Page 50 of After Our Kiss

- Chapter Seventeen -

Georgia Mary King

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The photo was of a young woman. Thin-boned, tangled reddish hair showed even in the green tint of the fuzzy digital picture. She was tied to a chair. Her face tilted upwards, mouth half open. I'd made that same expression many times; agony.

“Who is this?” I asked, going cold with unease.

“That's Emily. My sister.”

I jerked my head up to stare at him. “I saw her in a photo when you were pulling me out of your house. She looked so much like me,” I mumbled. “But now...”

“You don't look similar anymore, no.” He ran his gaze down my body, both of usseeinghow he appreciated my soft curves.

Emily was thin, that was true, but the hollows in her cheeks came from something insidious. A picture could say a thousand words, but I hoped she'd be able to tell someone—anyone—more on her own. “Who did this to her?”

He took the phone back, snapping it shut. “My father.”

“What? How could he do this to his own family?”

“You met him, Georgia. You know he only cares about getting his way.”

I held my temples, trying to absorb all of this information. “You said before that he didn't know where she was, that after your mom died, she vanished.”

“Somehow he found her. And now he's hidden her, using her against me. Emily is the one thing I cared deeply about in this world... besides you.” He flinched. Then his stare softened. “He thought if he threatened me with killing Emily, that I'd do as he said. And the bastard was right.”

“He's more messed up than I guessed. Is that why he's not here, is he with her?”

“No. He's still locked up in Mexico. Got put there when I was nineteen for drug trafficking.”

Shivering, I hugged myself. “Then he had someone kidnap Emily for him. Didtheysend you that photo?”

“It came from a burner phone, number doesn't exist any longer. That's how my dad communicates with Lonnie and me. He shoots messages when he can, but they all come from other sources who are working with him.”

My pulse was racing. “Why would anyone help that man?”

“Money. Connections. The usual.” His frown became a long, smooth line. “I don't know when he's getting free, just that it'll be a break out. His sentence would leave him in there to rot for another twenty years.”

I held my head, trying to grasp all of this. “Then... I'm supposed to stay here until he get's out?”

“Yes.”

I could be here for weeks or months.An idea struck me. “Are you sure that's your sister?”

Conway shifted side to side. “Even if it wasn't, how can I risk being wrong?”

I agreed with that. Family or stranger, this woman would die if Conway didn't do what his father wanted. “And Lonnie? What does he know about all of this?”

“Everything. I don't know how much he cares about Emily. I'm starting to suspect he's just in on this because he thinks it's hilarious. He always loved seeing me brought low.”

Turning away, I rubbed my arms up and down. “Then the deal is that you're supposed to break me down, turn me into the person Facile wants me to be. And if you don't, he'll kill her.”

“Yes. That's what he promised.”

My eyes shut heavily. I wondered if I could keep them closed forever.

“Georgia,” he started

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