if I wasn’t standing beside my gun-wielding ex. I’d trade Boden for a zombie corpse or a poltergeist if I could. They would be less terrifying than the situation I find myself in.
Boden gently nudges me out of the elevator, motioning with his gun down the hall. “She’s this way.”
Trembling, I put one foot in front of the other as I head for the room at the end of the long passage. Boden walks behind me, cutting off anyway of me escaping. He may no longer be pointing the gun at me, but the threat is still there.
When I enter the well-lit room, I’m immediately hit with the pungent smell of chemicals. I cover my nose with my palm, breathing through my mouth. I turn to my right and freeze.
There in the center of the large rectangular room, Romy lies on a metal mortuary table.
She’s strapped down to the table with bungee cords, her wrists and ankles tied, and a cloth gag in her mouth.
She lifts her head as much as she can when she hears me enter the room.
Her red-rimmed eyes land on me as she cries through the gag.
My feet fly across the room to her side. “Romy! Oh, my God. It’s okay. I’m going to get you out of here.”
When I reach for her restraints, a hand clamps down over mine, stopping me.
My eyes shoot upward, locking with Riley’s.
“Nu-uh-uh,” she says, wagging a finger in my face with her free hand. “She stays restrained.”
Enraged at this bitch having the nerve to touch me, I flick her hand off me with my wrist. “The hell she does. She has nothing to do with any of this. You want me? You got me. Let Romy go.”
Boden approaches my side, wrapping his arm around me. “I told you I wouldn’t hurt her as long as you behaved. We can’t untie her. She could run back to the bikers. Someone will eventually come looking for her, but by then, you and I will be gone.”
“And me,” Riley says bitingly, glaring at Boden for leaving her out of the equation.
My ex says nothing to her, focusing on me. “Your friend will be fine. But we need to leave before someone notices you’re gone.”
No, I can’t leave for a second location.
The odds of being found are drastically less.
I need to stall, to give Cupid or any of his brothers time to notice I’m missing.
My phone is on me. Cipher could easily track me here.
However, if Boden or Riley notice my cell is on me, I could lose any chance of the Royal Bastards finding me.
Whatever I do, I can’t leave the funeral home.
My mind runs through a dozen situations that could keep me here, but I continually return to the same one.
Going with it, I turn in Boden’s arms to face him and affectionately place my palms on his chest like a lover would. I force myself to look sad, gazing at him with earnest eyes.
“Boden, you promised. You promised no more Riley or anyone like her,” I say in a pained voice. I even squeeze out a tear for dramatic effect. “Are you breaking another promise to me?”
As I had hoped, Boden pales, stricken with fear of losing me again. “No, Vanessa Baby. I’m keeping my word. It’s you and me from here on out.”
“Boden!” Riley shouts at him across the mortuary table where Romy lies watching the entire exchange with anxious doe eyes. “After everything I’ve done to help you get Vanessa back, you can’t seriously be considering leaving me behind.”
Oh, it seems I’ve struck the right nerve. Jealousy can turn anyone into an enemy. I lean into it.
“She’s still trying to come between us,” I whisper in a panicked tone, my fingers curling into his shirt to make him think I fear losing him all over again.
Boden’s eyes widen with apprehension. He wraps his arms around me as if he’s trying to reassure me his embrace is only for me. “She won’t. I won’t let her. You’re the only one for me. She means nothing.”
A strangled cry comes out of Riley, her face crumbling. She’s heartbroken for a moment before her tears of sadness give way to an expression of pure rage. Her body shakes like the anger inside her is growing to destructive levels.
She laughs a mocking sound, giddiness bubbling out of her like molten lava. “Oh, you think you’re going to drive off into the sunset with your sweetheart unscathed? Please. Vanessa doesn’t know the real you, the one you hid from her for months.”
What’s she talking about?
My eyes dart between Riley across the table and at Boden, where I stand wrapped in his arms.
Boden clears his throat, watching his former fuck buddy with daggers in his eyes. “Riley…”
“Don’t Riley me,” she snaps. “You’re the one living a double life and keeping it from her.”
Now I’m really confused.
Genuinely curious, I look at my ex. “What double life?”
Boden’s lips thin. “Don’t listen to her. She’s talking crazy, wanting to cause problems for us because she’s mad I’m choosing you over her.”
“You've done fucked up by not choosing me,” Riley says harshly. “Now I’m going to spill the tea and tell her EVERYTHING.”
Normally, I enjoy hearing dirt about people I don’t like. However, with how intensely Riley is reacting, I’m guessing I’m going to be hearing a lot of things I’d rather not know.
“Where do you think he was in the months leading up to you catching us in your apartment?”
“He was with you,” I say, like it’s obvious.
Riley gives me a smug smile. “Yes. But what do you think he was doing with me?”
Annoyed, I roll my eyes. “I really don’t need to hear how often you two had sex.”
“We weren’t fucking,” Boden says quickly, nerves making his palms sweat against my skin. “Only the one time—I promise.”
“I’m not referring to sex,” Riley says, moving around the prep table to come closer. “Ask him about his job, Vanessa. You’ll find it interesting.”
My brows furrow. “Job? At the campus merch shop?”
“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Riley asks gleefully. “He quit that job and was working with me.”
This is all news to me. Yet, I can’t understand why it’s important.
“What job were you working together? I thought you were hanging out at the bars.”
“We were,” Riley says, smiling cruelly. “All work-related.”
This must be regarding the side hustle he mentioned in his letters. He never mentioned it when we were together, only telling me after we broke up in the notes he’d leave outside my apartment door.
Boden glares murderously at her. “Shut. Up. Riley.”
“Nah. I don’t think I will,” Riley says with a taunting chuckle. “I’ve held my tongue long enough for men like you, Boden.”
The tension in the room is suffocating, more than all the embalming fluids combined. Whatever bomb Riley wants to drop, it’s big enough to bring Boden down, and he knows it.
Sensing an opportunity to escape with Romy, I needle Riley. “Whatever you’re going to say, I know it’s fake. You’ll say anything to come between us.”
Her nostrils flare. “Fake? You’re going to wish it was. Boyfriend dearest has been scouting the campus for the Black Market Railroad with me.”
My mouth drops. Of all the things Riley could have revealed, never would I have guessed that the two of them were luring women into sex trafficking. To think I once cared for this guy, slept with him while I was none the wiser.
Carefully pulling away from his embrace, I stare at Boden like I’ve never seen him before. My acting skills are no longer needed—I am truly floored.
“Is it true?” I ask him, bewildered.
Boden opens his mouth, but Riley cuts him off before he can speak.
“It’s all true,” Riley says in a singsong voice. “That’s not even half of it.”
Boden slams his fist into the metal medical cabinet next to us, a bang echoing through the room. “Shut your fucking mouth, you bitch!”
Jesus Christ! It’s true.
My arms cradle around my midsection, sick to my stomach with this revelation. My mouth moves, but no sound comes out.
“He sold you out to our boss when you refused to take him back. That’s why you were attacked on the road that night. You were going to be used by our men until you learned the only place you belonged was with him.”
All the sound around me turns to static—my ears ringing with the truth.
Oh…my God.
Boden drops to his knees in front of me, already begging for forgiveness without asking for it. “Vanessa Baby, don’t listen to her. She lies. It’s all lies!”
I step back, inching around the other side of the mortuary table, creating as much distance as possible between me and the monster.
“Vanessa,” Boden says, reaching out for me. “None of it matters. We’re back together. We’re going to be happy.”
My lips tremble, horrified beyond words. Subconsciously, I shake my head.
Seeing he’s lost me, at least again in his eyes, he whirls to his feet to face Riley. “You fucking cunt! You poisoned her against me.”
“You did it yourself,” Riley shouts back with as much fury in her voice as he gives.
“I’LL KILL YOU!” Boden charges at his partner in crime, shoving her up against the far wall with his free hand around her throat.
With Riley struggling with Boden and his back to us, I quickly remove the bungees strapping Romy down.
She sits upright on the table, yanking the gag out of her mouth with her bound hands.
I run around to the foot of the table, untying the bonds around her ankles.
Romy can run with her wrists restrained, but she needs her feet free.
Working as fast as I can, I try but cannot push out the sounds of slapping, choking, and Boden’s cursing behind me. I can’t let fear stop me from escaping with Romy.
As soon as the rope around Romy’s ankles comes free, she jumps off the table, grabs my hand with her bound ones, and we’re running. We sprint down the corridor, looking over our shoulders once to make sure no one follows. My heart is pounding in my throat, as I’m sure Romy’s is.
At the end of the hallway near the elevator, Romy rams her tiny body against a steel door. It flies open, revealing a staircase. I follow on her heels, racing upstairs as fast as I can.
We shove through another steel door at the top, practically stumbling over each other when we reach the main level of the funeral home. We’re sprinting for the front door when a single gunshot rings out.