“You know perfectly well you wouldn’t be in this situation right now if you hadn’t been so damn disobedient,” he chides.
He’s not wrong. Not really. Except, well, I know now the boys would have come for me no matter where I was or who was posted outside my little college apartment. I just don’t know if my father knows that. He’s arrogant enough to think Kane and his men were waiting for some sort of in.
“I wouldn’t have snuck out if you weren’t such a narcissistic psychopath trying to sell me to some old man to be his baby farm,” I snap.
He stares at me for a long time, and when he doesn’t even attempt to lie and deny it, my nausea gets worse. “There’s plenty of time to right any wrongs that were done.” His gaze moves to my stomach, and it’s obvious he knows. I don’t wrap my arms around myself, though I want to, but I refuse to draw attention to anywhere I might be vulnerable. “And I have someone who’s happy to take you on and doesn’t care how you’ve let your body be defiled.”
I blink. “I’m married.”
“Paperwork hasn’t even been filed, Alice,” he says, his tone like he’s talking to a three-year-old. “And if you think that marriages can’t be undone…”
“Like what happened with Mom?” I demand.
His face goes hard. “Your so-called husband had everything to do with that. Surely you realize he’s a monster.”
I meet his gaze, not knowing what it’ll cost me but knowing it won’t be free. “Just like you?” I fire back. “I know what happened with his sister, you dirty piece of shit—”
The blow comes before I can brace myself. He hits me with the heel of his hand, and I feel the space just below my eye start to puff up. The pain is almost too much with my concussion, and my stomach churns. When I look back up, Guido—the man who had raised me, claimed to love me once—stares at me coldly.
There’s a slight glint in his eye, and he looks like he’s contemplating hitting me again. Instead, he takes a step back and looks at Marco. “Call him. The longer she’s here, the more she tests my patience, and he probably wants her functional.”
Marco nods and leaves the room, and I finally curl my arms around my body. I know the boys will be coming for me, but I’m starting to wonder if, somehow, these two were able to hideme. And if this mystery buyer gets here before them, God only knows where he’s going to take me.
Chapter 17
ARIEL
I don’t believein sixth senses or any of that bullshit. I don’t really think I have a gut to listen to. But I know immediately something’s not right when I wake up and find myself in bed with Phoenix and James. I wouldn’t think twice about Kane and Alice missing together, except that I can hear Kane out on the bedroom terrace, talking on the phone.
There’s every reason to believe Alice is in the bathroom since she has to piss fifteen times an hour, but I can see across the room, and the light’s off and the room is too quiet. It’s way too fucking quiet.
Rolling away from James’ arm, I swing my legs to the bed and scoop up boxers before walking to the open terrace door. Kane catches my eye and rolls his.
‘Aldis,’ he signs.
That’s not a conversation I’m remotely interested in, and I can’t quiet the strange feeling in my gut, so I head downstairs and sniff because maybe Alice is making coffee or breakfast or some shit. But downstairs is completely still and untouched.
Except, no. The front door is cracked open.
There’s a wraparound porch in this little place Kane rented, and I’d seen Alice eyeing it when we got in, so it shouldn’t be asurprise if she decided to spend her morning out there. I pad out onto the porch, expecting to see her sitting on the little swing in the corner or maybe leaning over the railing, but there’s no sign of her.
I drop my hand onto the wood, and my finger smears into something sticky. Glancing down, I see that it’s rust-colored and nearly dry, and my blood runs cold.
Blood.
It’s fucking blood.
I rush into the house, a mindless quest to find Alice, and I tear from room to room, but she’s nowhere. My throat aches with the ability to scream for help, but all I can do is rush up the stairs. I must have been making enough noise to wake everyone because James is blinking slowly, and Phoenix is stirring. I slam my fist on the wall, and Kane sticks his head in through the door, giving me a sour look until he sees my expression.
‘Alice is gone.’ My fingers are shaking so hard I don’t know if they’re making any sense, so I try again. ‘Alice is missing.’
James interprets almost on autopilot, and Phoenix is immediately sitting up, swinging his legs over the bed. His fingers fumble for his earpiece, and he’s rushing out the door to his makeshift office as Kane slams his phone down on the side table.
“What the fuck do you mean missing?”
‘Missing,’ I repeat, then wave my hand in a circle. My throat is burning with the urge to cough, but I hold it in. ‘There’s blood on the railing.’
Kane curses and follows Phoenix out, and James is so pale I’m afraid he’s going to faint. He looks at me with terrified eyes, and for the first time since I was a child, I feel that terror reflected inside me.