Page 67 of Hunted Temptation
He says this, states it really, like that is supposed to be enough for me. I open my mouth to tell him that it’s not enough, that I need more, but the words don’t come out, because how can I demand something like that from him?
He needs to stay here and protect the others. I can’t drive, so it’s not like he can lend me a car so I can go to Vaughn. And if he hasn’t heard anything, then what am I going to find out? He would probably know something before anyone else.
“Whatdoyou know?” I ask.
He arches a brow. “I think you should go back upstairs.”
Shaking my head a couple of times, I let out a heavy exhale. “No, Merrick. I don’t think I can go back upstairs.”
He pushes off the wall, then shifts to face me completely. Inhaling a deep breath, I hold it as I wait for him to say whatever it is he’s about to say to me.
Clearly, he has something he needs to tell me, but he doesn’t say it right away. Instead, he dips his chin, his eyes focused on mine and nowhere else. He leans forward slightly, his expression serious, before he speaks.
“I fucked up once, almost got someone killed. I won’t be doing that again, so please go upstairs. Vaughn would never forgive me if something happened to you. I can’t live with any more guilt, babe.”
Nodding once, I clear my throat. “Okay,” I say.
Whatever plan I thought I could create on the fly, I cannot. Vaughn is right. I’m too young. I’m inexperienced and stupid. So damn stupid. I should never have come with him. I should never have fallen in love with him.
“I’ve had a bad feeling all day long about Vaughn. I don’t know what it is, but he shouldn’t have gone to Raleigh. I shouldn’t have let him go.”
“You couldn’t have guessed something would happen. We don’t even know what happened, if anything. Could be nothing.”
“It’s been too long for nothing,” I whisper.
His lips twitch into a smirk, but it’s not because he thinks something is funny. It’s more of an ironic smirk. “Yeah,” he says. “I know it’s been too long.”
“I just need some fresh air, I think, and I’ll feel better. Can I take a walk around the building?”
He lifts his head, turning to focus somewhere across the street, then shifts his attention back to meet mine. “A quick one, but if you’re not back in five, I’ll come looking for you.”
I give him a grin and dip my chin before I step a little farther out onto the sidewalk. The building isn’t very big, and the parking lot is empty save for Nadine, Lucille, and Merrick’s cars.
My feet move as I let the setting sun’s warmth wash over me. One step in front of another. I close my eyes as I just breathe. Inhaling and exhaling as I continue to move down the sidewalk, turn the corner, and then I slam into something hard.
A body.
Opening my mouth, I start to scream when a hand muffles the sound. “Shut the fuck up,” the voice growls.
My eyes pop open, and I am met with dark eyes that I don’t recognize. “Someone has been waiting to meet you. If you make a sound, your boyfriend is dead.”
Then he lifts his hand and shows me a picture of Vaughn. He’s tied to a chair, a man standing next to him holding a gun to his temple.
“Come on,” he grinds out, wrapping his fingers around my wrist before he drags me away and toward a car.
He opens the back door before he tosses me inside and slams it closed behind me. As much as I want to believe that I’ll be able to get out of this unscathed, I’m wondering if this is it.
My fate was and will always be what my father made me. The fact that I could get away from it for even the short amount of time that I did should feel special, like I accomplished something.
I met a man and fell in love. I paid to have bad guys killed so that other girls wouldn’t succumb to the same fate I did. I did something with my life, even if I only had a few weeks to do it.
I did something.
These are the thoughts I repeat over and over until the car stops.
VAUGHN
“He’son the way with her,” Lucius announces.
