Page 62 of Caged

“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s yours. You’re the one who overreacted and blew our cover,” I spat at her.

“Don’t you dare blame me,” she yelled. “That wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t kissed me without warning.”

“Well, forgive me for trying to make sure our cover didn’t get blown.”

From what Roman said, it was luck—good for him, but bad for us—that he’d ID’d us on the video feed after Adammentioned my interest in gambling. Neither of us was at fault, but we blamed each other anyway.

It’s easier to be angry than afraid.

“You can blame me all you want, but it won’t help us get out of this mess.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing?” I huffed out.

“Holding up the wall,” she said, taking a step forward.

I pushed myself off said wall and took one step forward.

“You’re wrong. I was thinking of ways to break out while conserving my energy.”

“What do you think I’m doing?”

“Wasting your energy by pacing. We could be here a while and the strobes will give you a headache if you don’t give your eyes a break.”

My helpful advice came out sounding like a reprimand, but I didn’t care as long as she listened.

We’ll need every ounce of energy we have to get through this.

Chapter 25

Cate

He was right, of course. And while I didn’t appreciate his snarky attitude, something in his resigned tone hinted at knowledge from experience.

We could be here a while and conserving energy was a good idea. I leaned against the side wall, keeping my distance from Jaden, and slid down to a seated position. The cold from the cement seeped through my jeans in no time.

I closed my eyes and prayed for courage. Roman wanted revenge, which meant he’d make this as unpleasant as possible.

Choosing not to continue the argument, I said. “There’s no way we can break out. We’ll have to find a clever solution.”

“Obviously.”

I could hear him rolling his eyes. I took a deep breath in and held it, steadying my nerves and calming my irritation. We’d never get out of this if we couldn’t work together.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you didn’t know.”

“Thank you.”

I opened my eyes, the strobe making me regret it, when Jaden landed on the floor with a thud, stretching his long legs out in front of him.

“So, any ideas?” he asked.

“Not yet.” We hadn’t even been here an hour. “You see any cameras?”

“No, but it’s safe to assume they’re watching,” Jaden said. “And listening.”

Which would make it hard for us to plan. I spoke fluent Spanish, and passable Arabic, but didn’t know if Jaden spoke any other languages. Besides, they’d be easy enough to translate. Speaking in code might work, but we didn’t have one and creating one on the fly would create confusion.

I nodded, which was stupid; his eyes were probably closed. “It’s safe to assume so.”

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