That laugh.
Chills run up my arms and my spine straightens.
I swore I wouldn’t forget that laugh. And hearing it again, in this house, frays my final nerve.
When I was at my most scared…that laugh.
I try to stand. I want to leave.
But my whole body is shaking. Shivers wracking my muscles making them useless. Coldness that wasn’t there before seeping into the center of my being.
The sound of footsteps echo down the hall, and I drag my gaze up to watch the door.
Is King bringing that man here? To me?
But then the footsteps fade and time passes.
Minutes?
Where are they?
What if King sends that man in here alone?
I feel trails of warmth on my cheeks.
My hands lift to wipe at my cheeks but my hands are shaking.
Why is it so cold?
I glance to the black monitors, willing this all to be a nightmare, but then the footsteps are there, and I look back just as King appears in the doorway.
He’s dressed now. In charcoal gray pants and a white button up shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows. His hair is still mussed, only serving to make him look more attractive. Like the Devil, swathed in a mirage of civility.
I had taken a few peeks at him while he walked me to the office, tempted to thank him again for saving me from my fall, but the sight of his muscular body in nothing but shiny boxers was too much for my mind to process. And looking at him like this, knowing what’s underneath those clothes…it makes me loathe his parents for giving him his attractive genes. No one this evil should be this good looking.
And then a second man walks into the office behind King. And I know. I just know, it’s N. The man from the phone who thought it was so hilarious when I screamed for help.
His expression is unreadable. Like coming face to face with kidnapped women is an everyday thing. And I know I was right to be afraid of him.
“Savannah?” King’s sounds concerned.
But that can’t be true.
I don’t look away from the other man. I can’t. Because I hate him. I hate him so much.
“Shit,” King mutters, then he turns and walks back out the door. Leaving me alone with the man in black.
