Page 79 of Reckless Dynasty (Knight's Ridge Empire 9)

My heart races and my head spins as I try to make out anything of my surroundings.

“Mum?” I whisper as panic begins to set in.

“Yeah, Jojo. I’m here.”

Relief floods me and I push to sit. A move I quickly regret when the contents of my stomach decide they want to make a reappearance.

Drawing in a deep breath through my nose, I close my eyes once more and will my stomach to settle. The smell is already bad enough—the last thing I need to do is puke.

When I think I’ve got things a little more under control, I finally sit upright and look around praying that I might be able to make out something, anything to give us a clue as to where we are.

“Mum?” I ask again in the hope that something louder than her breathing will lead me closer to her.

“Over here,” she says softly.

“Are you okay?” I ask, falling onto my hands and knees so I can attempt to search her out.

The floor is ice cold beneath my palms, and another shiver races down my spine.

“I… um…” The hesitation in her voice makes my heart drop into my feet.

She’s hurt. I just wish I could see her and know how bad.

My own face aches, but I refuse to feel sorry for myself because the man my father really is has revealed himself to us. What I really need to do is figure out where the hell we are and a way out.

I need to somehow get to Toby, to let him, or any of them know where we are. They’ll be here in a heartbeat. I know they will.

Jonas doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He cares. He loves me. I know he does. And I can’t wait for him to be proved wrong.

Hate for the man I always used to look up to burns through my veins. The memory of the way Mum submitted to him, the way he touched her.

My stomach rolls once more as I pray that earlier was the first time he’s ever been that rough with her.

“What’s wrong, Mum? Did he hurt you?”

“I’ll be fine, baby. You don’t need to worry about me.” The tremor in her voice tells me otherwise.

I breathe a sigh of relief when my fingers brush some fabric before I find her thigh.

Her gasp of shock pierces the air.

“It’s okay, it’s just me,” I assure her.

In only seconds, we’re in each other’s arms.

Tears cascade down my cheeks as I try to keep myself together. Falling apart right now like Mum isn’t going to get us anywhere.

“It’s going to be okay. He’ll come for us. He’ll get us,” I promise her, praying that my faith in Toby is worth it. If Jonas is right, if this thing between us isn’t real, it’ll break me.

I’ve believed his apologies. I’ve embraced his darkness, his regrets, and I’ve taken his words as the truth, even after seeing what he’s capable of. Have I actually learned nothing? Am I as naïve as I’ve ever been?

“You knew he was alive, didn’t you?” Mum asks me, and despite it being so dark in here that I can’t so much as make out a single shape in front of me, I can see the expression on her face as clear as day in my mind.

“Yes. The night I found out the truth, I discovered he was still alive, that it was all a cover-up.”

“And you didn’t tell me.” Pain laces her voice, and I wish I could see into her eyes to give me some kind of clue as to why. Is she glad he’s still alive? Or is it just because I lied? Surely it can’t be the former, after the way he was with her earlier?

I find her hand, squeezing it in both of mine as the pounding in my head slowly gets worse.