Page 180 of The Pact

I keep my eyes trained on the window near the door. The sky lightens incrementally and I can make out trees in the distance—definitely a cabin. But where? We could be in Tennessee, North or South Carolina, Alabama, or farther.

All night I’ve gone over how I’ll escape.

I tried to time how long it’d take to get out of Cole’s grip, get to the keys, unlock the door, and get into the car. Ten seconds, five seconds, five seconds, fifteen seconds. Thirty-five seconds is the lowest I could get down to. I’m not sure that’s realistic. It doesn’t matter, it’s not enough time. I’m not fast enough. And judging by my terrible under the pressure skills I showed with Rob and Matt, I know I won’t get the key into the ignition on the first try.

There’s only one way out of this cabin that guarantees I live. And that’s if Cole doesn’t. So I wait for him to wake to set the plan in motion.

He shifts against me maybe an hour later, judging from the sky. I can feel his morning erection push against my ass. I roll my eyes, although it’s what I’ve been hoping for. Shoving away my hatred, I wriggle against him.

Cole’s hand tightens on my hip. “Fuck. You know what that does to me.” I do, that’s why I’m pulling out this trick.

“Mmmm, sorry, you know how I get in the mornings,” I apologize innocently.

He skates a hand up my thigh, under my shorts. I let my body react naturally, even if he’s the last person in the world I want touching me. I pretend it’s Sutton—a sick form of defiance against Cole.

He pushes under my bodysuit, sliding a finger inside of me. Please let me be wet enough for him.

“Damn it, love. You’re dripping.” Thank you, Sutton.

I moan against his touch. “I can’t control it. Everything about you turns me on,” I whimper, driving home that he does this to me.

The feel of his fingers in me is making my stomach turn. I move his hand away and stand up. He sits, his face hardened with distrust. Sinking to my knees between his legs, I allude to exactly what I’m going to do.

His hips push forward and the suspicion melts away. Typical fucking man. Cole undoes his pants, pulling out his hard cock. I don’t waste time on the niceties. My mouth slips over him and I put on the best performance of my life as I eagerly blow him.

Cole’s eyes lock on me. I’m getting impatient. I need him to look away for a minute. Please, just one minute. As if willing it to happen, his head falls backwards and I subtly slip my hand into my pocket, gripping the one thing that will save me.

In one quick motion, I remove my mouth and hop into his lap, throwing my arms around his neck. I kiss him and rock my hips against his needy cock. He can’t think around anything other than fucking me. I know him too well.

My free hand slides through his hair and I tug it backwards.

Wesley’s words echo in my head. All that training wasn’t useless. “Eyes, groin, throat.”

Cole groans as I kiss his neck, finding the perfect spot. The hand with the weapon snakes back around to the front and I pull my lips from his skin, but keep my hips moving as a distraction.

Cocking my fist backwards, I let out a breath to steady myself, keeping my eyes on the target. With all of my force, I push my fist forward and drive the metal corkscrew wine opener through the thin flesh of his throat, twisting as I sink it in.

61

WESLEY

Damian and I sit in the back of the police cruiser, speeding down the highway. My mind tries to figure out how we got to this point. Damian’s convinced it’s his fault. Cole was showing signs he wasn’t stable. However, we were too distracted by Thea, among other things. We’re all to blame.

I look over at my brother. His face is stony, emotionless. His hands tell another story. Damian’s fists clench and unclench repeatedly. And his eyes are reddened. He hasn’t let me see him cry, although I know he has. He’s worried about her, maybe more than he ever expected to be. My stomach knots because I’m worried too.

I can’t lose Thea. I can’t lose another woman in my life, let alone one that didn’t want to leave me. Victoria and my mom chose to walk away. Thea didn’t. She wants me and I want her. Anyone who gets in the way of that will find themselves choking on six feet of dirt, even Cole.

Between her missing and Sutton in the hospital, I’m a mess. Thankfully, my brother’s been able to keep it together enough to get us this far.

I check my phone again for an update. Sutton’s mom messaged me a couple of hours ago, letting us know he was out of surgery, but that his condition is still critical. I should be at his side, not tracking down Thea, because Cole lost his shit.

After Damian watched the security footage, we sped home. He checked the tracker he put in Thea’s satchel after Gavin started becoming a problem. Keeping tabs on her location was probably unethical, but damn it if I wasn’t glad for it—even if we had the wrong guy pegged for doing something like this.

Relief flooded me when I saw it was active—that quickly faded when we tracked it to the side of a highway. Cole must have removed it or tossed her bag.

I was sure that we’d lost her. He could be anywhere. But his computer held all the answers we needed. Well, his room, too.

We raided it, Damian hacking into his computer and me tearing a part every inch of his room. However, it was one locked drawer that shed light on his obsession with Thea.

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