Page 37 of Hold Me Before You Go

Ten minutes later, we were packed into the van, flying down the interstate as Jake pulled up Robert’s alias.

I’m coming for you, Sunshine.

Chapter Nine

Carrie

“Now, I’m only going to ask this once, Carrie, so be sure you’re paying attention,” Brandon said to me, smiling like we were old friends.

I said nothing.

We were in a new motel room, in a different state, and I was getting further and further away from Grayson.

I don’t know how long we’d been on the road, and I didn’t know where the hell these twoidiotswere taking me. What Idid know was that Brandon was jealous of everything my dead husband had and that Monica was still in love with Robert.

Another thing I knew was that these two were the worst kidnappers in the history of kidnapping. Bar none.

And I was fed up.

At the last motel, Brandon punched me in the face, which hurt like a fucking bitch.

However, I wasn’t knocked out for long, because I came to as Brandon was dragging me back to the van—poorly. So, I did what any logical person could do in my situation: I took in the empty motel parking lot, the night sky, and closed my eyes again. There was no sense in trying to get away from this crazy asshole in the middle of a vacant lot. I was defenseless and didn’t stand a chance—not now, at least.

Once he got into the back of the van again, I laid there, staring at the ceiling and proceeded to listen to Monica bitch at him for practically jacking off in front of me. She was still in disbelief about the entire thing, and honestly, it confused me. She hated me, so I didn’t understand why she was upset. Of course, Brandon didn’t take it well and yelled at her, telling her she was ungrateful and needed to respect him. This went on for forty-five minutes, and I was rolling my eyes by the end of it.

On the plus side, theNightwalkerBrandon had drugged me with had worn off, and I was finally thinking clearly. I had control over my body again, and most of all, I was prepared to fight. I just had to bide my time and make a plan. If I didn’t, I would be dead. These two were idiots, sure, but Brandon still had a gun.

Still, I was going to fight. I had to fight. My life was finally worth fighting for.

I’d also found out that Monica was the one who called him to help.

She wanted me dead, that much was clear, but I was unsure about Brandon’s part in this.

What was he getting out of this? It certainly wasn’t Monica; she couldn’t fucking stand him.

I also counted the number of hours the drive was and when they finally parked the car, almost four hours had passed. Wherever they were heading, they weren’t in a hurry. This was the second time they stopped tonight, and that worried me. It was Brandon who wanted to stop again, ignoring Monica’s protests.

Now, here I was, tied to yet another shitty motel chair, in a room that, instead of smelling like old cigarettes, smelled of moldy cheese. The walls were painted a puke green, and there was only one bed, with stained cream bedding, and the carpet was brown. This was the kind of hotel people came to fuck and die in.

Brandon was standing a few feet in front of me, hands on his hips, Monica perched on the edge of the bed, glaring at me.

“Did you hear me, Carrie, or did I hit you a little too hard last time?” Brandon pressed, looking between me and Monica. He shook his head, sighing as he threw a hand out at me and addressed Monica. “See? I told you I shouldn’t have hit her. She might have a concussion.”

Wow, thanks for giving a shit, Brandon.

Monica shot daggers at him and hissed. “Just ask the fucking question so we can get on with this,” she hissed. “I told you I didn’t want to be here.”

Brandon glared at her, and for a moment, I was actually scared for her. Monica was evil, to be sure, but Brandon…He was insane. Finally, he looked at me and his entire demeanor changed, almost as if he was a different person.

“You’re going to give us your trust fund, okay? I’m going to need you to write down your account information for me. Can you do that?” His tone was friendly, almost playful.

I was over it.

I matched his tone and said, “No, I don’t think I can.”

Brandon blinked, the friendly façade fading. “What?”

I pursed my lips, ignoring the pain in my face. “I don’t remember the account number, and you two idiots didn’t think to grab my purse before you kidnapped me.”

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