Page 8 of Carter's #Undoing

My breathing was labored because nothing was making sense. “How did I even end up here? And why don’t I remember getting here?”

“I have some evil people after me and I brought you here because your life is in danger.”

“Who’s after you?” I asked. “And why am I in danger?”

“Because they would get to you to get to me.”

What?“How would they even know who I am? I haven’t seen you in over fifteen years.”

“Trust me. They know how important you are to me.”

I wanted to slap him again for that comment. “Don’t you meanwereimportant to you? Past tense.”

“No. You still are.” There was something in the way he said it so matter-of-factly that made me forget for a millisecond that I’d basically been kidnapped and was still cuffed to the couch.

“What about my life in New York? My job? I can’t believe Caden or the others would have let you take me.”

“Caden understands the severity of this situation, and my brothers, Malik and Micah, will make sure the rest of the family is safe. You’re my main concern. You have clothes here, so you can change out of your dress when I’m confident you understand why you’re staying. I gave Avery enough cash to buy you clothes for a month.”

“A month? Gave Avery money?” I turned my head even farther. “You don’t even know Avery.”

“We met months ago, but that’s not important. To answer your previous questions, we’re in the middle of nowhere, so don’t think about running away. And the tea I had Avery give you is why you were asleep for the past twenty-two hours.”

I dropped my head back on the couch because clearly, I must be having a nightmare that felt real as hell. I could barely make out the device Carter had pulled from a drawer in the kitchen, but next thing I heard was a recording of Avery and Caden telling me that I needed to trust Carter. Caden confirmed what Carter had said about his brothers protecting the rest of the family, and Avery mentioned something about Carter being a friend of her father’s. Hearing their voices was somewhat comforting, but I still had more questions than answers.

“If someone is after you, why wouldn’t you just go to the police?” I asked. As suspected, he didn’t answer me which only annoyed me even more. “Do you plan on keeping your back to me the entire time I’m cuffed to this couch?”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Do you plan to try and run if I uncuff you?”

“No,” I answered quickly.

“I’ll let you free when I believe that you won’t overreact.”

Me? Overreact? It’s not like you kidnapped me and chained me up or anything.“No, you’ll let me free now or I’m screaming to the top of my lungs for help.” When he didn’t make a move to release me, I kept good on my promise and started screaming. A large part of me was still in shock by what was happening and screaming felt good for my soul. Another part of me hoped that someone nearby heard me scream because although I trusted the Carter of my youth, this Carter seemed capable of shit I didn’t understand.

I yelled for what felt like thirty minutes, but had probably only been ten minutes tops before I stopped.

“Are you done?” he asked.

Since my throat was even more sore, I was done … for now. “I need some water.”

He nodded to a glass of water that was on the small table near the couch that I hadn’t noticed. Awkwardly, I did my best to lift the glass and ended up spilling more on my dress and the couch than I got in my mouth.

“I’ll get a towel.” It almost surprised me that he’d actually left me alone in the room. However, after a minute or so, my mind started racing even more.

“Oh fuck.” Judging by all the wood, I was in some sort of cabin. I’d always thought it would be cool to spend some time relaxing in a nice log cabin, but now that I was in one, it had lost all appeal. Every murder mystery or missing person documentary I’d ever watched floated through my mind as I stared at the wooden walls. Guy meets girl. Girl falls in love with guy. Guy disappears for years. Girl is left broken-hearted. Guy reappears and kidnaps girl. Girl is never found again. “Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Why do you keep saying fuck?”

Shit.I hadn’t even heard him return.

“Are you going to kill me?” I asked with a forced laugh. “If so, just tell me. I mean, this situation is pretty damn unbelievable right now, so either I’m in a really fucked up nightmare, or you’re going to kill me.” Joking had never been my go-to response when I was nervous, but apparently, I was developing all kinds of new traits.

“Neither,” he answered, approaching with the towel. Since I’d only seen his back since I’d awakened, I was caught off guard as he walked up to me and began dabbing the couch and top of my dress. He was standing too close for me to get a good look, and the light was still too low on the side of the room I was on.

I cleared my throat. “For someone who claims he isn’t trying to kill me, this room is kinda creepy and dark.”

Surprising me again, he reached his hand on the other side of the lamp on the table and picked up a key.

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