Page 157 of Tangled In Lies

He winks at Phoenix before he walks out of the room. “I’ll be back for you soon. Behave until then.”

I cast one worried look at Phoenix, who’s standing beside the bed now, his chain extended as far as it goes.

“Tyler, touch her and you’ll die,” he yells, his face contorted in a mixture of terror and fury.

I’m propelled through the doorway.

Tyler chuckles and leans close to me as if we’re sharing a joke. “I think he hasn’t quite grasped this concept of captor and prisoner, has he?”

My chest rises and falls with rapid breaths while Tyler leads me up the stairs. Instead of stopping in the kitchen, he yanks me up another flight to the second level.

Where is he taking me?

He’s not going to do anything to me, is he?

My scalp prickles at the horrible thought, and my breaths quicken.

A loud noise comes from behind a closed door, and Tyler kicks it. “Stop the drama, Mason, or I’m going to do something worse than just gag you.”

Nausea pools in my belly.

Mason. Mason is in there. And Tyler gagged him.

A harsh yank at my chain propels me forward, almost tripping me.

Tyler leads me into the room at the end of the hallway, a spacious, orange-and-red bedroom that appears to be the main bedroom. Ruby shoots up from the small chaise at the foot of the bed, wringing her hands in front of her.

What is she doing here?

Their gazes briefly meet before she averts hers, her hair covering half her face.

“She’s all yours, babe. You know what to do, right?” Tylerwatches Ruby nod before he grasps my left hand. “You’ll look spectacular.”

With the gun still in one hand, he gets something out of his pocket with the other and gives it to Ruby.

I gasp when I see it’s a small key. “Wh-what’s going on?”

Ruby unlocks my handcuffs with trembling hands.

Tyler smiles at me widely. “Surprise, Evie. It’s your wedding day. You’re going to get married.”

He puts the key back in his right pocket, and I watch him like a hawk. Right pocket. I need to remember that. Maybe there’ll be a chance later to take it from him?

Tyler’s words crash into my thoughts.

Surprise, Evie. It’s your wedding day. You’re going to get married.

Black dots dance across my vision, and I try to blink them away. A wave of dizziness follows, and I reach out to steady myself. Unfortunately, Tyler is closest to me, and I grab his arm. I want to flinch away from the contact, but my survival instinct has taken over to keep me from fainting. I don’t ever want him to catch me unconscious. Who knows what he’ll do to me.

Tyler frowns at me, holding on to me with both arms. “Don’t worry. Everyone is nervous on their big day, and Ruby is here to help you get ready. I worked very hard to get my officiant license and a marriage license for you guys. It’ll be great.”

I shrink away from him and shield my body with my hands. “A marriage license?”

He gives me one of his twisted smiles. “Yeah, for you and Phoenix. Don’t you want to get married?”

“Phoenix and I are getting married?” I mutter the wordsmore to myself, unable to wrap my head around this situation.

Why would Tyler want Phoenix and me to get married? To the extent that he gets an officiant license so he can do the ceremony? Is this another one of his twisted games? Marry us before he kills us?

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