Page 95 of Silent Betrayal

“I’m gonna stay here and keep the lines open in case something happens,” he tells us, and I nod. Max leads me downstairs, holding my hand in his with Atlas ahead of us.

The three of us pull out ingredients and start chopping and prepping a lasagna with a Caesar salad and garlic bread for everyone.

A little while later, I hear a single beep and look around, wondering what it is. “That’s the security system by the garage door. Not sure why it’s doing that, it’s not the alarm going off. I’ll go check,” Atlas tells us, drying his hands on a towel on the way out.

Max and I continue preparing the meal until we hear a knock at the door. “Who would that be?” I ask.

“I don’t know, I’ll check. You stay here and mix this,” Max tells me, pointing at the salad stuff.

I hear him open the door, and then a muffled noise that sounds like something dropped on the ground.

“Max?” I ask tentatively as a shiver runs up my spine. I quietly move around the counter, straining my neck to see the front door. But the sight makes me gasp with fear. Max is lying on the ground unconscious, with my m—Helenstanding over him, holdinga gun aimed at me.

I inhale to scream, but she cuts me off. “Make one noise and I will shoot you, then I’ll shoot him. Or come with me right now, and I’ll leave him alone. I didn’t shoot him, just hit him in the head. He’ll be fineifyou leave with me right now.”

My body shakes, and my eyes are wide with fear, but I march my ass right up to her because there is no way I’ll let Max get shot by my psychopathic mother.

“Glad to see you actually do as you’re told for once,” she says sharply, grabbing my arm and pressing the gun to my temple as she pushes me to jog with her to her car that’s idling in the drive.

She opens the trunk and motions towards it.

“Get in, one wrong move and I’ll shoot you in the foot.” I do as she says, knowing that she would follow through on her threat. As I climb in, she whacks the gun into the back of my head and when I fall forward onto my stomach, she slams the trunk shut, plunging me into darkness.

I hear the car door shut as the car quickly starts moving.

Dammit, how am I going to get out of here?I roll to my side and try pressing on the lid. Will the guys even know what happened?

Then, a voice cuts through the roar of the car starting to drive away.

“Malishka!!”

“Atlas!” I yell, banging my fists on the lid of the trunk, but I know he won’t hear me over the noise of the engine and I’m pretty sure we’re already on the road. My head throbs, and I touch it, my fingers come away wet. I’m bleeding where she hit me.

I remember reading that all newer cars have a release handle in the trunk so people can’t get locked inside. I feel around the edges of the trunk but can’t find anything, maybe this is an old car, it didn’t look like it was in very good shape.

My vision gets a little blurry, and I can feel myself getting lightheaded. I try to take a deep breath, but I can’t seem to get air.I’m having a panic attack.

No, Not now!I can’t afford to black out. I close my eyes tight and picture my guys. I imagine their faces, how it feels when they hug me, when they sit me in their lap, when they carry me around, when they tell me how much they love me.

Those thoughts allow me to pull in a deep breath of air and slowly, I’m able to push back the panic attack. This is the first time I’ve ever been able to pull one back on my own.

Helen, because I refuse to think of her as my mother anymore, is driving like crazy. She stops sharply, causing me to roll into the back of the seats hard, and when she takes off from a stop, I roll the other way, smacking into the front of the trunk.

I keep feeling around, hoping to find something, but the trunk is empty. I feel around to see what I have on me, and I cry in relief when I realize I’m wearing the watch Ben gave me. Not only is it a GPS tracker, meaning they can find me, but it’s a phone. I press the side button to make the screen light up, press call and touch the first name I see,Atlas.

“Mina?” he answers instantly, in a panic.

“Atlas!” I cry.

“Where are you?”

“I’m in the trunk of a car. It was Helen. She hit Max with a gun and threatened to shoot him if I didn’t go with her,” I whisper, my voice catching with fear.

“Don’t worry about Max, he’s okay, he’s just worried about you. You hold on tight. I’m following you now. I’m tracking you. I’m close, and the others aren’t far behind me.”

“I’m scared, Atlas. I can’t survive her or Simon again.” My voice is trembling so bad I can barely whisper out my worry.

“Baby, I need you to listen to me. You’re going to be okay. No matter what happens, I willalwayscome for you.Wewill always find you. No matter where you go or how far you are, we will never,everstop looking for you. You belong to us, with us, and we will stop at nothing to get to you. Now, I’m going to claim my favor you owe from the deal we made earlier. Whatever happens, you will not give up. You will fight as hard as you can to stay alive, safe, and come back to us. You willNOTgive up. Do you understand me, Malishka?” His calm, commanding tone helps to stop my frayed edges from unraveling, and I answer quickly.

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