stops there, I walk down the hall to the room where I know Triss and Lara are waiting. I have my own keycard so I slip it in.
The door opens. I push it and enter the room. My eyebrows furrow as I fail to see Triss and Lara.
"Triss?"
I put the cake down on the table and look around. Lara's baby bag is on the bed next to Triss's purse. They were here. So where are they now?
Suddenly, a blow lands on the back of my neck. Before I can process the pain, I go numb. My thoughts blur. The last thing I hear is the sound of myself falling on the floor before my senses shut down and my mind goes blank.
Chapter Nineteen
Triss
Where am I?
I try to answer that question as I throw my gaze around the room.
I'm in a garage. That much I can tell from the steel door. There's no vehicle parked here, though. No shelves. No boxes. In fact, there's nothing here but me.
And bloodstains on the concrete floor that send a stab of fear into the pit of my stomach.
I nearly scream but realize I can't. There's a piece of cloth stuck between my teeth. I can't take it off because my wrists are tied behind me. My ankles are bound, too.
The fear in my stomach rises to my throat.
There's only one person I can think of who would have done this.
Just then, the door from the house opens. The man who appears in front of me with his crooked grin and pierced ears confirms my suspicion and escalates my fears.
No.
"Hello, darling," Jim greets me in his croaky voice. "Did you miss me?"
I breathe through my nose as my chest tightens. It suddenly feels like there's a bomb strapped to it, set to explode. There's a lump in my throat the size of a pear.
"No?" Jim frowns. "You mean you didn't even cry for me when you thought I was dead?"
I wish you were dead. That's what I'd tell him if I wasn't gagged.
"I thought I was dead," he goes on. "Imagine my surprise when I woke up at the hospital. Guess I'm a lucky son of a bitch."
Unfortunately.
He takes off his shirt. I see nearly identical scars in four of the spots where I stabbed him. The fifth one is on his leg.
"Five stab wounds." Jim holds up five fingers. "And not one killed me. You're some kind of stupid, aren't you?"
I should have stabbed him straight in the heart. Or maybe the throat. Why didn't I?
He grins. "Don't worry. I'll teach you how to do it right. Now that I know you can kill, I might have a job for you."
What? He's crazy if he thinks I'm going back with him, much less working for him.
"See how kind I am." He stretches his arms. "I'm willing to forgive you and take you back even though you tried to kill me. All you have to do is beg for my forgiveness and tell me you love me."
I narrow my eyes at him. Never.
He takes off my gag. "Well, go on."
I shake my head. "I'm not going back, Jim."
"What's that?"
He grips my chin. His touch is enough to make my skin crawl, but I don't show it.
"I said I'm not going back," I answer through my squeezed lips.
Jim takes a few strands of my hair in his fingers.
"I thought your hair was the only thing that changed, but you have a new look in your eyes as well. I don't like it."
He throws my chin away.
"I'm not going to take you back until you get rid of that look."
"Good. You never will."
Jim ignores me as he scratches his chin. "Is it because of that baby, I wonder?"
My eyes grow wide. Lara! Did he get her, too?
"Where is she? What did you do to her?"
Jim laughs. "Don't worry. I'm not a monster. I don't hurt babies."
Thank God for that at least.
"But I do have someone else who I don't mind hurting to bend you to my will."
He gives a whistle. After a few seconds, the door from the house opens again and a man enters with Antonio. He throws him on the floor.
"No!" The cry escapes from my throat.
I thought that because he wasn't with Lara and me, Jim wouldn't get him, but I should have remembered how ruthless Jim can be. And jealous. He'd never let a man who laid a finger on me walk away without getting hurt.
No. Not Antonio.
"I see you care for this