“Thank you for looking for me.”
“Juliet.”
“I thought… I just… I was—”
“Shut up.”
“Shutting up,” I whispered before he changed his mind and left me.
Maximo climbed behind me before the four-wheeler roared to life. A headlight lit the way, but he seemed to know where he was going, his speed eating up the distance until his house finally came into view. He stopped next to his gate and killed the engine before standing. Pulling his cell from his pocket, he touched the screen a few times. “Call them off, I have her.” I jumped when his hand landed on my head, but he just absentmindedly stroked my hair as he stared toward the house. “Yeah. Get the car, meet me on the street.”
The car?
Of course they’re not going to let me go back to the house.
Of-fucking-course they’re not.
I’d been a witness and then a prisoner. Trying to escape had shown them I was a loose end who needed to be cut before I unraveled everything. Maybe he’d rescued me just so he could make sure I died.
The fear that’d disappeared after my rescue came back times a hundred.
I didn’t bother arguing when he picked me up. I didn’t ask the millions of questions that swirled in my head. I didn’t voice my fears.
Because none of it mattered.
Lost in thought, I stayed silent as an SUV pulled out of the driveway and stopped in front of us. Handsome goon got out, his eyes on us. I waited for him to glare like the mean one, but he didn’t. If anything, he looked happy to see me. He opened the backdoor, and Maximo set me on the seat.
When the door closed, I buckled up on instinct, numbly going through the motions.
Rather than driving or sitting in the passenger’s seat, Maximo opened the other back door and climbed in, moving over until he was in the middle. He reached over, unbuckled my seatbelt, and pulled me into his lap.
Maybe this will be like the old gangster movies where he throws me out of a moving car.
How well can I tuck and roll?
Handsome goon got in and began driving.
“Is everything ready?” Maximo asked him.
“All set and waiting.”
Separating myself from the terror and pain, I stared out the window.
There was a lot of nothing. Just as Maximo had said, that route was desert for miles and miles with no houses, buildings, boulders, or even brush around.
As if reading my thoughts, he whispered, “Told you.”
I nodded but couldn’t find any words.
The farther we drove, the more my panic took hold. Rather than pointless begging, I decided to use my time to curse my bastard father. If he hadn’t lied and cheated and lied some more, none of this would’ve happened. I would be asleep in my shitty bed in my shitty home in my shitty life.
I still wouldn’t have been safe—I never was—but I was used to that. Defending myself against assholes, drunks, and creepers was easier than taking on the elements, bugs, and snakes.
“You okay?” Maximo asked, bringing his hand to my forehead. “You’re shivering.”
It was with rage, but I didn’t share that. “I’m fine.”
He met the driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
The goon lifted his chin. “I could go a lot faster if you’d put her down so she can buckle up.”
“No,” was all Maximo said, and the goon didn’t argue.
If I were a different girl who’d lived a different life, I may have let myself believe his concern. And that concern would’ve given me hope. But I knew better.
Hope was an empty word on the way to disappointment.
Exhausted—mentally and physically—I wanted to rest my head, but I couldn’t. The pain made it easy to stay alert as I sat stiffly in the silent car. Staring at my hands in my lap, I sank further into myself as I used the time to build my walls against whatever was to come.
If I was about to die, I’d go out with my pride—it was the only thing I had to my name.
If he was about to dump me back into the shithole that was my life, I’d figure it out.
I always did.
After a while, the car turned and turned again. It slowed, but only when it came to a stop did I look up.
What the hell?
CHAPTER FIVE
Fine, Fine, Fine
Juliet
A HOSPITAL.
He wouldn’t take me to a hospital if he were going to kill me. That’d be like giving a manicure to someone before hacking off their fingers—a pointless waste of time.
My eyes darted from the Emergency Department sign