Page 40 of Hold Me Before You Go

Slowly, I righted myself and leaned back in the chair, my eyes landing on Brandon’s. The goofy Brandon was gone, as well as the scary Brandon, leaving something else entirely in its place.

For a moment, just a mere second, I wasn’t staring at a deranged man. Instead, I was staring at a little boy—a scared little boy.

“My brother was fucked up,” he said softly, giving me a small, smile filled with pity. “More so than me.”

Then, he was gone, following Monica outside and leaving me alone.

A chill ran down my spine and suddenly, I knew that the secrets about Robert were darker than I could have ever expected.

“I want her dead,” Monica’s voice whispered.

I heard movement, followed by Brandon’s reply. “When I have my fucking money, you can kill her and go back to mourning my fucked up brother. Until then, sit down and shut up.”

Slowly, I opened one of my eyes to peak.

A few hours ago, after leaving me alone for about thirty minutes, Brandon and Monica came back into the room. Without a word, Brandon pulled out a gag and some duct tape.He told me it was to shut me up, and I complied, keeping my anger in check.

Monica was back to normal, ignoring me and Brandon—well, he was just…calm.

After Brandon gave me yet another creepy smile, they both went to bed. It was stupid of them, but I was grateful for the extra time. While they slept for a couple of hours, I tried my hardest to stay awake and plan while working the Zip-ties around my wrists. I’d had these on my wrists for days. When I was in the van, I rubbed them up and down against a jagged edge of metal for over an hour, and so while they slept, I kept working on getting them lose. It was hard, and it was going to take some time, but I was close.

Ten minutes ago, Brandon stopped snoring, and I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep.

Now, Monica had just woken up, and she was arguing with him again.

“She’s a waste of time. Just kill her, and we can go back to Astoria and get her bank information,” Monica insisted.

Brandon scoffed quietly. “Are you fucking kidding me, Monica? Do I need to remind you of the guy she was fucking before we nabbed her? You really want to face him? He’s got to be looking for her right now.”

Grayson.

They were talking about Grayson.

Goosebumps scattered across my skin, and I closed my eyes, heart pounding.

“He’s not going to be any trouble for us,” Monica shot back. “Just kill her now while she’s sleeping.”

Nope. That wasn’t happening.

My head shot up. “You know, you should really learn how to keep your voices down,” I said, making both of them jump.Brandon was under the covers, shirtless, while Monica was on top of the covers, using my yellow puffer as a blanket.

I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth, glaring at her. Before she slapped me, I actually felt sorry for her, but now, she could rot in hell for all I cared—and she would.

Grayson would be here there soon enough.

Brandon sat up, throwing the covers off his body, and I tensed as he reached into the nightstand drawer, pulling out his gun.

“Let’s fucking get on with this,” he mumbled, rising from the bed. He scrubbed a hand down his face and looked at me.

When he started making his way to me, I stopped breathing.

When he stopped a foot in front of me, I gulped.

When he raised his gun and I could see down the barrel, all I thought about was Grayson’s dark eyes.

Chapter Ten

Grayson

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