Page 43 of Patch's Bride
I flick his hand away. “Actually, my sister needs to be returned to her care home now,” I announce, trying not to panic. “You can talk to me instead. I think you’ll find that I can be quite accommodating.”
Vincent smiles in a way that makes my skin crawl. The shift from polite to creepy is so fast that I can’t believe it at first. He steps closer and runs his fingers through my hair. I freeze in place and then turn slightly to put Lila further from his reach.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be talking to me quite a bit,” he says. The way he says talking makes me think he means something more intimate. Glancing at Lila, he adds, “And Miss Lila will be looked after as well.”
“Looked after,” I repeat, shaking my head. “The judge…”
Vincent’s head snaps up, and he stares at me. “My attorney will deal with the legal ramifications of this arrangement. Meanwhile, Thomas will show you to your room.”
Just like that, we’re dismissed. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It isn’t the deal we made. I can’t believe he’s trafficking both of us. The absolute shock is incredible and makes me unable to do anything except follow Vincent’s bodyguard or whatever he is.
We go downstairs again. Walking along yet another corridor and finally get to a door. It doesn’t match the rest of the décor, and I realize it’s not made of wood. It’s steel—like a prison cell door—but it’s been painted in a deep red. Thomas opens the door and gives me and Lila a little shove into the room. I honestly wasn’t expecting that. When I turn to tell him off, he has one hand outstretched.
“I’m gonna need your phone.”
“Absolutely not,” I tell him. “Why would you even think that was an appropriate request?”
“Look,” he says blandly. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but in the end, I’ll be walking out of here with that phone.”
My hand goes to cover my front pocket. I realize all too late that I’ve unwittingly let him know where my phone is located.
A malevolent smile turns up the corners of his mouth as he shoves me back and around with one hand until my back is against the wall right beside the doorframe. His forearm comes up to press against my throat, and he roughly fishes the phone out of my pocket. Before walking off, he says, “You’ll learn how to get along here. All the girls that come here eventually learn it pays to have a good attitude with Mr. Vincent.”
Lila gapes at him and then starts crying. She doesn’t get out much, and this is extremely distressing for her.
I’ve gotten over being shocked. Instead, I’m just pissed beyond belief at how the day is going. Also how naïve I’ve been. I should never have left the clubhouse without telling Patch about that text. Now we’ll never get out of here.
Another thought hits me. Roxy… Telling her I’d had enough and wanted to leave. Oh God. If it wasn’t bad enough that I’m going to rot in a cell, Patch is going to think I hate him. Feeling defeated, I walk over to my sister and put my arms around her. As my eyes glance around the room I suddenly realize why the door was painted red. It’s literally a fucking red room of pain. This is some kind of weird BDSM room, like you hear about in the media. It has oddly shaped furniture and all manner of things Lila and I shouldn’t be looking at hung on the walls, right beside naked wall art.
We make our way to a small sofa and sit down. The feeling that we might never make it out of this room alive occurs to me. But I don’t let myself dwell on it. Lila begins gasping for air, so I pull out her inhaler and encourage her to take a deep puff. When she’s calm, we just sit in the dimly lit room all alone.
I sweep the room with my eyes, looking for anything that might help us escape. There is a tiny camera in the corner with a red dot that blinks every couple of seconds. Of course, we’re being watched by these creepy assholes.
Lila speaks softly, “I’m sorry you got caught up in my mess.”
I move closer to her and take her hands in mine. “I didn’t,” I assure her. “We both got caught up in our stepfather’s mess. He did this because it’s me he wanted.”
She gives a slight nod of understanding before asking, “Why do you never use his name?”
Rolling my eyes, I tell her, “Have you ever seen those movies where you say the monster’s name, and he appears? It’s kind of like that.”
She glances nervously at the door. “How can you joke at a time like this? I’m dumb about sex, but even I know this is that creep’s sex dungeon. We’re locked in some rich dude’s torture chamber.”
“Yeah, I get that. We need to find a way out. You wouldn’t happen to have your phone on you, would you?”
“He took my phone the minute we left the care home and took the battery out.”
Leaning forward, I tell her, “Patch will come for us.” I don’t believe it. Though part of me hopes it’s true. That even if he thinks I’ve run off he still wants to rescue Lila.
She whispers back, “What if he doesn’t?”
“Then we’ll just have to save ourselves.”
Chapter 14
Patch
Beth’s been gone about twenty minutes. I saw her go to the restroom earlier. When I check, she’s not there. Thinking she might have gone to the bar for a drink to take the edge off or even the back patio to decompress, I’m alarmed to discover she’s nowhere to be found.
