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Clicking his tongue, he squats down in front of me, gripping my chin in his hand, forcing me to meet his gaze.
“I have to say, I’m terribly disappointed. Sure, I was angry… at first. But it dawned on me, you’d been going to the basement and reading her journals, so of course you were scared and confused little one. You see, Dina never quite understood her place. She always fought it.”
“W-what?”
“All that time after she was gone, I was training you my precious girl. Training you to live life by my side. She always fought it, but you were still so young, so…mallable. You’re not like the rest of the girls. You’re special. You were a carbon copy of her but without the preconceived notions of what we were. Don’t you see? I was preparing to make you a permanent fixture in my world. Now we can go back to where we started,” his thumb swipes across my bottom lip and a rogue tear falls down my face. I may have known his plans, but hearing them out loud makes my stomach churn violently.
“No,” I shake my head. I’ll kill myself before I let him take me.
“Yes,” he hisses as he places his hands on my knees and runs his fingertips up my thighs.
Pressing my eyes closed, I lift my head, and when I open them, I see Travis slipping through the front door. My heart jumps and I want to scream, but he senses my emotions and lifts his finger to his lips, shushing me from a distance, shaking his head slowly.
Riot slips through the door behind him, and drops down quietly, crawling over to the bedroom. My eyes dart to the side as Travis moves slowly into the kitchen area, crouching down behind the island. He rotates his hand, indicating for me to keep him going, so I do. Filled with renewed faith, I keep him talking. Knowing this time, Travis is here to save me.
“You were dead though. I killed you.”
“Oh doll face, you almost did. Next time you try to poison someone you should at least do your research on lethal doses and timeframes. I mean, really. I managed to get an alert to Grant and he had our medical team at the house, injecting me with the drugs needed to save me, before the toxins had a chance to do any lasting damage.
“B-but the Lakeview news.”
“Syndicate. You think we don’t have reach? Ownership? People in our pockets? Especially in a small town like Lakeview. Come on Spencer…”
Exhaling, I drop my shoulders.
“I don’t understand, why now? What is all this?”
“I told you, you’re special. But, you also took something that belonged to me Spencer. Something that belonged to all of us. I couldn’t just let that go. So we tried to track you, but you’d really succeeded in making yourself small, unknown. Kept your circle tight. Imagine my surprise though, when Grant got that automated message from Ryker Underwood,” he shakes his head and scoffs. “I always told Grant that getting into bed with those whack jobs Teddy Price and Ryker Underwood wasn’t a good idea, but all he saw was expansion. Like we needed Havok Hills. Anyway, I couldn’t just show up and take you, risking never getting the drive back. So I had a plan. But then you came right to me anyway, so what’s a man to do?”
“Travis will find you, he won’t let you do this.”
“Oh Spencer, I’m counting on that. Why else do you think I brought you here? That little shit thought he could threaten me all those years ago and I’d just, what, roll over? I let him think he had some kind of pull over me because Teddy assured me he was getting him out of the picture,” he pushes up to his feet and licks his lips. “I can’t wait for him to get here.”
Pulling a gun from his back pocket, he holds it up, admiring the piece.
“See, I’m going to fuck you while he watches,” he runs the cold metal down my cheek, trailing it down my neck and chest. “Then, I’m going to kill him, and let you watch him bleed out all over these beautiful vinyl floors.”
“I - I , no,” I whisper. My eyes dart over to Travis and this time Evan takes notice. Turning quickly he moves behind me, holding the gun to my temple.
“Come on out Price,” his voice echoes through the apartment.
“No, don’t!” I yell.
“Shut up before I gag you,” Evan hisses. “Toss your weapon too Price!”
Pressing my eyes closed, I say the words over and over in my head.
Don’t do it, don’t do it.
The gun clatters as it slides across the floor from behind the island, and Travis rises slowly to his feet with both hands up, stumbling as he stands. That’s when I notice the belt around his thigh and the blood all over his pants. His face is pale, and it’s clear he’s still losing color.
“Just get your hands off of her,” he barks.
Out of my peripheral, I notice Riot and he’s crouched behind the arm chair now, peeking his head slowly around the corner. He motions pushing back with his arms, and I think I understand what he’s telling me to do. At least I hope I do.
“Come on you piece of shit, you don’t need her. Be a fucking man!”
One eye on Riot, I watch as he mouths now, and it all happens in slow motion, but at the same time, it all happens so damn fast. Too fucking fast.