Page 88 of Mine to Keep

I followed him out to the other side of the apartment. I assumed he was taking me to a guest bedroom but when I entered it, there was nothing welcoming about it.

Chains hung from the walls and ceiling, a cage off in the corner. Hooked to one wall were instruments. I’m not talking BDSM kind of stuff; this was torture devices.

“It’s a punishment room,” I surmised.

“I wonder how often Nicole found herself in here.”

As angry as I was with her for assisting James in getting Matt, at that moment I realized she’d been as much of a victim. She’d thought death was a better choice than facing a disappointed James.

“Angel, we have to figure out where Matt is, now!”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Matt

I wasn’tsure what apartment I was in, but it had to be in my building. The design of the place was practically identical to mine. I didn’t think it was James’s, but I’d never gone inside, so I wasn’t sure.

“Hungry?” James asked as he secured me to the chair in the kitchen. He’d removed the rope from around my wrists since it was making my skin raw but replaced them with cuffs. I’d resisted and tried to fight back but that just earned me a punch to the gut followed by an apology for me making him hurt me. Fortunately, my arms were in front of me now, but I was still cuffed and my legs were tied.

“Not really.”

“Oh, pish posh.” He waved me away. “You’ll need your strength.”

What the fuck did that mean?

“Well, James, I don’t have much of an appetite.”

“Something light, then.” He nodded and went about cooking what looked like eggs.

All the windows had blackout curtains, so I couldn’t even tell what side of the building I was on or what floor.

“You know, your friends, they were smart. Not as smart as me, though.” He poured the mixture into a skillet.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I mean, once I knew you were going to work today, I was able to get you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You pretended to be Olivia’s dad?”

He pointed at me. “See, you’re smart. Of course you’d figure it out. It was very easy. Then, I simply called Olivia’s house as a Rybelt employee and rescheduled their session.”

It had never occurred to me that was what my stalker had planned at the time. And everything after that had happened so fast, I hadn’t thought about it.

“What time will Nicole be back?”

He paused a beat and when his eyes met mine, for a brief moment I could see the monster lurking behind there.

“Don’t worry about Nicole.” He didn’t say more, just suddenly smiled and returned to cooking.

I’d never been more irritated with myself than I was right now. On Nick’s nightstand was the necklace he’d given me. I hadn’t put it on after my shower, and there was no doubt Nick had realized it by now. Seriously, maybe he should just stick a tracker under my skin. Where was Nick now? He had to be frantic. I could feel his rage from here…would he really burn the world to ash to find me?

“Andvoila!” He placed scrambled eggs in front of me, no fork in sight.

“Am I supposed to eat it like a dog?”

In a flash, he gripped my chin and squeezed painfully. “Act like one, and I’ll treat you like one. Say thank you.”

“Thank you,” I mumbled.

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