Page 62 of Chasing Redemption

How long had I been out?That answer would determine how I got us out of this mess.

Choked, ragged gasps caught my attention. It took a moment of searching the darkness to find Sophia a few feet away, her hands covering her face and shoulders shaking. Her head hung down, hair fanning around her face, chest moving up and down.

She wasn’t tied down, yet she stayed in her chair. She was too afraid to move, and those assholes knew it.

“Are you okay?” I asked and her head flew up, eyes wide. Tears dripped down her chin.

“Me?” she croaked.

“Yeah. Did they hurt you?” I asked, keeping my voice low but calm. I had to take this conversation quickly but delicately.

“Steven, he uh, he hit me. But other than that, I’m okay.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. Her arms wrapped around herself, trying to keep her tremors at bay, and she hiccupped. I leaned toward her, spotting the slight redness on her cheek.

I was going to kill that fucker. But if I was going to get us out of there safely, I needed her to be calm. To trust me. Which meant I had to stop her crying.

“I need you to take a deep breath for me, then let it out. Like this.” I demonstrated what I wanted her to do, and after the first time, she followed my lead. Her hiccups slowed, then came to a stop.

“Okay. You don’t need to tell me what happened.” I had a feeling that her talking about it would set off a new wave of tears, so I went a different route. “Do you want to be here?” In any other case, I would’ve assumed she didn’t. But this wasn’t an ordinary case. The man had abused her, both mentally and physically, for years. That kind of trauma didn’t go away overnight. For some, it never went away. But if she was falling back into making excuses and protecting Steven Pullbar, then I had to know.

I could force her, but her kicking and screaming wouldn’t do either of us any favors.

“No.” Her voice was louder, stronger. Full of piss and vinegar that told me she was hell-bent on not being a victim anymore. I could get behind an angry woman. Could use that anger to get her to focus. “I called him to tell him to leave me alone. To go away. That we were done, and he’d never see me again. It was stupid. I shouldn’t have done it.” Her voice trembled.

“Bet telling him off felt nice.”

“So good,” she whispered. She’d made a mistake, but it took courage to call the one person who’d hurt her above all others and tell him off. I couldn’t be mad about it.

“I’m going to get us out of here.” I pulled at the rope that tied my hands together. They didn’t budge. I traced them again, shoving fingers into holes and pulling. It wasn’t a difficult knot to unravel, mostly because it was poorly done. I just needed time to do it. Time I wasn’t sure we had. “No matter what, when I tell you to run, you run. Don’t look back. I know it’s hard, but whatever happens, you’re going to be okay.” I winced as twine from the rope embedded under my nails. I opened my mouth, but a door opened with an ear-piercing squeak that made me wince.

I failed to note that sound earlier when they opened the door. Like I failed to consider that Reaper was right, and I was walking into a trap. As much as I hated being wrong, him being right made it so much worse.

Three men walked in through the side door, one after the other, all wearing grim expressions.

Good, we could all be annoyed together.

Steven made a beeline for Sophia. It took so much control to not lunge in front of her, protect her. Not that I’d be able to do much since my hands were still bound.

A second finger joined the first, giving me more strength to pull the knot apart.Almost there.

Lyle and Chad stopped a few feet away from me.

“Lyle, we meet again. Can’t say I ever wanted that to happen. How did that early budget meeting go with the board?” I cocked my head to the side and gave him my best mocking smile. Did I fabricate meetings on his schedule, cause issues with board members, and generally make his life unbearable because he showed up in mine? Yeah, I was petty like that.

Lyle sneered at me. “I took care of it like I always do. They were understanding given the situation with my missing family.” He stepped to me, bending down so his face was inches away from mine. “Where is my wife?”

Chad crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes. Steven paid me no attention, his entire focus on Sophia. She visibly shrunk under his stare, cowering in her chair. Steven gave a small smirk, pleased at the effect he still had on her.

My original plan to stay calm until the team arrived was becoming increasingly harder to stick to the longer Steven hovered over Sophia, visibly enjoying the way her body shook. He wouldn’t make it out alive. I’d make sure of that.

I leaned back in my chair, giving the impression that I was relaxed, and waited until all the saliva and mucus pooled in my mouth, then spit in Lyle’s face. He reared back in disgust as he wailed and cursed, wiping my loogie from his face.

The small things in life provide so much joy.

I turned, giving Steven my attention. “Does hovering over her like that make you feel like a man? Does it make up for your small dick?” I pursed my lips. “Or does it help you feel better about being a two-pump chump?”

Steven’s face went bright red. He gripped the chair on either side of Sophia and screamed in her face, “What the fuck lies have you been telling them?”

Sophia shook, knuckles white from how hard she was holding onto the sides of her chair. She kept her face down, refusing to meet his eyes, using her hair as a shield between them.

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