Page 76 of The Hitch
Forcing myself to open my eyes, I peer down and see that I'm bound to a metal bed frame. It's bolted into the concrete floor. No. No, no, no, no. Not like this. It can't be like this. I close my eyes and whimper quietly, trying to will away what I saw. When I open my eyes again, I'll be in the luxury resort. There will be massage therapists smiling brightly, ready to melt away my stress with their magic hands.
"Shush, Helena." A familiar voice tries to comfort me, but I can't quite place who it is. "You're okay. You're safe."
"No," I squeak out. Reopening my eyes, my whole body shakes violently as the primal fear takes hold. "No, I can't be here—I can't, you can't do this, you can't, please!"
"You poor thing," the voice whispers. "You've been through so much. Why don't you let Hannah take care of you?"
Hannah? Who the hell is Hannah?
"We're going to be the best of friends, Helly." A woman's voice joins the other. I don't recognize it.
Lolling my head to the side, I look up in the direction of the voices. A brunette woman smiles widely at me. She's dressed in scrubs, with her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Her blue eyes are ringed with red, like she was crying recently. But that doesn't match her chipper tone. The juxtaposition unsettles me to my core.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Hannah, silly!" She laughs. "Welcome to Mexico."
What? Why am I in Mexico? What happened to the fancy, rich-people rehab?
As my vision focuses, I peer around the room. The metal bed frame, the chains, and a small window come into view. Lush greenery crowds the structure on the outside. Birds sing and frogs trill. It would be serene, but I'm fucking trapped.
Again.
Hannah's head blocks out the light from the single bulb hanging from the ceiling. "You're going to be okay, Helly. We're going to be such good friends. Isn't that right, Roman?"
Roman?
My head whips over to the other person standing at the foot of the bed, and my heart sinks. Roman, my boss, my friend from the military… the man who got me my job. He smirks with icy malice and nods to the brunette woman.
"Take good care of her, sis. She's important."
"Oh, I will." She pats him on the arm. "Now, why don't you get back to your friend? He's likely losing his mind, what with his wife's troubles and all."
"Yes, perfect timing for me to leave." He turns back to me. "Be good, Helena. I don't want to hear that you've been difficult."
My heart sinks into my gut, and terror floods my veins. Oh god, no. No, no, no.
No.
Thank you!
Oh my god, this was simultaneously the hardest and easiest book to write. I'm so attached to my murderous queen and her absolute asshole of a husband.
Thank you to all the HEA girlies who listened to me rant and rave and scream about these characters. Thank you to my Insta and Threads friends who put up with my sporadic pop-ins whenever I dug myself out of the writing hole.
Thank you to Disturbed Valkyrie Designs, who supplied the gorgeous cover.
Thank you to Veronica, my beloved editor. You're a star and an icon.
Thank you to Maddi and Milly, my beta readers. You're both queens.
Thank you to my husband for listening to me shriek about "packing the blorbos chock-full of trauma".
And thank YOU for reading. We're not done yet: The Hitch is followed by the satisfying conclusion, The Heir, which willrelease before the end of 2025. I've included the first two chapters here as a little teasy-tease. ;)
Love you, mean it.
xoxo,
