Page 28 of Beneath the Scars

During my rant, Jayne gets up from her stool and grabs me a large wine glass. I continue to tell my story as I watch her open the bottle with graceful movements. It looks like a fancy, expensive bottle, and I want to protest as she pours me a generous helping, but I can do with the spoils right now, so I shut up and let her do it.

She sits back down, urging me to sip at the wine as my story unfolds.

"Hell of an afternoon you've had there, babe. Fucking hell." She's playing with the bottle opener, twisting the corkscrew in and out in slow, rhythmic movements. "You're welcome to stay here. I'll keep you safe from the big bad serial killer and the serial killer's son."

"No!" I cry out in panic as a thought strikes me. "I can't have that. The creepy, fucked up stalker might just be dangerous enough to hurt you too. I just need some time to clear my head to figure out my next move."

And maybe close my eyes just for a bit. Suddenly, getting a bit of shut-eye sounds exactly like what I want right now.

"Don't worry about a thing, babe," Jayne says as she stands up, using my hand to get me to follow her example. Her arm wraps around my waist as she helps me walk to the couch. "I've got you. You'll just take a little nap, and then after that, everything will be perfect. Exactly the way it should be."

Her words creep me out, but as much as I want to fight against them and her, I have no energy to do it.

With a sense of impending doom, I let her lay me on the couch before she carefully tucks a throw around me.

"Sleep, little Lily. I'll watch over you."

***

My mouth feels like cotton, and the headache pounding away behind my eyes makes it hard to open them. I'm definitely in an unfamiliar bed, though.

My heart rate spikes when I try to bring my hands to rub at the sand in my eyes. My fucking arms are tied. An experimental tug of my feet proves they are at least able to move. Carefully, I blink my eyes open, trying to bring the room into focus.

It's a plain, stark white bedroom with minimal furniture and nothing else to indicate where I am. Last night is a blur, but as I take in my surroundings, I try to piece together the sequence of events from yesterday.

Byron and Jones showing up at the morgue. Karl creeping me the fuck out. Jayne... did I see Jayne? I know I was going there, but maybe Karl caught up with me before I got there?

I test the restraints—carefully coiled ropes—and find them pretty damn tight. Not so much that my circulation is cut off, but there's no give in them. The bed I'm lying on is a large one, easily a king-sized one, so I can't even see myself sneaking off the side and reaching something with my feet.

It's probably time to get out of here, Lily.

While scouring the room for anything that might help me, I notice the door handle moving when a quiet creak alerts me.

Gearing up to face Karl and whatever the heck he has planned for me, nothing shocks me more than the face peeking past the door.

"Jayne!" I whisper-shout her name. Did she see Karl grab me? Is she here to break me out? "What are you doing here?" I hiss at her, saying silent prayers that my scary stalker doesn't happen upon us. "You should have called the cops!"

Her brows furrow as she takes in my words before straightening up and slowly walking to the bed. "Why on earth would I call the cops, my luscious Lillian? They would interrupt our quiet time together. I've waited months for it."

I can't make sense of her words. How could I?

I stare at her unblinkingly, trying to figure out where the heck I'd gone so wrong. None of our interactions were anything other than friendly. Dammit! She was sweet and supportive.

"I can see you're figuring things out now, and I must admit, I'm sorry that things happened this way. But when you showed up on my doorstep last night, running fromKarl,I had to take advantage."

Her face is a careful mask, giving nothing away. As she talks, she walks around the bed and takes a seat on the end of the bed, grabbing hold of my foot. When I try to shake it off, she tightens her grip, almost to the point of hurting me. Her message is clear. Hold still.

"I've been waiting months for this, Lillian. It took at least half of that time to get you to even pay attention to me in the damn cafeteria. Then, Mister Fancy Suit shows up and steals all of your focus. Now it's my turn. And you'll give me what I'm due. Do you understand me?" Her words are scary, but the tone she uses to deliver her threat is the same friendly one she's been showing me the past few weeks.

Her grip tightens around my ankle again, and I rush to answer her. "Yes, I understand. I just don't know what is going on."

Her head is thrown back as she roars with laughter. "Isn't it obvious? You're mine. And the time has come for me to claim you. You can pretend to be as reluctant as you want, but I know you, Lillian. I know you and your history better than anyone, and we were made for each other."

She pats my foot before pushing up off the bed. "Now, you're probably bursting, so let's get you up and into the bathroom so you can use the facilities and get cleaned up."

Hope rears its head at the mention of her getting me up from the bed. Just maybe I can get away from her. I have to be careful to control my expression so she can't tell I'm looking for an escape route.

Jayne bends over me, reaching across to undo the binding, and helps pull me up to get off the bed. I still haven't spotted anything in the room that can help me get away, but there may be a window in the bathroom I can get a signal out of or a weapon of some sort.

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