Page 57 of Captured Heart

He nods and leaves without saying a word.

As soon as the door closes, Alex resumes his position on the floor in front of the door, his back pressed against it like a sentry. His legs are propped up, arms resting loosely on his knees, but there’s nothing relaxed about him. His shoulders are taut, his jaw clenched, and his stormy gray eyes are fixed on the tray.

“Eat,” he says.

I’m starving, but I only manage to force down a few grapes before my anxiety makes me feel like I’m about to throw everything up. A cup of iced coffee would hit the spot right aboutnow. It’s Sunday, so I would’ve had one with Corey and Karmani today.

That thought reminds me how far I am from everything. My family. My friends. None of them know where I am, and the man responsible for separating me from them and upending my entire life won’t even look at me.

He’s acting like a complete stranger. Like he didn’t spend hours talking to me. Like he didn’t help me up the stairs when I was drunk. He’s pretending as if he’snotthe man who joked with me and told me he liked my laugh.

I’ve been too afraid to say anything. I want to scream at him, demand answers, but the weight of his silence and the hard set of his face have kept my lips zipped all this time. Still, the questions gnaw at me until I can’t hold them back anymore.

“Why did you agree to this?” I ask.

His gaze slowly lifts to mine, those gray orbs boring into me, and the anger simmering beneath the surface is palpable. “Money.”

It’s weird. It hurts more every time he says it.

“So, that’s it?” I’m still having trouble making sense of his actions. “You kidnapped me...for money?”

“No, I got close to you for money. I wasn’t supposed to be involved in this part.”

It’s so matter-of-fact, so emotionless. My heart squeezes tight enough to cause a piercing pain in my chest. That response was so cold the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. I search his face for some hint of the man I thought I knew, but all I see is a liar. A dangerous liar.

He was so strategic in his approach, pushing for more and immediately pulling back when I offered any kind of resistance. That behavior came across like he was respecting my boundaries, and that earned some of my trust. But those were all manipulation tactics to get what he wanted.

I cross my arms because I feel so exposed. The whole thing was one-sided, and I feel like an idiot for allowing him to deceive me like this. “So, you’ve just been lying to me the entire time?”

He drops his head back against the door, lazily staring at me as if we’re not in some dilapidated warehouse in the middle of nowhere. It shows me how accustomed he is to this kind of environment.

“I never lied to you.”

I sneer, biting back the bitter retort that’s on the tip of my tongue. I’m not going to antagonize him because I don’t know what he’s capable of. Victor whipped out a gun and shot at a mere boy. Alex (or whatever his name is) has a gun. It’s covered by his black hoodie, but I can see a sliver of the slick metal clipped to his waistband.

If he’s half as ruthless as Victor, I’d better watch my step and mind my tongue. I’m still livid, though, and I’m becoming angrier as the disillusionment takes hold and cements itself.

It’s my fault. There were blatant red flags that I ignored. They appeared pink to me. I sensed danger and brushed it aside. I knew his guarded demeanor was strange but found a way to justify it. My attraction to him was so strong that I allowed him to play me like a fiddle. At some point, I really need to start listening to my grandmother’s advice.

Even now. He’s looking at me like I matter, like I might actually mean something to him when I know I don’t. He’s just here for the rest of his cut.

“Were you ever going to tell me? Or was I just—”

“Stop,” he snaps. “You’re alive, aren’t you? Isn’t that enough?”

I flinch at the sharpness of his tone, but I refuse to back down because I might be alive now, but how much longer will that last? “Are they going to kill me?”

“No.” His jaw is still tight. “You heard Victor. Too much is riding on you. As long as your father cooperates, you’ll be fine.”

I swallow hard, my throat dry. “What does Victor want?”

He hesitates, then exhales heavily. “The files your dad has. They’re proof of every crime Victor’s committed for over a decade.”

And then it clicks, more lies coming to light. “That’s why you asked to come over to my house. That’s why you were in my study.” I shake my head as I recall the events of that day. “We spoke in the kitchen forthreehours, and I thought—” I stop myself short of saying I thought we had a connection because I can’t stomach admitting how stupid I was. “But that’s the only reason you were there.”

I hope it’s guilt that makes him drop his head like that. I hope it’s gnawing at him and that’s why he can’t even look at me.

But it’s not because it takes a mere second to brush that off and continue. “If your dad hands them over, Victor walks free. If he doesn’t...”

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