Page 2 of Love Triggered

But to get to her, I need to get out of here.

My arms and legs are bound to this chair with rope, which is slowly starting to cut off my circulation. My wrists look like they’ve been hacked by a butcher knife from how deep the restraints are digging into them.

Looking around, the dark shadows of the room make it hard to see if there’s anything to use to cut myself free. Even if there was something, I’m not sure I’d have enough energy to make it that far.

Use your goddamn brain, Greyson.All those years of being chained to trees and beaten have prepared me for the worst of the worst. This is nothing compared to the torture my father used to put me through.

Groaning to myself, I realize my best option is to try to tip the old chair over. Maybe I can either cause it to break from the fall or have enough force behind it to rip the zip ties free. Shifting my weight in the chair from side to side, I gain momentum. The more I move, the more dizziness exhausts me, making me feel nauseous. The legs creak as they begin to rise off the ground. Each time I force myself back in the opposite direction, the chair becomes more unsteady. One more shift and I should be able knock this flimsy wooden chair over.Three. Two. One.I exhale a loud breath as I throw myself sideways one last time.

The speed at which the chair tips over prevents me from being able to protect myself. The quick drop makes my stomach lodge into my throat. As my shoulder slams into the hard floor, my head bounces off of the solid surface like a basketball.

Fuck! That wasn’t my brightest idea.

My vision momentarily goes fuzzy, making me even more disoriented than I already was. Warmth spreads across my hairline as blood trickles down the side of my face. I’m sure all of the blood in this room probably looks like a scene from the movieCarrie.

As my sight returns, I can see that one of the arms of the chair is now cracked. I shift my wrists back and forth, trying to free them. With enough force, I’m able to splinter the wood and snap it, allowing me to twist one of my arms hard enough to free it.Finally.

It feels like I just got done running a marathon with how hard I’m breathing. My chest is heaving up and down, causing my lungs to burn, as my body starts to shake. Taking a moment to regain my composure, I lay my head down against the cold, hard ground. If I keep this up, I’m going to bleed out and die alone in this condemned house. Every part of my body is screaming to stop, to just give up, but I can’t. I have to keep going for Lainey.

Looking down at my leg, I realize just how bad the wound is—I need to get the bullet out quickly and get patched up, or it’s going to get infected. I can’t go to a hospital, though. They’ll ask questions and that’s the last thing I need right now.

They don’t need to know that I kidnapped my girlfriend, who I thought was her twin sister—the one I’m actually in love with—and then her three other boyfriends beat me up and shot me. I can just imagine how well that conversation would go. I’d probably be admitted to the psychiatric hospital with that story alone.

Good thing I’ve still got a doctor on my payroll. After my father would mutilate my body as his special form of punishment, I’d have to get patched up by Doctor Finley. He disapproved of my father’s actions, but he had a soft spot for me. I’d like to think the only reason he stuck around was to protect me, but I also know my father would’ve killed him if he ever tried to leave. Every time my father was in the room with us, the hesitancy and fear was etched across Finley’s face.

Lightheadedness consumes me more as I try to free my other hand and my legs. I’ve exerted myself way too much, but I need to get to Lainey. I need to keep searching for her, to get to her beforethem. The physical pain coursing through my body is nothing compared to the gaping hole in my chest from missing her.

Zep, Thiago, and Rian think they’re so clever and invincible, but if they were, I never would’ve been able to take Lya from them. Granted, I thought she was Lainey at the time, but I know better now. Lya is a fighter just like her sister, so I have no doubt she’ll continue searching for her.

I’ll be reunited with my love again, even if I have to die trying. She’s worth dying for. She’s the fire to my cold exterior, she’s the light to my darkness, she’s the only one who can squeeze my bleeding heart, making me beg her for more.

They won’t understand her like I do. Even if they get to her before me, there’s no way she can be happy with them. She has suffered so much trauma, trauma that I understand. Trauma that connects her and I, that bonds us for life. I’m the only one that can mend her and I’m the only one thatwill. Our time together might not have spanned years, but the depth of her pain that I recognized the first time I saw her connected us for an eternity. The depravity, anger, and sadness that filled me, I found in her too.

I’m coming for you, angel. We’ll be together again, but I’m doing it differently this time.

Six Months Later

When I woke up in that abandoned house, I promised vengeance for Lainey, that I would get her back before Lya did. It took me a couple weeks to recover from my injuries, though it probably would’ve been faster if I’d actually taken care of myself.

Instead of doing as I said, I’ve been slowly drinking myself into oblivion every day. The numbing sensation allows me to forget all the things I’ve fucked up over the last six months. At first, I didn’t know where to start looking. I followed Lya and the guys for months, but saw no signs of Lainey. If they had her, I’d know by now. They must not have had any luck with finding this Harvey Sutton guy.

It’s obvious that asshole, Brandon West, lied to me about knowing where Lainey was. He was selfish and wanted me for himself, so he led me down a rabbit hole to her twin fucking sister. He lied to me and I dumbly believed him, without checking what he said for myself.

Brandon was my lifeline to the dark web. Without him, I don’t have access. Even if I did, I wouldn’t have a clue about where to start. If Lya hasn’t found her already using her hacking skills, there’s no way I’d be able to. A simple Google search of Sutton brought up nothing. If this man exists, he definitely likes to keep his name out of the public eye, or he has someone doing that for him.

After a few months, my self-pity consumed me, and now all I do is go between my personal bar to my recliner every day. The biggest decision I make is whether I drown myself in vodka or scotch. Not only am I a disappointment to myself, but also to Lainey. If she saw me like this, she’d be disgusted and ashamed of how I’m allowing myself to live.

Alcohol, pain, and blood have become my crutch.

I’ve fucked around too much over the last six months; I need to get my ass back into gear with finding her.

I know I should get out of this house and look for her, but that will have to wait. I sink lower into my chair, hoping this glass of scotch will be the one to take me under.

Her beautiful hazeleyes stare back at me, pleading with me to save her. I want to save her more than anything in this world, but I’m only thirteen. I don’t know how I’m supposed to save this angel in front of me from the devil standing beside me, or from the one he’s turning me into. I wish I knew how.

She’s been here longer than we usually keep the girls, because she is so damn stubborn. She refuses to submit and give my father what he wants. She’s the strongest person I’ve ever known. She stands up to the man that I’m afraid of without an ounce of hesitation or fear. Her strength inspires me and makes me wish I could be the same way. She has physical beauty, but the power she holds inside of her makes her captivating.

“Greyson!” my father yells into my ear. I must’ve been distracted by Lainey and zoned out from what he was saying to me. “Listen to me, you little bastard! These females only have one purpose, and that’s to satisfy men. They’re here to serve and please the men we sell them to. They’re here with us to learn how to do that. Understand?”

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