Page 59 of Captive Souls

Daisy nodded, her curls bobbing as she did so. “I had a bad feeling. About Stone. And also, you’re a terrible liar. When you said he’d finally left you alone... I didn’t know what was going to happen, so I did research—mostly reading mafia romance books which are great, by the way…”

She trailed off, presumably having caught my look silently sayingnow is not the time.

“You can read them later,” she added with a wave of her hand. “I didn’t figure it was going to be as dramatic as all that. An obvious kidnapping, I mean. Messy. Stone is very good at pretending he’s civilized, so I reasoned he’d done something to make you pack of your own accord. I knew I wouldn’t be able to call the police, and trying to convince Joey to help me has been a shit show. That asshole.” Her pretty face contorted into an angry scowl that I’d never seen before. Even when she was mad or sad about the latest breakup, she never had that kind of fire in her eyes.

She was hurt. It was radiating from her pores. She loved him. The dangerous man she thought she could tame. Who had betrayed her. He was essentially her captor now too, operating on Stone’s orders.

Only a man you loved could make you hurt like she was.

I wanted to kill him with my bare hands. But my bare hands were currently covered with another killer’s blood.

“Anyway, I knew that I would find a way to come rescue you,” she continued, sniffling. “I figured I may have some help, but I’ve now learned that I can save someone all on my own.”

“And shoot someone,” Knox grunted.

Her eyes narrowed at him. “How was I to know that you’d bewitched my sister intonotwanting me to shoot you? The last I heard about you was that you were a heartless killer that even Joey was afraid of.”

“That’s not saying much,” Knox scoffed, gritting his teeth as I resumed my terrible job of suturing his wound.

I failed home economics in high school.

It was a testament to just how much of a pain tolerance he had that he was able to handle me sewing together his skin afterbeing shot and after having had the bullet excavated out of his flesh without passing out or screaming.

Then again, screaming over a ‘flesh wound’ would’ve seriously messed with his badass reputation.

Daisy was still glaring at Knox. They weren’t going to be friends anytime soon. Which made sense since great friendships were rarely built on the bedrock of one person shooting another or one person kidnapping the other’s sister.

Great relationships weren’t built on kidnapping, in other words. They were headed for disaster. Yet here I was.

“Okay, so the question of how you found my location is answered, but how did you gethere?” I tried to lead the conversation away from thorny places, as if that were possible. “I was under the impression that you were being heavily watched by Stone’s people.” My heart stuttered. “What if they’ve been following you?” Alarm shot through my veins, and my body tensed, gaze darting for the door, expecting men to burst through it at any moment.

“They haven’t,” Knox’s voice punctured my panicked haze.

His strong and unwavering gaze was zeroed in on me, too full for me to understand but blank at the same time.

“How do you know that?” I demanded.

“Because they would’ve killed Daisy if they got an inkling of what she was up to.”

I flinched at the way he said it. So matter of fact. So certain. As if the prospect of her death wasn’t world-shattering. It wasn’t for him.

My sister. My brave, free-spirited, hopeful sister had yet again acted without thinking, with only her heart guiding her. And if she hadn’t been a little less lucky, she would’ve been dead.

The blood on my hands was scorching them.

Daisy paled slightly at Knox’s words, but her tone remained confident. “I couldn’t come straightaway,” she explained. “Thesecond you …left.” She scowled at Knox before continuing. “The second you left, things changed. Joey was everywhere, telling me I couldn’t leave the city for my ‘own safety’ and urging me not to ask questions about you. As if I’d just give up on you. For once, I slowed down. Made a plan.”

She smiled, looking mighty proud of herself. I was mighty proud of her too.

“I convinced the director of the company to send a bunch of us to a show in Knoxville then informed Joey that I had to go,” she said. “I don’t know how it was cleared up the chain of command.” She waved her hand dismissively. “I told Joey we had a five-hour practice today plus a costume fitting, then went straight from the hotel room to rent a car to come here.”

“And the gun?” I asked her, digesting how much she’d managed to orchestrate. My sister, who barely knew how to set up her insurance.

She shrugged. “It’s America, and despite my political leanings toward the opposition, it’s still easy as apple pie to procure a weapon here.”

I stared at my sister, astonished by the impossible chain of events that had come into place in order for her to make it here. To rescueme.

Her gaze softened as she watched me, understanding my expression in a way only a sister could.

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