Page 77 of Muted

Shaking my head no, I hold my hands up to ward him off and gently try to pull his hands away from where they’re digging into my skin. Cliff is unhinged, and I don’t understand why Chester is keeping him around.

Tightening his hold on my arms, he slams me against the wall again and drops his face closer to mine. “I met some very interesting people over the weekend, Susanna Walston. Daughter of Royce Walston and granddaughter of Arthur Walston. Sorry to hear about your daddy, by the way.”

My brain locks up, horrified that he knows so much. The pain crawls up my throat, closing it down so tightly that I can’t swallow. Bile rises into the back of my throat, burning to the point that I’m worried I’ll vomit.

I can’t fucking breathe.If he talked toHIM…

“I haven’t discoveredeverythingyou’re hiding yet, but I’ve got a pretty good picture. Enough to know that you don’t want to be found and also who’s looking for you. Isn’t that right, Susanna Walston?” Cliff’s voice is low and threatening. I’m beyond panicking right now.

It’s almost impossible, but I muster every ounce of self-preservation I have and force out the only four words that I care about. His answer determines everything for my immediate decisions.

“Did you tell him?” My voice comes out raspy and broken, and I hate that I have to even ask him because now he knows he has this power over me.

The way his eyes light up fills me with terror. There’s a malicious gleam behind them, coupled with the curling of his lip in a snarl. Cliff takes a small step closer, leaning closer to my face. His rancid, stale coffee breath wafts over my skin, causing my stomach to turn over again.

Clicking his tongue at me, he sounds giddy over my request for information. “Ahh, so youcantalk. I knew you were pulling one over on us. I’m so happy you asked me, though. You should be relieved to know that I didnottell him… Not yet.” His eyes bounce back and forth across mine as I stare at him, wide-eyed. “That depends on you.”

We both turn toward the back door when we hear the rumble of what I’ve come to recognize as Theo’s truck. Cliff frowns, then whispers quickly, delivering his orders while watching for Theo to come in through the back door.

“You’re going to do everything, and I meaneverything,I ask you to do. I know Chester is going behind my back with Theo, and I’ll be damned if I let him push me out before I get what I’m owed. Chester trusts that you’re accurate when you balance the books from the night before. So, you’re going to adjust where you need to, and I want half the cash we bring in.”

I begin shaking my head profusely, denying that I’ll help him steal money from Chester and the bar, but he growls and slams me against the wall again.

Hissing at me, he presses his mouth against my ear and seethes, “Youwill. One fucking phone call to your grandpa. I’ll fucking do it and not feel an ounce of guilt over it. It’s that, or you run again, but I’ll tell Chester that it was you adjusting the invoices for the last month, and you ran when you got what you needed. You think I don’t have the originals? I can swap them out like that,” he says, snapping his fingers in my face. “I know for a fact that he can’t prove anything right now.”

I feel some relief when I hear the rear door open, only to hear Theo say, “Fuck,” then shut it to go back outside.

Stepping away from me, Cliff runs his shaky hand through his hair, then glares at me. “You might think you’ve got yourself in a shit situation, but I guarantee you, mine is worse. I need that fucking money. If you don’t help me, I’ll make your life a living hell with felony theft charges. Can’t run then, can you, little Susanna?”

Eyeing me carefully, he must read something on my face, because he adds, “Don’t run from this. The cops will follow you, right along with your favorite grandpa. Sounds like he really misses you.”

Clifford Ford read me like a book. That is exactly what I was considering. I can’t do this for him. I justcan’t. To betray Chester would destroy me, so I know I need to think of a way to get out of this.

Everything around me is simply white noise as I walk with measured steps toward my table. The book and paperwork I took from Chester’s desk indenting my skin with how hard I’m clenching them against my body.

My brain tries to tell me that Theo was waiting for me, but I could only walk past him, staring ahead blankly at the smooth table surface. Setting my things down gently, I tug the chairs off the table, tucking them underneath, then sit and get to work.

I think he said something, but it didn’t register.

‘Don’t run from this. The cops will follow you, right along with your favorite grandpa. Sounds like he really misses you.’

An oily sickness crawls over my skin as his words echo back to me. My grandfather.

My grandfather, Arthur Walston.

My monster.

Mynightmare.

The high-pitched screech of metal scraping against the flooring pierces my ears, but I hold my body in check from shying away from the noise. Then Theo sits in the chair next to me. I can feel his eyes studying me, and normally, I’d preen under the feeling. Not right now. Right now, I need to figure out how to survive.

“Susu.” He calls my name gently, but I continue to work. I need to figure out how to let Chester know in a way that won’t give Cliff an opportunity to callhim.

Theo continues to talk to me. I continue to focus on the decisions I need to make.

I could tell him, Chester, I mean. I could tell him what Cliff is threatening to do, but I worry about the confrontation. Cliff needs one minute to send a text to my grandfather, and he’ll know where I’m at.

Maybe I should run. EvenifCliff tellshimwhere I’ve been, it won’t matter. I’ll already be long gone. Flashes of Theo slamming me against the wall, kissing the life out of me, transition into the way I crawled up Vance’s body to pepper kisses across his lips before sliding my tongue into his mouth. Both of them have opened up to me, Theo through text, and Vance through music and being there for me when I needed a minute to decompress.

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