Page 77 of (Un)Spoken

“Your wife sent you a text, and you never responded, so she was worried.”

“Tell me you didn’t bring her with you.” Theo’s eyes widened, and I could see pure terror reflected at me, not for himself, but for Calla. “Adam, tell me she’s safe.”

“She’s still at Cole’s,” I said, and he visibly deflated with relief. “I’m here alone.”

“Well, I’d like to say that was stupid of you, but given our situation, I’m fucking relieved Calla’s not with you.” He shifted up a little taller, his eyes tracking Eloise as she paced in front of the window, chewing on her nail bed. “There’s something you need to know in case I don’t get out of here. Calla… She’s pregnant.”

“Yeah, I know.” As Theo stared at me, I sighed. “It wasn’t hard to figure out. First, it was all the nausea she tried to claim as nerves, and then she stopped drinking wine and coffee. The wine wasn’t a big tip-off, but the coffee…” I shook my head. “That girl never goes more than a couple of hours without an iced latte in her hand. But I wasn’t going to say anything until you told everyone.”

“It’s still early,” Theo said, his voice now low and pensive. “We had to have some genetic testing done, and thank God, everything is good. But we found out it’s a girl. I’m going to have a daughter.” His dark eyes met mine, determination aimed at me. “If I don’t make it out of here, make sure they know how much I loved them. That I would do all of it again just to get this time with Calla. Promise me you’ll make sure my little girl knows I went down fighting because I wanted to see her face.”

“Don’t talk like that, Theo.” I shook my head. “We’re getting the fuck out of here.”

“Just trying to be rational.”

“Well, knock it the fuck off. I need you to focus and help me figure out how to get the hell out of this mess.” I tried to look around the room. “Is there a backdoor in this place?”

“Next to the storage closet, in the back of the main room.” Theo motioned to the side door. “It leads to the fire exit.”

I cursed under my breath. “So Eloise knows about it?”

“I’m sure she does.” Theo shook his head. “I hadn’t gotten around to showing her everything here, but she probably figured it out. It’s marked on all the plans.”

“Okay, then that’s probably not an option if we want to get out of here without alerting her.”

“There is no option for that,” Theo groaned. “If we tryto go out the window, she’ll see us, and everything else requires going past her. Even if we can find a way to get out of these ties, there’s still the gun to deal with.”

I rubbed my wrists together, digging at the knot with my nails. It gave a little bit, enough that I could slip my finger through. I turned to Theo. “Pretty sure I can get out of this rope. I just need to buy some time.”

“How?”

“Haven’t figured that out yet. I just need to deal with this knot, and then—” My mouth snapped shut as Eloise walked inside, seeing us both awake. She cocked her head to the side and stared at us, her wide, green eyes alight with some odd emotion. It was like looking at a different person, a far cry from the shy, put-together assistant I’d gotten to know over the past year. Her strawberry-blonde hair was falling out of its usual bun, all the strands standing up, as if she’d been pulling them for hours.

But what struck me the most were her eyes. Gone was any hint of warmth or kindness, only a cold indifference peering back at me. It was enough to put all my nerves on alert, every part of my mind screaming to get away from the danger.

“Well, well, well,” she cackled. “Look who’s awake and ready to play.”

Eloise took a step closer, leaning down to get a better look at us. As her head swiveled between the two of us, a chill cut into my bones. I was prey caught in her web, only seconds away from being consumed.

But instead of harming us further, she just sighed, pressing her elbow into her knee and resting her face in her hand. In her fingers, she held a cell phone, one that looked suspiciously like mine. However, the other hand was what held most of my attention.

I’d done enough time on set to have handled modified weapons before, gaining a healthy respect for how much damage a gun could wield. True terror coursed through my veins as she tapped it against her thigh, knowing how easily one bullet could take our lives.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” she finally muttered, pushing up to her feet. As we watched silently, she paced the length of the room, continuing to tap the gun against her leg. She suddenly turned, pointing it in my direction. “You weren’t supposed to be here. Not yet.” Eloise groaned, looking up at the ceiling. “Why did you have to come here, Adam?Why?”

“Eloise,” I said slowly, trying to keep emotion out of my tone. “We should talk about this. You don’t want to hurt us.”

“You’re right,” she laughed. “I don’t. But this isyourfault.” She bent down, her eyes meeting mine with a furious flame. It took everything in me not to sneer in her direction, to keep my mouth sealed while she stared at me like she wanted to paint the walls with my blood. As she watched me, my fingers worked nimbly, tugging and twisting the knot until it eventually loosened.

Eloise continued, “I waited for you for years, Adam.Years!From the moment we met. You remember, don’t you?” She smiled at me, but there was zero warmth in her expression. “It was on the set of your first action movie. I was an extra, and you smiled at me. Told me I was beautiful and brought me back to your trailer.” She placed her phone on the ground and toyed with the ends of her hair. “Iknewwe were meant to be together. That I had to save you from all the otherwhoreswho wanted your attention. To prove to you I wasworthyof your love.”

“Eloise,” I repeated, softening my voice as much as possible. “You don’t have anything to prove to me–”

“Then, I was finally ready,” she sang, pushing up to her feet. “Spentyearsmaking myself into the woman of your dreams. I found my way to New York and got a job at this…” She pointed her gun at Theo. “Thisasshole’s office just to surprise you. To give us one of those movie moments. You would look at me across the room, and you’d remember everything about our time together, realize I was the one who got away. But you know what happened instead?” Eloise sneered at me. “You. Didn’t. Remember. Me.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, meaning the words despite her actions. She was right—I didn’t recognize her, couldn’t have picked her out of a crowd, even after I slept with her. I might not have been the whole reason this woman broke, but I was one of the factors, and self-loathing coursed through my veins. How could I have been so selfish? Through my actions, I’d broken something inside Eloise that had turned into such a twisted, ugly obsession. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“Oh, I know, baby,” she cooed, reaching out to stroke my cheeks with the muzzle of her gun. It took everything in me not to recoil from her touch. “I know you would never hurt me. You know why?” Eloise leaned forward, whispering in my ear, “We’re soulmates. Made to be together. And now, it’s even better.” She shifted back, smiling softly at me as she ran her fingers through my hair. “Now, we can leave this world together and spend eternity in each other’s arms.”

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