Page 34 of Relentless

There’s no sign of anyone either behind me or on the ground floor, so with my heart in my throat, I continue.

I’m aware that I’m probably as likely to be able to break into the basement as I am to escape out the front door of this place. But I’m still willing to try.

I glance at the door that would lead me back to the world outside these walls, but the thought of going out there fills me with more apprehension than returning to the basement.

I park that thought, stuffing it down with everything else I don’t want to think about as I search for the hidden door that will lead me to my husband.

9

JD

The second the first creak fills the air, I’m on my feet, my bottle of whiskey coming with me.

Reid told me to go to bed and sleep, and I made it look like I was following his orders by disappearing into my room. But the second I heard him shut himself in the guest room, I made my escape. The need to return to Alana’s room and try and dig myself out of the massive hole I’ve put myself in was too tempting. Reid is the bad guy now. He’s the one who shot her husband and locked him up in the basement. Surely my crimes are looking inconsequential compared to his. Right?

But I refrained. I figured she probably needed some time to get over the shock. That or she needed to believe she wasn’t being monitored.

I might still have a lot to learn about Alana Murray, but her love for her husband is more than obvious, despite how much it might hurt.

I want her; I’ve made no secret of that fact. Looking back, I probably should have caught myself sooner to protect myself. But I was powerless. I’ve only ever felt like that once in my life. And I know all too well how that ended. I’ve been suffering the consequences ever since.

I should have been smarter. I should have seen it coming. I should have known that it would only end in pain, just like the last time.

But she wrapped me around her little finger and lured me in like a lamb to slaughter.

I was weak.

Pathetic.

Drawn in by her tempting smile, sinful curves, and addictive pussy.

I shake my head as I reach for my bottle of whiskey and silently move toward the door that leads to where I know she’s heading.

When I first came down, the under-cupboard lights in the kitchen and a lamp in the hallway were on. The first thing I did was turn them all off. I needed the darkness. Craved the fucking nothingness of the dead of night, and am I glad I did.

The shadow of her body moves down the final few steps before she slowly makes her way down the hallway. It’s instantly apparent she doesn’t know the house. Navigating around it in the dark is a challenge long before she collides with a dresser and shrieks in shock as I assume she stubs her toe on the solid walnut.

A smirk pulls at my lips as she frantically looks around, waiting for someone to jump out of the shadows to catch her.

I’ve no idea where Reid is. I find it hard to believe that he closed the guest bedroom door and forgot all about the blonde bombshell residing in his bedroom, rolling around in his bed, or the reason for the tears he saw cascading down her cheeks not so long ago.

Fuck. I hated seeing that.

There should be only one reason why my little dove has tears in her eyes, and it’s not because one of us douchebags has hurt her.

Well… not unless she’s begged for it.

I have little choice but to step out into the hallway when she turns the corner in search of the almost invisible door. If you know the door is there, it’s easy to find. But if you don’t then you’d have no reason to be suspicious that there’s a hidden route to the basement beneath our feet. But in the dark, unless you know exactly where it is, then you’d have no chance finding it, or the panel that allows only two of us access when it’s locked up tight like I know it is now.

She continues forward, her fingertips trailing over the wall and the beading that is designed to hide the secret door. Every now and then, she gives a little push. I can’t help but shake my head. Surely, she has more faith in Reid than that.

She has to know that we’d predict this move the second she discovered our new inmate.

When she thinks she’s found it, she fully turns to face the wall and pushes both hands against it.

I smother a laugh as I take a step forward, and then another.

Her magnetic pull is too much for me to ignore. It speaks to the broken, desperate parts of me that I try my best to fight every day. I know caving is going to hurt. But then I guess every junkie knows their next hit might be their last. Doesn’t fucking stop them from shooting that shit straight into their veins.

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