Page 100 of Concealed

Vegas is a six-hour drive, and it’s already after five pm. It’s possible Matt just arrived today and came straight for me, but now that I know he’s here, I believe he was watching me.

At least I’m not crazy.

“I’m not sure yet. Why? Do you want to tell your ‘friend’ where you are?”

I wish that I could, but now it’s my turn to protect Wyatt – he’s sacrificed enough for me. Besides, Matt already took my purse, which has my phone, money, and ID, so I have no means to escape or contact anyone.

If I survive, Matt will make sure I never have access to what I need to get away from him ever again. He’s either going to chain me up in the basement, or he’s going to kill me.

I don’t know which option sounds worse.

“It’s a long way, that’s all,” I whisper.

“I know it is. Sunnyville is a pretty place. I’ve enjoyed checking it out the last while.”

Ah-ha!

He was just waiting for a good time to make his move. But if he was watching me, then he knows that Wyatt isn’t just a friend or roommate. In between having sex, we went for walks and enjoyed the outdoor space, never able to keep our hands off each other for long.

All while Matt was close enough to watch and fuel his quiet rage.

“Did you miss me, Rebecca?” he asks.

My throat is so dry that I can’t speak. He’s waiting for a lie, and I can’t deliver it.

“You must have known I’d find you. I’ll always find you. We’re meant to be together, and you know it. No one else would deal with you for very long, not after they get to know what a conniving, manipulative bitch you are. You’re lucky to have me. You should be grateful.”

He rests his hand on my knee and my skin crawls, shivers of disgust rolling through me. I can’t decide which thing to dread more – when he inevitably hits me or when he rapes me.

After being with Wyatt in every possible way, the thought of Matt touching me intimately has bile rising in my throat.

I can’t let it happen.

I’d rather he kill me than have to live through more sexual assaults.

But I need to try and bring his guard down until I have a halfway decent plan, not get it raised even higher. Matt loves playing cat and mouse. I have time. There’s no way he’ll kill me tonight – that wouldn’t be enough fun for him, or long enough to let my terror grow.

“I did miss you,” I croak. “But I needed some time and space. You promised to stop hitting me, and you didn’t stop. You got worse.”

“I will stop, but you also need to stop being so stupid. If you would just do the right things, then I wouldn’t have to constantly correct you. It would be easier for both of us.”

“That’s true,” I say, the words thick in my throat. “I’m sorry.”

I can’t count the number of times that I’ve apologized to Matt for doing absolutely nothing. But it’s what he expects to hear, and if he doesn’t get exactly what he wants at the right time and in the right way – well, that’s how I ended up with so many bruises.

If we stop on the way to Vegas, Wyatt won’t know where to send help. That is, if he’s going to help me rather than take me at my word that I wanted to go.

I don’t want him to risk everything and come for me himself. But I wouldn’t mind if the Vegas PD showed up and caught Matt in the act so there was no question about who the lying monster in our dynamic is.

Maybe Wyatt assumes I’m just another dumb girl who is in love with my abuser and won’t bother sending anyone to rescue me.

But he knows me better by now.

At least, I hope he does.

Somehow, I need to get Matt to drive the whole way to Vegas tonight. I can’t be trapped in some random hotel room in the middle of nowhere with him. Wyatt won’t know where to send the cops, and I have to believe that’s his intention.

It will build the case and the paper trail he keeps telling me I need if there’s indisputable proof.

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