Page 24 of Crazed

She laughs, blurting out, "A duel?"

"Yep. I brought the squirt guns. But instead of filling mine with water, I filled it with wine."

"Wine!" she shrieks.

I can't help my grin from widening. "Yep."

"Why did you do that?"

I feign shock. "Wine is the color of blood. I was out to win."

"Okay. So, what happened? Did you win?" she asks.

"Of course I won. Little Danny's still a horrible shot. But our Cub Scout leader didn't appreciate us using his new office or the wine stains all over his new white carpet," I answer.

She gapes. "You didn't?"

"Oh, I did."

"Wow!"

I shrug. "I was young. Okay, now your turn. What's in the box?"

The atmosphere turns serious. She slowly opens the wooden lid and pulls out a man's ring. The gold is set with a very pure, deep-green emerald. A foreign letter, I think Russian, is on it. Plus, this is an emerald you would only get from that region.

I take it from her and hold it to the light. Based on my initial assessment, someone with lots of money had this ring made.

I hand it back to her. "Where did you get this?"

Her face flushes with embarrassment. She licks her lips. "I..." She scratches her neck, and the red marks from her nails match her cheeks. "After Ludis gave me to Leo, I strategized how I could run away. One night, Ludis came to visit. He and Leo..." She swallows hard and puts her hand on her stomach.

Rage fills me. I growl, "He and Leo did what?"

She holds her hands in the air. "Nothing happened, but they were talking about sharing me."

My stomach pitches. I fight through the urge to leave and find them both now. I will kill them someday. I have men looking for Ludis right now. Leo is easy to find, but once I know where Ludis is, I'm going to abduct him. Then I'll get Leo. They're going to listen to each other scream while I stretch out their last breaths. I keep my cool and prod, "Go on."

She puts the box on the mattress and gets on her knees, straddling me. I wrap my arms around her and stroke her shoulder with my thumb. Her body relaxes, and she confesses, "All I could think was that I had to get away. There's no way I could have taken them both at the same time. One was..." She takes a deep breath, focusing on the ceiling, then meets my eyes again. "Enough."

Bile creeps up my throat, and I struggle to swallow it. Too afraid of what I'll say or do, I tighten my hold around her.

"Anyway, I found some of Leo's sleeping pills in the medicine cabinet. When they weren't looking, I mixed them into their drinks. I wasn't even thinking about taking the ring, but Ludis had put it on the desk. Leo told him he had to pay for the privilege to..."

I grit my teeth, seething. "To take you with Leo?"

She scrunches her face and nods. "Something in me snapped. I-I thought I could escape and sell it. But...but I couldn't. They were always watching."

It takes me a few moments before I can speak.

She misinterprets my silence and blurts out, "I promise I'm not a thief!"

I slide my hands over her cheeks. "Of course you aren't. I understand what you did. Now, tell me why you're taking it to a jeweler."

More nerves cross her features. Her voice breaks as she answers, "I need him to take the pieces apart so I can sell them. I-I shouldn't keep this here. It's not safe."

I can't disagree with her. Having anything of Ludis's is dangerous. I ask, "Didn't Leo ask where the ring was?"

I shake my head. "It never came up. They were both super drunk when Ludis put the ring down."

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