Page 135 of Filthy Elites

He shakes his head fervently and latches onto my arm. “Haley, you’re in danger here. You need to listen to me. That Vikson guy—you know the kind of man he works for.” He’s not listening. It’s like all of my words are going in one ear and out the other. How did I ever expect anything different?

“Yeah, because I worked for him too,” I snap. “You do realize that Nicholas Carter owns Club Outsider, right? In fact”—I shake him off, pulling my arm free of his grip—“I don’t understand what your issue is. Is it Nicholas Carter that you have a problem with? He’s on the board of Directors of Eastpoint too.”Why even go to a school when there’s a man he so clearly hates right there on campus?

“You’re not listening to me!” Josh shouts. “It’s Vikson! He’s the dangerous one. I tried telling you he was a killer and you—”

I shove him. Hard. “Shut. Up.” I practically fucking seethe. My limbs are trembling with fury. All of my previous dislike of Mitchell Vikson has fled and in its place, a new emotion has arisen. Trust. “It doesn’t matter what you say about him. I don’t care. I told you I made my choice and here’s the kicker, I chose him because I fucking love him.”

Josh flinches and then shakes his head. “No,” he rejects my words, but he’s not looking at me when he says it. It sounds like he’s talking to himself. “No,” he repeats. “You don’t mean that.”

How to make him understand? “Yes, I do.” I insist.

Josh just continues to shake his head as if he can’t even comprehend the words that are coming out of my mouth. “You’ve been deceived,” he tells me. “Brainwashed. He’s done something to you, Haley. How can you not see that?” He looks at me with eyes so full of hope and sorrow that it makes me take a step back.

“I think you need to leave,” I say, quickly looking to Troy who takes a step forward.

“Come on, buddy,” Troy says. “Save yourself the heartache. There are—”

Neither of us see it coming. Not Troy and not me. As soon as his hand touches Josh’s arm, Josh jerks around and body slams him. I gape and stumble back as fists go flying. Josh looks like a crazed madman and for his part, Troy puts up a good fight. He slams his own fist into Josh’s face and manages to get the man off of him.

As soon as the two of them are back on their feet, though, Josh lunges for him once more—knocking Troy clear across the room and into the wall so hard that one of the pictures hanging comes crashing down and glass shatters against the hardwood floor. I blink, stunned, as my gaze goes to the fragments.

Troy goes down hard, blood leaking from a cut in his temple. His eyes are shut, but he’s not dead. His chest rises and falls with the telltale sign of life.

“Oh … fuck…” The words wheeze out of me as Josh turns to me. I hold up my hands. “Josh, stop!”

As if he doesn’t hear me, Josh moves forward. “You need to come with me, Haley,” he says. “I can protect you.”

My pistol is a warm comfort against the inside of my thigh, but how do I fucking reach for it without alerting him? I still need to retrieve it and click off the safety button before I can use it and he’s so close, there’s no doubt I won’t be able to. He’ll know I have a gun and worse, he’ll probably take it from me.

My mind is going a million miles a minute in every crazy direction trying to figure out what I should do when Josh decides for me. “What the fuck?” I practically shriek as he charges towards me.

One second, the two of us are a few feet apart and the next—he’s got me wrapped in his arms and his grip is like a vise. “It’s going to be okay,” he says. “It’s all going to be okay. All you need to do is come with me. I’ll get you out of here. I’ll protect you from him.”

I struggle against his grip, trying to break my arms out of the hold he has them in. “What the hell are you talking about?” I demand. “Josh? Let go. You’re fucking insane!”

“No, no, I can’t.” He starts dragging me, but it’s not towards the door and it’s not towards the railing. I’m so confused that I don’t even realize what’s happening until he’s got me pressed against the wall.

My eyes fall on Troy, and I wince in regret. I really should have just stayed alone. I shouldn’t have even given Josh the opportunity. God fucking damn it am I stupid.

“Josh,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm, despite the fact I feel a low simmering anger slowly trying to take over. “Let. Go.” My nails sink into one of his arms as I continue to try and free myself from his grip, but he doesn’t even seem to notice it—not even when they cut into his skin and he starts to bleed.

“Josh!” I open my mouth, fully intending to scream my head off, but I’m dumped against the wall in the next instant and his hand slaps over my lips. His face fills my vision, eyes darting back and forth over mine as I continue to struggle against him, my heart picking up the pace. The damn thing slams against my ribcage as my earlier anxiety comes back. Something is really fucking wrong with him.

“It’s going to be okay,” he repeats, keeping his wide hand over my mouth and shoving his palm so hard against me to stifle any noise I might be making that it hurts my fucking teeth. He reaches over and touches something on the black wall, his fingers running down a part of it until I hear something click.

Shock and horror hits me as I turn my head to the side and a secret compartment door pops open. As if he feels the need to explain himself, Josh gives me a proud smile. “This place used to be a warehouse,” he confesses. “They used the original structure of the building and most of these rooms are connected to emergency escapes in case of a fire.”

Fuck,is the only thing I can think as he quickly shoves the rest of the thin hatch open and pulls me inside.How the fuck does he know that?A dark insidious question rises to the surface of my mind, but it’s too much—I don’t want to ask it.

The inside of the emergency exit is dark and clogged with dust. It makes my throat tighten. I try to talk, and instead, I end up swallowing a mouthful of dry air and what feels like gritty airborne particles—like sawdust or something else that’s floating in the air around us. It makes my tongue feel dry and the back of my mouth hurt as I try to cough and breathe through it. It’s impossible to see anything, so every step is done by touch and touch alone.

Josh continues to yank me after him, but because the narrow staircase is barely able to hold one person at a time is he’s forced to release my mouth and keep his hand on my arm. His grip remains locked on me to keep me from fleeing back, a bruising force.

I turn back, looking over my shoulder. “Josh, you’re making a big fucking mistake,” I try, coughing and gasping for air. “Viks will come for me—you have to fucking know that. He’ll kill you, and I’m not going to save you.”

He doesn’t respond, just yanks harder at my arm, enough to make me stumble against his back as we reach the bottom of the staircase. He fiddles with something in front of him that I can’t see in the darkness of the space. I feel enclosed, almost like this place is a fucking coffin. I can’t see. I’m struggling to breathe. My hand slaps the wall next to me and it’s so fucking close that I can’t even stretch out my arm.

“Let me out,” I grit out, slapping the wall again. “You fucking asshole!”

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