Page 114 of Keep Your Guard Up
“Whatcha got there, Chan… Are those—”
“Sunny’s shoes,” I interjected.
My heart sank, and I had no idea why. Something about this—the quiet, the shoes, the lack of people around—something was wrong.Within a few paces, I was at the door that read 1507. To make matters worse, it was slightly ajar. It was being held open with what looked to be some kind of baking dish.
My heart sunk even farther.
“Shit,” I mumbled before pushing the door open wide and letting myself in. “Sunny?” I called, racing through the spacious, luxurious apartment. “Sunny!” I called again.
And again.
And again.
I stopped when JJ and Dylan found me, telling me of all the areas they had checked. Turned out to be everywhere.
Sunny wasn’t here, so where the hell was she?
Chapter 63
Mari
Asharp pain twanged from one side of my head to the other as I opened my eyes. Stifling a groan, I groggily took in my surroundings. I shifted to lift a hand to my head, finding them bound behind the chair I was currently sitting on.
I shoved at the hazy blanket that had fallen over my mind, trying to force myself into gear. I needed to get out of here, wherever the hellherewas. I was just so fucking tired, and my head felt so,soheavy.
A clatter sounded nearby. My internals flinched at the noise and my heart jumped at the sudden sound, but all I could manage to do was reopen my eyes again. My red dress had a few tears across the skirt and a gaping hole across my left ribs. Iscoffed. The lack of blood meant someone had torn up my dressfor fun. A white powder was littered across the delicate fabric, some in what looked like fingerprint patterns.
No wonder I feel like I’ve downed half a bottle of tequila.
“She’ll be up soon,” a sickeningly sweet voice said. “And then we wait.”
“What if he doesn’t come?” a man’s voice said. Was that …?
“Trust me. He’ll be here. Then the real fun will begin.”
I forced my head upright, urging my body to cooperate with me and not whatever drug they’d shoved into my system. Those lifeless, icy eyes were already on me, so focussed my loose, aching jaw trembled. I swear she could see right through the mask I’d strained desperately to put into place.
“Well, if it isn’t the life of the party.”
Even in the dark, her tall frame was beautiful. But when I looked into those piercing eyes of hers, I could still see it. Therotinside of her.
“That’s a bit generous, don’t you think?” I clenched my jaw painfully to keep it from dropping as the man from before stepped out of the shadows. Randy wrapped an arm around Talia’s shoulders, a wicked gleaming grin on his face.
I focussed on the blue and purple bruises on his face and bit down on a smile, remembering just where they had come from.Whothey had come from.
I focussed on the pain in my jaw, the haze that was slowly easing from my mind.
I focussed on keeping that blank mask across my face, the one I’d seen Chance use when he was aroundher. I pinned every ounce of my concentration into that image while I scanned them from head to toe. They would have to have something, a weapon of some kind, surely.
“Always know what you’re up against before the fight begins. At a minimum, they’ll have two arms and two legs. Worst-casescenario, they’ll have something more sinister.” Dad’s words rattled through my mind.
Randy’s disgusting laugh filled my ears, followed by a mocking remark I didn’t deem worthy of hearing.
There.
Tucked into the waistband of his jean shorts, a sparkle of light flickered off the blade. Even with such little light in the room, the knife shone like a fucking beacon.
Well, that was going to present an issue for my escape. So was the gun Talia held in her slim, acrylic-tipped fingers. A thick black tube was wrapped around the end of it.
