“Have you taken this time alone to rethink things, little sis?”
It was Devin, and my stomach turned at the flippant tone in his voice. This was some kind of game to him. Toying with my life, with the life of my baby, was fun for him. I wanted to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze until he turned blue.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, and where I used to think you were just a little eccentric, I’m now one-hundred percent convinced you are a full-fledged psychopath.”
He didn’t say anything, and I wondered whether he was going to leave me alone again, when suddenly he ripped the blindfold off of my face, pulling a chunk of hair with it. I winced at the pain in my scalp and the burn caused by the bright fluorescent lighting in the small room.
When my eyes adjusted, I was able to see that I’d been right. We were in a tiny office space with pale blue walls and thin navy-blue carpet. The only items of furniture in the room aside from the chair I was tied to was a desk and a tan metal filing cabinet. I had never seen the room before in my life. I didn’t have the faintest idea where Devin had brought me.
“I’d hoped you would be a bit more agreeable by this point in the process,” Devin said. “But that’s okay. I can work with surly.”
“I don’t usually get abducted, so you’ll have to excuse me for not feeling very peaches and cream,” I snapped.
“You were abducted by Gavril. I’m saving you. One day you’ll understand the difference.”
Devin was delusional. Absolutely out of his head. What was he going to do, keep me locked up in this office until I decided I liked being blindfolded and tied to a desk chair? Over my dead body. Which, based on what Devin had been saying so far, didn’t seem like such a stretch.
He held up a small box with writing on the side that I couldn’t read. “These were just delivered for you.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”
“Gavril ruined my reputation with most of my old dealers, but my guy who deals in prescription drugs still has my back. It took him a bit to track these down, but he did it. They cost me a pretty penny, too.”
My heart rate increased, and my wrists were sweaty beneath the ropes. “What is that, Devin?”
“The abortion pill.”
My body instinctively curled forward in an attempt to protect my unborn baby. “You sick bastard. What is wrong with you?”
Devin knelt down in front of me. “Just two little pills and this can all be over. We can forget Gavril ever existed. It won’t be hard because he’ll never find us where we’re going.”
If my legs hadn’t been tied to the chair, I would have kicked him in the chest. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise, but I already have the private plane lined up. That cost me some money, too, but I had a guy who owed me a favor. He is going to do it real cheap, better than any international flight through the big airlines.”
A private plane? I didn’t want to get in a car with Devin ever again, let alone cross an ocean with him.
“We can’t leave Mom. And we can’t just show up in another country. We need visas and passports and—”
“All taken care of,” he said proudly. “Surprised? Your screw up of a brother finally got something right. I’ve had passports ready since Gavril took you. I always thought it may come down to us fleeing the country, and I was right.”
The small part of me not entirely disgusted with Devin wanted to laugh. This is what he thought it looked like to get something right?
“You were right about needing to flee the country only because you are making it happen,” I said. “I have no reason to leave the country, and neither does Mom. She is being taken care of by a nurse, and I have a good doctor and a safe house. You are the only one not happy here.”
“You aren’t happy,” Devin said, rolling his eyes. “You’re confused, and in time you’ll see that—”
“I don’t need time. I see everything perfectly right now. You are insane, and I want to be with Gavril.”
Devin waved me away like I was a child throwing a temper tantrum.
“I love him,” I continued. “I want to be with him, and he wants to be with me, too. He is going to find me no matter where you take me, and we are going to raise our baby together and be happy. And I will let him do whatever he wants to you. I saved your life before, but I won’t do it again. Not if this is how you repay me.”