Page 46 of A Love So Wrong
Chapter 13
"What the fuck is this?"
Walking barefoot out of the bedroom, Gideon left the towel around his neck as he walked towards the cart, eyeing it suspiciously. Sitting on the gold platter was the cryptic note, and next to it, two sets of familiar black boxes, along with a phone. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt, Gideon picked up one of the boxes and opened the lid confirming her suspicions. Two sets of black wireless earbuds.
"Maybe it's another hotel perk or something?" she offered shakily, but somehow, she knew it wasn't.
Flipping the towel from around the back of his neck, he threw it onto a nearby chair before plucking up the note. He turned it over in his hand, and Jade could see that there was writing on the other side. Looking up, Gideon gave her a withering look.
"Somehow, I doubt it," he murmured, showing her the note.
On the other side, there was one line of instructions.Put in the earbuds and turn on the TV.
Jade breathed, aware of the tightening in her stomach as Gideon quietly stared at the black boxes on the gold platter. She could tell he was thinking, analyzing his options. At least she wasn't the only one unnerved by this, she thought. Finally, after a few more seconds of tense silence, Gideon finally snatched up a box and flipped open the lid, and stuck both earbuds in his ear. Hesitantly, she followed suit. Seeing that her earbuds were in place, Gideon grabbed the TV's remote off the coffee table and picked it up, pointing it to the TV.
With a flicker, the black screen faded until it showed a familiar scene. Shot from an above angle, Jade watched in silent horror as the video of herself and Gideon played across the scene. On the screen, she was holding her pressure cooker with both arms, tight to her chest as she looked around nervously by a pool. Opening a patio door with success, Gideon grinned and waved her to follow. The sounds on the TV were low and barely audible, but she knew exactly what the recorded image of her was saying as Gideon ushered her inside.
Taking a step back, Jade felt suddenly lightheaded. Glancing up to Gideon, who stood a few paces in front of her, she could see that he hadn't budged. The taut lines of his shoulders and arms told her enough, though. Breathing faster, she began to turn and head towards the nearest seat when the beep went off in her ear. Jade jumped in surprise. The phone on the platter glowed brightly with an unknown number. Gideon's expression was darker than she had ever seen it. Looking at the phone as it rang, they both listened to the calm single beeps in their ears. Coming to a decision, Gideon's jaw tightened, and his mouth thinned as he reached up and pressed the button on his earbud.
"Hello, Jade, hello Gideon," the familiar accented voice greeted them both. A mental picture of the blonde hotel manager flashed in Jade's mind, and she felt suddenly sick and foolish all at once. Staggering to the side, her hands found the back of the tall chair and clutched onto for support as he continued. "Let's get directly to the point. You two broke into my house and stole something of mine."
Gideon's amber eyes met hers, and she could see the eddies of emotions, from anger to remorse swirling around in their depths.
Neither one of them said anything for a long moment. Both processing the implications as the video of their time in the mansion played on the TV.
Stole something? She repeated mentally. They didn't steal anything. He had it all wrong, all they did was shower, sleep, and leave that next morning…Oh God.
Tears began to well up in her eyes, and Gideon frowned, pulled from his own thoughts by her tears, he took a step towards her. Holding up her hand, she shook her head, feeling a wave of nausea churn in her stomach as her hands went cold and clammy.
"I'm sorry," she choked out a whisper, staring back at Gideon's confused and worried expression. "I took some granola bars," she confessed. That morning when they were leaving, she spotted the bars through the open pantry door and slipped two into her bag, thinking no one would notice. Unable to look at his face, she turned around and addressed the voice directly. "Please, I'll pay you back I—"
The man's laugh cut her off. "I'm not talking about that. I could care less about that. You're welcome to the bars."
"Then what are you talking about?" Gideon shot back, his voice low and dark.
"Let me refresh your memory," the clipped accented voice said coolly.
The video on the screen began to fast forward their recorded selves moving swiftly out of the frame until after a few moments of nothing, Gideon's image reappeared in the living room and walking through the kitchen. The scene changed to another room, this time a narrow closet type room filled with monitors. The Gideon on camera was looking at the screens, his lips curled in disgust before reaching for the control box, and removing what Jade could only assume were hard drives. The video paused on the scene of Gideon pocketing the hard-drives.
Looking away from the TV, Gideon began to pace back and forth, running his hands over his face and clasping them behind his head as he paced.
"I was curious about you two," the voice continued in her ear. "I wanted to know who had the balls enough to break intomyhome. Surely, someone who was ready to take a bullet to the head. Surely, someone who was ready to go to fucking war. But to my surprise, I found a pair of children simply sleeping in my bed, like some sort of fairytale," he laughed all the while Jade lowered herself to the nearest seat. She was shaking, and she felt as if any minute her fear would make her pass out. "So, I had you both brought here," the man said cheerfully, "and while you both ate candy and played around my hotel," he said mockingly. "I looked you up. Really Gideon," his tone full of admonishment. "You should have asked your sister to look at my security system first. I'm sure Stardust Cove's president of the engineering club could have told you with one glance taking the hard-drives was unnecessary."
Jade made a little noise in the back of her throat, and Gideon walked over to her and kneeled before her. Silently, he took her hand and looked up at her. Anger and worry stared back at her, and she knew he could see the terrified fear on her face.
"And now Mr. Lattimore," the man continued. "You’re about to learn exactly what "sick shit" as you call it, I'm into."
Gideon flinched at that and stood up abruptly. "Look, just take your Goddamn hard-drives and let us—"
"No," the voice was unmerciful. "And interrupt me again, and I'll make sure this video gets to the right people, and you can explain yourself before a judge as to why you decided to break into my home and steal my things."
Jade felt her blood run cold.
"Now, as I was saying," the man continued. "I found you two rather odd. Please clarify it for me Jade, are you siblings?"
It took her a few seconds to register he was talking to her, and she nodded, sniffing. "Y-yes, sir."
The video on the TV changed until it showed the bedroom. Jade could feel her pulse quicken, and the heat in her face rise as she watched the image of her and Gideon sleeping that night. One of her legs was kicked out to the side while one of her hands clutched the back of Gideon's neck, keeping him firmly in place on top of her as he slept against her chest.
