“No, the actual basement. The unfinished part on the other side of the laundry room. That’s where we keep the extra bottles.” He obviously sensed my hesitation. “Please, Lila, you won’t have to go anywhere near the bar. There’s such a crowd down there he won’t even notice you.”
I shook my head, but I couldn’t say no to Brady. “What kind of red?”
“Any kind. Two or three bottles if you can carry them.”
“All right.”
“Thank you,” He said fervently. Then he leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
I couldn’t help grinning as I made my way down the stairs.
Brady hadn’t been lying. It was very crowded down in the rec room. People were playing pool and dancing to the very loud music. I saw a crowd around the bar out of the corner of my eye but I didn’t even glance that way.
Instead, I slipped through the dancers until I got to the door to the laundry room. It was a relief to close the door behind me and shut out some of the noise. To my surprise, both the washer and dryer were on, and I couldn’t imagine why the guys would be doing laundry during a party. Then again, maybe a drunk partygoer had spilled a drink on themselves.
I strode to the end of the little hallway that housed the washer and dryer and opened the door to the unfinished part of the basement. I’d never been here before, but luckily, there was a light on, so I didn’t have to grope for a switch in the dark.
I stepped inside and looked around as the door swung shut behind me. There was a jumble of old furniture including several tables stacked on top of each other and an old leather couch. There were so many boxes stacked to towering heights that I didn’t know how I was going to find the extra wine.
And then a figure stepped out from behind a stack of boxes. “What are you doing here?” I asked at almost the same time that Gideon did.
Since Gideon made no move to answer, I did. “Brady sent me down here to get some wine, but he can get it himself.” I whirled to the door.
“He sent you to get wine?”
“Why is that so hard to believe,” I asked with my hand on the door. “Is it because I’m such a disappointment I shouldn’t be trusted with that task?”
Gideon’s voice was closer, but I didn’t look back. “No, I just meant that Cole sent me down here for wine, too.” Suddenly, he cursed. “Try the door.”
“With pleasure.” I turned the knob and nothing happened. Surprised, I yanked on the door knob, pulling hard. When that yielded no results, I banged on the door.
I rapped my knuckles against the hard wood until it hurt. Then a voice from behind me said, “Don’t bother.”
“What?” Irritation made me whirl around.
Gideon looked the same as always, except perhaps for the dark circles under his eyes. “That’s why the washer and dryer were on. Though it’s probably overkill with how loud the music is.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t you get it? Cole and Brady set this up. They tricked us into coming down here and then locked us in.”
Holy shit.
He was right.
28
LILA
I gasped, turning to bang on the door again, but Gideon was right. No one was going to hear us. When my knuckles hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes, I admitted defeat. Gideon was the last person I wanted to talk to, but I had to ask him one question. “Do you have your phone with you?”
“It's at the bar.” He brushed some dust off the cushion of an ancient leather sofa and sat down. “Do you have yours?”
“It’s upstairs.” Anger grew inside me as he made himself comfortable. “So you’re just going to sit there until we starve to death?”
“It's better than banging on the door until my hands bleed.”
Just to spite him, I pounded on the door again, this time yelling for help. But the music and the laundry were just too loud. Ignoring Gideon, I marched past the sofa he was on, grabbed a wooden chair from a pile and carried it over to the door. I set it a few feet away and sat down, my arms crossed.