Page 65 of Ruthless

Lucas mulled it over for a few moments, but then nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine. Have him meet us at your house. That’ll be easier, anyway.”

“Okay.” I picked up the phone and unlocked the screen.

“He’s the only contact in the phone.”

I nodded, hitting the contact button. There was one number saved and it had no name. I swallowed hard, my heart racing as I pressed it and put the phone to my ear…

And then I waited.

“We can meet him tomorrow at your house—at this time.” Lucas tapped his fingers on the table, and for the first time in, I think forever, my partner looked to be sweating bullets. It might have been funny under different circumstances, but this time, I was feeling the same.

But he didn’t answer.

I hung up, putting the phone back down on the table. “No answer.”

“Call him again,” Lucas instructed. “That’s the way things work. Call once, call twice, and call three times. We’ll stop after three. If he’s busy, that will signal him to call us back. If he’s ignoring us for whatever reason, he’s pretty much guaranteed to pick up on the third call.”

“That’s some weird shit,” I muttered, picking the phone back up and hitting the call button. I took a deep breath as it started to ring again, trying to practice in my head what I needed to say to him. I wasn’t sure if I could fake the meeting just being about us catching up… “I don’t think I can do this,” I said, sitting the phone down again when he didn’t answer for the second time.

“Yes, you can,” Lucas encouraged me, giving me a reassuring smile. “Youcando this.”

“I don’t want to lie to him.”

“So don’t.”

“You want me to tell him about it all?”

Lucas shook his head and then leveled with me. “I want you tell him how you feel, Rachel. Tell him the truth.”

I swallowed the lump growing in my throat, my eyes dropping to the phone sitting on the cherry-colored wood. “Okay. Okay, I’ll try.”

“This is it,” Lucas shifted in his seat, his voice breathy.

Nodding, I pressed the call button… And sure enough, two rings in, the line connected.

“Yeah?” His deep voice sent a wave of heartache through my body.

“Um,” I began, suddenly at a loss for words. “Hi.”

The look on Lucas’s face was suddenly nothing but pure amusement as my face went bright red, the silence on the other end of the line startling. But thankfully, it didn’t last long.

“Why are you calling me?” His voice sounded weary, like he suddenly didn’t trust my motives, and he had every fucking reason not to. Because…WouldI have called him if I had the chance to otherwise?

“I know that this is probably unexpected, but… Well…” my voice trailed off as I fought for the words that just weren’t coming.

Silence.

Lucas’s amusement faded to frustration, and he motioned for me to keep talking. “Come on,” he mouthed.

I took a deep breath. I hadalwaysbeen good at this shit. I never had trouble making up what I needed to on the spot to survive… But doing it withhimwas completely different.

“Why are you calling me, Rachel?” Trevor’s voice came out strained as he repeated his initial question.

“I thought that when I left—well, when I was released—that I would be able to move past what happened,” I blurted out, the floodgates finally breaking. “But I can’t.”

“So, get some therapy.” His voice was flat. “Calling your kidnapper is probably not the best coping mechanism.”

“I don’t… I don’t see you like that, and I’m not even talking aboutthat.I’m talking aboutus.I’m not over you, and it only gets worse as the time passes.”

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