The evening air is cool, with just enough of a breeze to make it comfortable. Tamrin’s practically bouncing beside me, talking a mile a minute about anything and everything. I try to keep up, but my thoughts keep wandering back to what she said earlier. Presley is joining us.
I could scream, I don't want to go through another conversation about her and Liam.
The sky is deepening into shades of purple and blue. The screen is already set up, and a few people are scattered around, claiming
The night is cool and the breeze is just enough to keep things comfortable. But I'm not. My mind’s racing. Presley’s arm is around mine, her head leaning against my shoulder but I would rather it was someone else. She’s comfortable, almost too comfortable, and I’m trying to play along.I hate this and I know Celeste is never forgiving me for this, In my defence I didn't know she would be here.On the other hand Presley is happy, probably thinking this
Liam looks at me. More like staring at me. I can see the look in his eyes. Whatever he's thinking is not good.I look away hoping he doesn't act out whatever he is thinking. When I look back in his direction, he's talking in Presley's ear and he looks like he's about to stand up."I think I'm gonna go," I hear myself say to Sadie and she looks at me shocked."You're leaving?"She says shocked. I nod and start gathering my stuff. I have to get out of here before he does something really stupid and embarrass us both.I see Liam get up from his spot out of the corner of my eye and y heart starts beating really...really fast.I scream. SIT THE FUCK DOWMN! In my head but he doesn't do it.I can feel my heart racing as I gather my things, trying not to make a scene. Sadie’s staring at me like I’ve lost my mind, but I can’t explain what’s going on in my head right now. I just need to get out of here be
When we reach my street, I can’t help but quicken my pace, eager to put this night behind me. The familiar sight of my house brings a sense of relief, like I’m finally close to escaping this tension that’s been building all evening.“Thank you for walking me home,” I say, my voice firm, hoping he’ll take the hint and leave me alone.But before I can getaway, I feel his hand wrap around my arm, and a shiver runs down my spine. My breath catches in my throat as I turn to look at him.We shouldn't be doing this.“What are you doing?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady as he gently pulls me toward him. My heart starts to race as I realize he’s not letting go.He doesn’t say anything at first, just starts walking in the direction of his house, and before I can stop myself, my legs begin to move, following him even though I don’t want to. My mind is screaming at me to resist, to turn around and
"Where are you going?" Liam asks when I start to climb the bed. I feel his hand grab my ankle and I almost moan at the feel of his touch. I stop moving and try to pull my ankle away but he doesn't let go. His grip on me is firm but he's not hurting me."I'm trying to go home." I say when I feel him hold on even tighter."Why are you so scared to spend a few minutes with me." He asks and I turn around and sit back down."Because, this is wrong. I shouldn't be here. You have a girlfriend, you're dangerous and you are too old to be spending a few minutes with me." I say and he groans in frustration."Celeste we've been through this." He says genuinely annoyed with me. "I don't have a girlfriend." He says and I roll my eyes at him. "Are you rolling your eyes at me?" He says grabbing my chin gently."It's an automatic respond your lies." I say looking at anything but his eyes."I'm not dangerous and I will never hurt y
"Do you want something to drink? Eat?" He asks after a long pause I shake my head no and he nods. "I need s a drink." He says gettin up from his chair. He walks to the end of the room and he opens a door I didn't even notice was there. I stare at the open door wondering why I don't just leave.He won't even notice until he comes back.A few moments later he walks back in with a beer in one hand a packet of chips in another. He hands me the chips and then he sits next to me."You comfortable?" He asks smiling at me."No" I say and he places his beer botle on the floor and he starts to take off my shoes. "I would ask you to stop but I know I would be sasting my energy." I say and he dhrugs He slips one shoe off and then kisses the top on my foot. I sigh in a mixture of pleasure and sheer panic. I don't understand why he's doing all these sweet and downright sexy things to me. I close my eyes for a second trying to calm myself. And then he does
"Do you ever listen to the things that come out of your mouth?" I say looking at him like the crazy and unfiltered..... he is. I don't know why he does this."Why do you say these things to me? Do you ever think how they will affect me?" I ask and he shrugs. I groan and grab his neck and pretend to ring it. I trully hate him right now. "One thing you should know about me is that I say what I think and feel." He says smiling at me like it's funny. I don't find him carming at all especially when he's trying to charm me. "I don't want to hear your thoughts, so I would appreciate it if you didn't say anything to me." I say and he ripz his fingers over his mouth. He closes his eyes and leans into my chest. I feel his breath on my boobs and I almost choke on my spit. "I don'tr think that's the answer either." I say and it's his turn to groan aoutloud. He sits back his chair. My hands drop onto the bed and I realize I was still holding his neck. Itr felt so natural that I didn't notice I wa
"I don't respond well to screaming." He says getting up."I'm going to give you a minute to calm down" and then he walks.I sit on the bed shocked. I don't know what to do with him. I don't know why he thinks I'll listen to him and just wait for him.I get up from the bed and head to the front door. I grab the handle and open the door."Where are you going?" He says behind me and it takes everything in me not to scream. I didn't hear him come back into the room."I'm going home." I say turning around to look at him. He has a can of Coke in one hand and a beer in the other hand."You promised me an hour and I still have 45 minutes left. So sit down... Please " He says his voice low but not threatening. "I promise to not say any more stupid shit." He says motioning for me to come back into the room. I walk back to him, take the can and sit on the chair he was sitting in. He sits on the bed.I take a few calming breaths and try to be freaked o
Celeste looks at me, her eyes narrowing as she weighs her options. I can tell she's torn between curiosity and fear. I try to keep my expression neutral, but inside, I'm bracing myself. She's going to ask something that will dig deep—something I might not even want to admit to myself.She takes a deep breath, her voice steady but low. "Have you ever killed someone you didn't have to?"Her question hits me like a punch to the gut. I knew this was coming, but hearing it out loud still feels like a slap. I can't afford to flinch, though, so I force myself to stay calm."Yes," I say, keeping my voice as even as possible. I see her tense up, her fingers gripping the Coke can tighter, but she doesn't say anything, just waits for me to continue. "Not every job is clean. Sometimes... things happen that shouldn't."She's quiet, but I can see the disgust and fear creeping into her expression. I swallow hard, knowing that I'm losing her even more with every wo
The sound of gunfire explodes through the night, deafening and relentless. A machine gun—no, multiple—rips through the air outside, drowning everything else out. I hear men shouting, screaming, and then the screaming turns into something else. Agony. Terror.I clamp my hands over my ears, pressing myself further into the corner of the closet, trying to disappear. My body shakes violently, my breath coming in shallow gasps as I rock back and forth. I squeeze my eyes shut and whisper a prayer under my breath, over and over."Please, God. Please, God. Please, God."The walls tremble with the force of the fight happening outside. Glass shatters somewhere. Heavy footsteps storm through the house. More gunshots. More yelling. I don’t kn
I wake up with a start, my heart thundering in my chest. My breath comes in ragged gasps, and for a moment, I can’t place where I am. I sit up quickly, expecting to see someone in the room with me—someone coming to hurt me, to take me again—but when my eyes adjust to the dim light, the room is empty.Just the silence.I look around, the weight of everything pressing down on me. This place—the house where Trevor has kept me locked up for weeks—has become a prison. It’s always quiet, too quiet. The only sounds are the distant hum of the outside world that I can’t reach, the creaks of the house settling, and my own restless thoughts.The darkness beyond the window is thick and consuming, the kind of darkness that swallows up the last remnants of hope. But tonight, something is different. Something feels off.I strain my ears, listening closely. There’s a faint sound, like the whisper of something moving through
The air is cold, but I barely feel it. My fingers flex at my sides, itching for the moment I get to wrap them around Trevor’s throat.A few meters away, the house stands in the darkness, barely lit by the moon. Celeste is in there. I can feel it, like some invisible tether between us. She’s so close I can almost smell her—vanilla and something soft, something warm.Nathan steps up beside me. I don’t have to look at him to know what he’s thinking. We’ve run through this plan a hundred times. We both breathe slowly, measured, in sync. If we let the rage take over now, we’ll lose. We need to do this right.Behind us, the rest of my men are waiting, silent shadows in the night. Five hundred of them. A small army, but that’s what it takes when yo
Nathan and I are staring at the screen, watching the dot move. Every second it inches closer to its destination, my pulse beats harder, my hands clench tighter. I should be in my car already, speeding toward her. I should be ending this.But I can’t rush this.One mistake, and Celeste might never make it out alive.I take a slow breath, forcing myself to think. Trevor’s still pissed about today—I saw it in his eyes, the way his mask slipped for just a second. He’s getting sloppy. That’s why Tamrin was able to slip one on him, why he hasn’t even realized she did. He thinks he still has control, but we’re the ones pulling the strings now."One more day," I say, more to myself than to Nathan.
My hands are trembling so hard I can barely hold the phone. My chest feels tight, like there isn’t enough air in the room, but I force myself to breathe. In and out. In and out. I can’t fall apart now. Not when I finally made a move.Sadie sits next to me, watching silently. She hasn’t asked a single question since I took her phone, but she doesn’t have to. I know she’s thinking them. I know she wants to yell at me, shake me, demand answers. But she doesn’t. Maybe she knows I don’t have the strength to explain right now.Nathan answers on the second ring. His voice is sharp, alert. “Who’s this?”“It’s Tamrin.” My voice barely comes out, but I swallow the lump in my throat and force myself to continue. “I hid my phone in Trevor’s car so you can track him. I’ll send you the details now.”Silence. Then a sharp breath on the other end. “You—” he starts, but I don’t give him a chance to question me. I end the call and immediately go to the tracking app on my phone, sending the location str
The drive back feels like it lasts forever, and every minute of it makes my stomach churn with dread. Trevor’s words hang in the air, thick and suffocating. He doesn’t stop talking, doesn’t stop reminding me of everything he’s capable of, and how easily he could ruin my life if I even think about crossing him. Every threat is sharp, like a blade cutting through my chest. He tells me he will kill me, kill my family, that no one would ever know what happened to Celeste or that I was involved.The fear grips me harder with each passing second. It feels like I’m suffocating in this car, trapped in this nightmare I can’t escape. I can’t say anything. I just nod, keep my eyes on the road, my breath shallow, praying he’ll just let me go. But it never comes. The torment doesn’t stop.Finally, when the car pulls up in front of my house, I feel my body go stiff. Trevor grabs my thigh, his fingers digging in deep, hard enough to bruise. The pain flares up immediately, sharp and relentless, and I
I’m sitting in Trevor’s car, my hands trembling so badly I can barely keep them on my lap. My head is pounding, each beat of my heart sending sharp pangs of pain through my chest. I don’t know what he’s going to do to me. I can barely look him in the eye, even though he’s sitting right next to me, his cold presence suffocating me in this small space.How did I end up here? I can’t even remember when it started to go so wrong. I thought he was different. I thought he was charming, charismatic, someone who could make me feel like I mattered. I let myself believe he cared. I even slept with him—let him do things to me that I’m ashamed of now. I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could somehow erase the last few months of my life.But I can’t. I’m trapped.I don’t know when I started to see the darkness in him, when it became clear that Trevor was a monster. I was too blind, too naïve to see
The car rolls to a stop in front of the abandoned building. The windows are boarded up, and the air around here smells stale, like no one’s been within a hundred miles for years. I park with precision, the crunch of gravel beneath the tires settling in my ears. Tamrin doesn’t say anything, but I can see her eyes darting around, her body stiffening with every passing second. She’s terrified, and it’s exactly what I want.I turn to look at her, my gaze dark and unrelenting. There’s a moment of silence, thick and suffocating, before I speak.“Tamrin,” I say, my voice low and commanding. “What happened when you came back?”She looks at me, trying to hide the fear behind her eyes, but I see through it. “What do you mean?” she says, trying to play dumb, but I can hear the tremor in her
I pull up to Tamrin’s place, the tires crunching softly as I stop in the driveway. My hands tighten on the steering wheel for a moment, the anger from my conversation with Liam still simmering beneath my skin. The asshole had the nerve to think he could intimidate me. It’s all a game to him, but he doesn't understand what I’m capable of.I pick up my phone, dialing Tamrin’s number. It rings a few times before she picks up.“Yeah?” Her voice is tentative, like she already knows something's wrong.“Come outside,” I tell her, making sure my voice is low and controlled.There’s a long pause on the other end, but I wait. I know she’ll come.