Page 28 of Unexpected Heroine

“What? No.” I drag my fingertips across my forehead roughly. “I don’t remember that. I really don’t, James. Do you think they made me text that while I was . . .”

My words trail off as acid rises in my throat.

“I doubt it, sweetness. I don’t think you could have done much of anything in the state you were in. I saw what you looked like when you left the club with them. Most likely, they sent the messages from your phone. One to me and a similar one to Freya.”

“You saw me? How did you see me?” More indignation threatens to overcome me, but I keep my emotions in check this time. “I must be missing something. If you saw me, why didn’t you stop them?”

Pain knifes through my skull. None of this makes sense. Maybe I’m not ready to decode everything.

James runs his palm down his face from forehead to chin and rolls his shoulders back. “You’re getting ahead of yourself, sugar bear. Let me explain.”

Unable to utter a response, all I can do is nod. I twist my hands under the blanket, wringing them together.

I wish there were a device that could be downloaded into my brain so I just knew everything that happened without having to piece it together. Between my ADHD, the exhaustion, and my overwhelming pain, it’s difficult to concentrate and make heads or tails out of all of this.

“I didn’t see you in person as it was happening. Of course I would have stopped them. They’d be dead by now.” He pauses, grimacing like he’s aching as much as I am. “Yesterday, Mia found video footage of you from the club. That’s what eventually led to us finding you.”

“I see.”

“On top of how you looked in the video, it was how you texted me right before you were taken. At the time, I thought it was because you were crying or upset. In hindsight, I bet you were beginning to feel the effects of the drugs.”

“How so?”

“You were using abbreviations that you normally don’t use. Misspellings or typos. And your words seemed jumbled. Chaotic. Do you remember any of that?”

Nope.

“All I remember is sending Freya and Vanessa home. There was a singing contest with a big cash prize, so I insisted on staying. Vanessa was so incredibly drunk. Freya had to get her out of there. Or at least that’s what we thought. She was faking, though. It was a setup.”

Eyes widening and jaw clenching, he interrupts me. “Last night, you muttered something about Vanessa. I thought you meant because she was drunk. Now you’re saying she was involved?”

“The men who took me on Friday took her too. A day or two later, she showed up at the house.”

“Was she at the house with you?”

“Yes. Didn’t you see her when you rescued me?”

“To be perfectly honest, all I could think about was you. Everyone else was immediately disregarded.”

“Well, she was there. She came in on Saturday or Sunday or maybe even Monday. I’m not sure. The days are jumbled together.”

“Did she admit to helping them?”

“She was very hostile, blaming me for her being there. We had a confrontation, and she finally confessed. Apparently, the creeps she was working with turned on her. When she went to get her money from them, they kidnapped her too.”

The veins along the sides of his neck bulge. “She did this to you for money?”

“And because she hates me for dating you.”

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I wish I could force them back in. His face blanches, turning stark white.

Shit.

He lurches to his feet and begins pacing. “Because of me? She did it because of me?”

My eyes follow his track around the living room as I try to figure out how to fix what I just did.

And then I realize it will only get worse when I tell him some of the things Viktor told me.

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