Page 18 of Savage Revenge

This time, I raise both hands and flip him off. Chuckling, he steps through the threshold and leaves me alone in this prison. White-hot anger rushes through me, my entire body trembling as I stomp over to the bed and pick up a pillow to scream into. It only makes me feel marginally better by the time I’m done.

As I look around the room again, my gaze shifts to the large windows. I rush over to one of them. How high up am I? Maybe I can jump. I have no clue where we are, but I can see the lights of The Strip in the distance, so at least I know I’m somewhat close to Vegas.

I use every ounce of strength that I have to try to open the window, but it doesn’t work. There’s some kind of locking mechanism on it. Even if I were to get it open, I wouldn’t survive jumping from this height.

There’s nothing but concrete below, which wraps around the sparkling, blue, illuminated pool. Perfectly manicured patches of grass adorn both sides. It looks like a resort down there. Chairs, loungers, lounge beds, two cabanas and smaller potted palm trees wrap around the pool in clusters. I try to look at the surroundings, but I can’t really see anything beyond the lit-up fountain that’s on the far side of the pool because it’s so dark out.

How long have I been here? It was late afternoon when I got to my apartment. There’s not a single clock in this room, though.

Another wave of nausea hits me, and I run into the ensuite, kicking the door shut before I go to the sink and splash cold water on my face hoping to keep myself from throwing up.Thankfully, it works, and when the feeling passes, I stare at myself in the mirror, wincing at my reflection. So much for all the beauty treatments I had earlier. My hair is a ratty mess, my makeup is smeared, and my skin is red and blotchy. No wonder Caleb found me so damn amusing. I’m a wreck.

It takes me a minute of searching the expansive bathroom, but eventually I find a stack of fluffy white washcloths in a linen closet and use one to wash my face. Cash’s cologne still wafts in the air, and it’s then that I realize it’s because it’s on my clothes. How the hell did his scent get all over me?

Once I’ve scrubbed at least a couple of layers of skin off my face, I throw the cloth on the counter and go to the toilet.

I can’t believe this is happening. Stuff like this doesn’t happen in real life. This is the type of thing people watch in movies. It’s got to be a bad dream. Right? I pinch my bare thigh and wince as I finish peeing. Ouch. That hurt. This is not a dream. It’s a total nightmare, though. One that’s real and that I need to get out of.

As soon as I wash and dry my hands, I peek into the bedroom. It’s empty, though Edith must have come back in while I was in the bathroom because there’s a tray of food on a table near one of the window seats. If this were any other situation, I’d be completely in love with this room. It has such a calming vibe to it between the crisp white and cream colors and the added touches of pillows, throw blankets, paintings of cacti and palm trees on the walls. It’s the type of place you’d want to stay on vacation. You know, when you’re not being held against your will.

Why do I find it annoying that Cash has such a nicely decorated room? Maybe he has a woman in his life who helps him with that sort of thing. Considering he’s an arrogant asshole, he probably has a slew of women helping him with stuff like that. I don’t even want to think about what his type mightbe. Probably skinny and plastic and dumb. The type who laughs at everything he says, which is why his ego is so damn big. Disgusting.

My stomach growls loudly, and I glance at the tray again. What if it’s poisoned? Do I really want a sandwich to be my last meal? I’m so hungry, though. I hadn’t had anything other than coffee all day and was planning to grab some food while I was changing at home. Obviously, those plans went to shit the moment I walked into my apartment.

I tiptoe across the thick carpet and sit on the padded window seat that overlooks the backyard and pool. Another nice touch to the space.

There’s no bottle of whiskey on the tray, but she did leave a half-filled glass with some in it. Without hesitation, I drink it in one gulp, appreciating the burn it causes in my throat then down to my chest.

“Thank you, Edith. I forgive you for not calling the cops for me,” I mutter to myself.

She might not help save me, but if she brings me plenty of alcohol to deal with Cash, then I might make her my new friend.

The neatly stacked turkey and cheese sandwich is perfection as I wolf down half of it in a few bites. I’m not sure if it was truly that good or if I was just starving, but it doesn’t matter either way. Between the liquor and the food, I feel a bit better by the time I’m done.

With my back against the wall, I reach for one of the close-by throw blankets and cover myself with it as I curl up in the window seat and stare outside at the night sky.

Just as my eyes start feeling heavy, movement below catches my attention. Cash strides across the patio toward the pool and sits in one of the chairs near it. I’m not sure if he can see me, but he’s not looking in this direction, so I don’t move away. For some reason, getting this glimpse of him feels intimate. Andas he lights up a cigarette and rests his elbows on his knees, then drops his head, I almost…almostfeel a sense of sympathy for him. It’s obvious he’s not in the right frame of mind. He’s hunting for the person who killed his dad, and he isn’t being rational.

I watch him for a long time while he sits there, smoking and running his hands through his hair, looking like a defeated lion hiding in his den. Part of me wishes I could go down there and talk to him, make him realize that there’s no way my father murdered his. The other part of me still hates him and wants him to suffer the same way I am right now.

I’m not sure how much time passes, but the dim oranges and yellows of the sun on the horizon begin to creep up from behind the mountains by the time he stands and turns toward the house. I should move away from the window, but I can’t make myself. And when he looks up and meets my gaze through the glass, my entire body freezes.

We stare at each other for a long moment, and I can’t breathe the entire time. My heart does a weird stutter as I keep my eyes locked with his. It’s as though something passes between us, though I’m not sure what it is.

Then, he breaks our eye contact and goes inside without so much as a backward glance in my direction.

“Wake up, kitten.”

The deep voice sends a wave of warmth through me when I roll onto my back and slowly open my eyes with a soft groan. Assoon as I see Cash standing over me, everything comes crashing back into reality.

He sets a coffee cup on the bedside table, then straightens and glares at me. Obviously he trusts me a lot more than he should since I threw a glass vase at him last night. He’s basically handing me another weapon. Lucky for him, I need this coffee more than I want to murder him at the moment.

From the shadows lingering under his eyes, I’d say he hasn’t slept since he went inside in the wee hours of the morning. I can’t remember how long I sat in the window seat after that, but at some point, I dragged myself to the bed. Once I crawled under the silky sheets and pulled the perfectly weighted duvet over me, I slept better than I have in months. It’s probably whatever he drugged me with that’s still circulating in my bloodstream.

“Coffee,” he announces, nodding toward the cup.

I rub my eyes and sit up. “Did you make it or did Edith?”

“I did.”

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