Page 85 of The One Night Match
There’s a panic button beneath the desk, but reaching for it will escalate things, something I absolutely do not want when I’m already injured.
I look down at what I’m wearing—one of Cruz’s shirts and a pair of fluffy socks. “I need to put clothes on.”
She rolls her eyes and shakes the gun toward me. “I don’t care what you’re wearing. We need to leave right now.”
I suck in a breath and nod, stepping forward toward her. Something catches my eye as I move around the desk, and I don’t hesitate, keeping my face neutral as I run my finger along the blade and slice into my skin.
Monica looks over her shoulder toward the hallway, giving me a chance to trace an ‘M’ in blood on the corner of the desk, hoping that someone will be able to put the pieces together quickly enough to find me.
I move toward her, carefully fisting my bleeding finger against my palm so she doesn’t get wind of what I’ve done. It’s clear she’s not the idiot everyone seems to peg her as, and I’m not willing to underestimate her.
“Walk ahead of me,” she barks.
I do as she says, moving forward without hesitation. I’m not sure where Mary is, and Magda is normally here at this time, but maybe Cruz told her not to come in while things are so volatile.
“Which way?” I ask over my shoulder when we reach the end of the hallway.
“The back door.”
“What about the security team?”
She jams the barrel of the gun into my sore rib, and I let out an involuntary yelp. “Shut up, bitch, and stop questioning me. The security team isn’t a problem.”
I swipe the tears from my eyes as we pass Kevin, and he lets out a series of barks and whines. “It’s okay, buddy. Everything’s okay.”
“If that little rat doesn’t shut up, I’m going to make him shut up.”
I glance over my shoulder in horror. Jesus. I knew she was unhinged, but to threaten an innocent animal? You have to be a special kind of evil for that. “No one else is here,” I tell her, hoping she doesn’t know Lexi is asleep upstairs. “If you say the security team is no issue, then his barks won’t alert anyone.”
She mutters something under her breath, but I feel a weird kind of relief when the barrel presses into my lower spine.
She shoves me out the back door, and I barely catch myself from falling when I trip on the body of a man I vaguely recognize as part of the security team Cruz hired to protect the house.
His cold, lifeless eyes stare up at me, and bile rises in the back of my throat at the sight. This is a whole hell of a lot different from the severed hand upstairs.
I swallow past the bile and right myself, continuing on as she guides me with nothing other than the gun pressed to my back.
We walk around the house, and it’s not until we reach the gate that she finally steps in front of me, looking each way to ensure there’s no one who can stop her from carrying out her plan.
I take the chance to look around for anything I can use as a weapon, and when my eyes lock on a piece of pipe, my chest tightens with something that feels a whole lot like hope.
Before I can talk myself out of it, I wrap my fingers around the hard metal, muster all the strength I have left in my body, and swing at the back of Monica’s head.
She goes down with a yelp, and I take off toward the trees, clutching the pipe in my hand and ignoring the pain in the soles of my feet with each step I take.
I need to lure her and anyone else that’s here away from the house and away from Lexi.
FORTY-FIVE
CRUZ
Six hours of sitting in that room, waiting for someone to crack.
Six hours of silence.
Six hours away from the camera feed.
When Riley moves out, I’m going to have to have someone install cameras so I can get my fill of her, because there’s no way I can spend the rest of my life without her.
