Page 128 of Bound By Words

“Three.” The man in the hoodie flinched at my voice, and I frowned as he reached over and pressed the number two on the panel. He hadn’t talked and had barely moved since he got in the elevator other than trying to step on me. But something about the tone of his voice sent shivers down my spine, and not the good kind.

KELLY

Chicago

As the car started again, that feeling of unease I’d felt since I arrived back in the city multiplied, even more so when the elevator stopped, and the other passengers filed out. The man in the hoodie headed toward the door to the stairwell, and I frowned, watching the woman go out the other exit from the small elevator enclosure.

The car stopped on the second level, and I quickly pressed the close door button when I didn’t see anyone waiting to board. I tucked my phone into my pocket, grabbed my key—sliding it between my pointer and middle fingers. I knew I couldn’t do much damage with a blunt metal key, but I was officially freaked out when the doors to the lowest level slid open. I should’ve taken Tom’s advice and had a security guard escort me from the main lobby.

I blew out a shaky breath when I stepped out into the little enclosure outside the elevator, glancing toward the door to the stairwell as I turned to head in the opposite direction.

Calm down, Kelly. You’re just being paranoid.

My phone buzzed in my pocket as I started to head toward the ramp I’d parked on, and I looped the keys on my finger as I pulled it out and looked down, frowning at the alert on the screen.

Airtag Found Moving With You

Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I checked the area around me, the dim lighting of the parking level looking much more sinister than I remembered it appearing before. I knew I was being overly suspicious; the stress of the last month was catching up with me, and this was the first time I was truly alone in weeks.

As I passed the door to exit the garage directly from the stairwell, I felt my bag jerk backward before a hand clamped down on my wrist.

Before I could scream, another hand closed over my mouth and hauled me backward into a solid body, with my arm twisted behind me.

“Don’t even fucking think about it,” a deep voice hissed, and I felt tears forming as he dragged me back toward the door to the stairwell, my fingers clawing at the back of the hand covering my mouth.

The door slammed into the concrete wall, echoing as he pulled me back into the stairwell and turned, pushing me against the wall with my face smashed into the rough surface.

“Where’s your bodyguards now, sunshine?”

My eyes widened when I recognized the voice, my pulse hammering as I tried to figure out how Trent knew what Nathan called me. Only a few people in Boston knew he called me that, and none knew Trent.

“What are you doing?” I whimpered as his chest pressed against my back, his hand holding my wrist painfully tightly. “Why are you calling me that?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he chuckled as he leaned close to my ear. “Is my brother the only one allowed to call you that? Guess you only let guys who fuck you on camera give you sweet little nicknames. Never thought you were dirty enough to be into that BDSM shit, but you looked hot in that strappy leather get-up you had on.”

What the fuck?

“The video I downloaded was pretty fucking raunchy. Could have done without seeing my brother’s dick out, but I just put my thumb over that part of the screen. Who knew you were a gusher? That part was fucking hot.”

“What are you talking about? What video?”

I knew people had watched us, but I hadn’t realized the photographer had filmed everything. And how had Trent gotten ahold of that video?

“You really should find a building with better security. I was able to hack your electronic deadbolt pretty easily. Missing something?”

Fuck. My tablet.

“And it’s pretty reckless to leave yourself signed into your email account on all your devices. What if something got stolen? What if someone read through all your personal emails? Looked at videos people sent you with encrypted links to access? Talia seemed to think you wanted to see yourself get finger fucked after you blew my brother. It’d be a shame if that video ended up on the internet,” he chuckled, his alcohol soured breath fanning my face. “You made it pretty fucking easy to figure out where you were when you had your tablet save the password for your bank account.”

“And made it easy to see who you’re fucking, apparently. So how was it? Is sleeping with my brother everything you thought it’d be? I’ve heard he’s into some pretty nasty shit, never pegged you for the type to be into that too.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t even know you had a brother,” I whimpered as he pressed his shoulder forward, the concrete scraping my cheek as he leaned in.

“Oh, Nathan doesn’t talk about me? I’m insulted. He forgot I existed like the other assholes who share DNA with me.”

My heart hammered in my chest as I tried to connect the pieces. Nathan had said that his brother’s name was Bradley.

“But his last name is Harrison. How can you be his brother?” I asked, my eyes darting across his features as he leaned around, finally showing me his face. My eyes scanned over him quickly, trying to find the similarities. Nathan had dark hair and eyes, while Trent had sandy blond hair and striking blue eyes. Trent was shorter than Nathan, his shoulders not nearly as broad, but I could see the same strong jaw and full lips that looked so different on Nathan’s face.

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