I couldn’t hold in my laughter. “Trust me, I’ll confirm the budget at least ten times.”
Serena sent us both exaggerated glares. “I’m gonna put those crazy-hot ghost peppers in both your tacos.”
Gilly appeared, handing Chip and Kay a glass of something fruity. “Serena made sangria.”
Jax shoved a glass into my hand. “Here.”
“Thanks.” I repeateddon’t punch himover and over in my head. I took a sip and turned to Serena. “This is amazing.”
She took a sip from her glass. “I think this is my best batch yet.”
“Let’s put this on the menu at the opening, too.”
“You got it.”
Gilly grinned at the two of us. “This is just what we needed. Some good family time.”
“She’s not family,” Jax muttered.
“That’s enough,” Chip said.
I held up a hand. “It’s all right. Jax is free to make it as clear as possible that he isn’t my biggest fan.” I stared in his direction. “That doesn’t mean he’s going to scare me off.”
Jax smiled back at me, but it had a feral edge. He said something, but the words sounded garbled, and his silhouette began to blur. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision, but it didn’t seem to help. I tried again. The blurring got worse.
I thought I heard my name, but I didn’t take my eyes off Jax. “What did you do to me?”
41
Laiken
My head thrummedto an angry beat. My mouth tasted like dry cotton. I struggled to get my eyes to open, but they didn’t seem to want to obey.
My neck ached, and I realized it was because my head was bent at an awkward angle. I strained to straighten it. When I finally succeeded, my eyes fluttered open.
I blinked against the overhead light. It wasn’t overly bright, but it felt blinding. My vision revealed things in snapshots. Bursts of images. Chip slumped over in his recliner. Serena with wide eyes. Kay with tears streaming down her face.
I moved to sit up on the couch, but as I did, I felt bindings on my wrists and ankles. My hands were trapped behind my back. Panic flared, and my breathing grew more shallow. Short, quick bursts of air rushed in and out of my lungs.
Struggling to piece things together, I tried to think of the last thing I remembered. Coming to dinner. Serena’s sangria. The wooziness after I’d taken a few sips from the glass that Jax had handed me.
“Laiken, are you okay?” Serena’s voice trembled as she spoke.
“What happened? Where is he?”
Before she could answer, the back door slammed against the wall. Isaac filled the doorway, blood dripping from his temple, his eyes glassy. His gaze swung around the room, panic filling his expression.
Someone shoved him forward. “Keep walking.”
That voice. One I knew almost as well as my own, yet harder than I’d ever heard it.
Isaac stumbled forward, crashing into the couch and struggling to right himself on the cushions next to me. Gilly stepped forward, her face twisted in rage. She tossed a section of rope at Isaac. “Tie your feet.”
“Gilly, what are you doing?” I asked softly.
Her head snapped in my direction. “Shut up. I don’t want to hear a word out of your mouth.”
My heart hammered against my ribs. The woman I’d loved for so many years was completely unrecognizable. Everything about her had twisted and knotted into something so much darker.