I carry her back to the car, the headlights blinding us as she squirms in my arms. But I’ve got a death grip on her. “Calm down.” I growl, getting more irritated by the second. Dragging her to the back of the car, I lower her to her feet but don’t let go.
I lean down and whisper in her ear, trying to catch my breath. Fuck, I got a little too high earlier while watching the girls at the bar. “If you so much as make a sound or try to run away, I’m going to gag you with your underwear, tie you up, and place you in my trunk. Do you understand?”
Her chest rises and falls quickly with each breath she takes through her nose since my hand is still over her mouth. Her already short dress has ridden up her thighs and bunches around her waist, giving me a very nice view of her black lace thong. The thought of doing what I just threatened is sounding better by the second.
“Do you understand?” I snap, not having the time to stand on the side of the road. She has a choice to make.
She nods quickly, her body shaking in my arms.
I release her, and she chokes back a sob. “Now, get in the fucking car,” I command.
She drops her head, shoving her dress down over her hips and thighs, and makes her way around to the passenger seat and falls into the car.
Running a hand through my hair, I feel my cell vibrate in my pocket. I pull it out to see it’s a text to our group chat from Scout.
Scout: Did you pick her up?
Me: Yeah. On our way to my house now.
Then I pocket the phone and get back in the car to take our doll to her new home. The place where her nightmares are going to become her reality.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
HENLEY
I SIT AT the elaborate custom-made white oak table that seats twenty people.
Lisa Holdings is a gorgeous, career-driven, extremely successful woman. But that doesn’t make me overlook the fact that she birthed one of Satan’s spawn—Grayson Hamilton Law.
Who is currently sitting across from me with a smirk on his face and a look of excitement in his eyes. The kind that you would see a serial killer have while he stalks his next victim. He’s probably imagining my screams right now and the tears running down my face while I beg him to stop the torture. To stop the pain. But he’s not the kind of guy who shows mercy.
To put it as nicely as I can—I’m totally fucked!
My father enters the formal dining room with his hand in Lisa’s, and my chest tightens. He’s betrayed me too. Just another name to add to a long list of people who I can no longer trust. I wonder if my mom would allow me to finish my senior year in Switzerland.
“I’ve been wanting to tell you, Henley.” My father starts, but he nor Lisa make any attempt to sit down, which means this will be quick.
“How long?” It’s the only thing that matters right now.
He opens his mouth, but Lisa speaks. “Will you boys allow me a second alone with Henley?”
Law gets up and walks out of the room without a word. My father kisses Lisa on the cheek and then too walks away, leaving me alone.
I look out the floor-to-ceiling windows to my right that showcase the large pond in the backyard. It has a dock to fish off, but it’s too dark right now to see it. We used to go fishing back before things were complicated. Back before we knew what drugs and alcohol were. Back before that night at Death Valley.
“I know this is a lot to take in.” Lisa gets my attention by sitting down across from me, where Law was sitting moments ago. “I just want you to know—”
“How long?” I interrupt her, not giving two shits what she has to say other than the answers I want.
Her blue eyes soften, and she tucks her bleach blond hair behind her ear. “Nine months.”
The air rushes out of my lungs, and my jaw drops open.
“I know.” She gives me a soft smile. “We wanted to tell you.”
I’m fucking speechless.
“But we decided to keep it to ourselves at first. We didn’t really know where it was going.” She shrugs. “Then the trial …” She trails off and looks down at her large engagement ring. I’m sure it’s a Harry Winston, Tiffany & Co., or Cartier. Some shit like that. My father only gets the best. “I just want you to know that no matter what happened, you are welcome here, Henley. You have a place here, and if you need to talk to anyone. A woman figure—”
I throw my head back laughing, cutting her off. “You going to try to be my mother, Lisa?” The alcohol and the adrenaline are making me bitchier than I’d normally be to her. But I think it’s allowed, knowing what I just found out.