Page 4 of Survive the Night
“This is my chance,” Aaron said, jerking her attention back to him. “The Jovanovic family is in chaos right now. Eight people—eight!—were arrested, including Noah and Martin, and they’ll be locked away for years. Judd is no leader. That’s obvious. There’s a huge power vacuum, and I’m going to fill it.”
“So fill it!” Alice burst out. Enough was enough. Being stuck in the middle of Blanchett family power games was one thing. She was born into that. There was no way that Alice was going to get involved with the Jovanovics, though. Let Aaron wallow in all the power he could grab, but Alice didn’t want any part of it. All she wanted was the freedom to do normal things—to choose her clothes and friends and meals and job and…everything. “What does any of this have to do with me?”
He grabbed her, his fingers wrapping around her throat, forcing up her chin so she had to meet his eyes. Alice’s heart thundered in her chest, her breaths coming in short gasps. Although Aaron’s grip wasn’t tight enough to cut off air, the threat was there, that he could close his fingers and end her if he wanted to. His eyes were the exact same dark brown, same round shape as hers, but they were as cold and hard and pitiless as marbles. Alice tried to swallow and choked instead.
“This has everything to do with you,” he said, fingertips digging in just a little more until Alice knew he was leaving small, round bruises. He’d put them there before. “You’re my in.”
“Me?” she tried to echo, although no sound emerged. All she could do was mouth the word.
“You.” Aaron tightened his grip just enough that Alice couldn’t breathe. She tried to hold back the panic by pretending she was underwater, that she was perfectly safe, that she could surface for air at any time. Eventually Aaron would let her go. He’d just said that he needed her. If he killed her, he wouldn’t succeed.
Even so, she felt the panic rising as her lungs pinched, desperate for air. Her thoughts went fuzzy, fear creeping in until she couldn’t focus on anything else.
She grabbed his wrist with both hands, instinct forcing her to fight. His arm was rock-hard under her grip, solid and unmovable. Despite knowing that it was futile, she yanked and pulled, trying to pry his hand off her throat. Maybe he really will kill me this time.
Just as her vision started to go dark around the edges, Aaron let go of her throat. Bending at the waist as far as her seat belt would allow, Alice sucked in deep breaths that rasped her throat and made her cough.
“What do you mean?” Her voice was hoarse and breathless as she forced herself to straighten, and she wished she were better at faking nonchalance. It felt like weakness to show her brother how much he’d hurt her.
“According to my sources, Logan is gaining something of a bad reputation with the California ladies.” His mouth curled up at the corner—a mouth that looked just like Alice’s. She hated that they looked so much alike, hated seeing bits of him when she looked in the mirror.
“What kind of bad reputation?” Her hands wanted to rub at her aching throat and rest against her swelling cheek, but she forced them to stay in her lap. This was important. She had to get all the information she could from Aaron. The more she knew, the easier it would be to figure out how to avoid falling in with his plan.
He waved a hand in a dismissive gesture, and Alice flinched before she could catch herself. “That doesn’t matter. What does matter is that his dad—Judd—and the rest of the Jovanovics are sick of spending money paying off these women, not to mention the doctors and judges.”
“Paying off doctors and judges?” Her stomach twisted as she tried to process his words. “Why? Did he hurt those women?”
“I said it doesn’t matter.”
Alice dropped her gaze, trying to force her brain past the idea that Logan—the same creep who’d just sat next to her all through dinner, who had touched her multiple times—had abused women in some way. He’d done something awful enough that the Jovanovics had been willing to pay off his victims and bribe the authorities. She swallowed, her sore throat complaining. “What do Logan’s…issues have to do with me?”
“The Jovanovics are hoping he’ll settle down with a nice woman.” Aaron smiled, and it was terrible. “Someone that will keep him home, away from opportunistic whores.”
Her pulse was going wild again. Aaron’s plan was a simple one, but Alice was still having a hard time putting it together in her mind. It was just too horrific. “You…” she finally stammered. “You want me to date Logan?”
“No.” For a second, his answer made her sag with relief, but Aaron wasn’t finished. “You’re going to marry him.”
Chapter 2
Ever since that night, Alice had been waiting for rescue—hoping for it, praying desperately for it even as she searched for another way to escape. The days ticked by, and she fought to hold on to hope, keeping alert for any hint that her unknown friend had finally come through. When the first sign of rescue came, however, it took a form she hadn’t expected.
She never dreamed they’d blow up her house.
The explosion knocked her out of bed, startling her out of an uneasy doze. Her insides felt battered, hurting more than her elbow or head where they’d connected with the hardwood floor. Her brain ran through crazy, illogical explanations—it had been an earthquake or a kick from Aaron or a poltergeist that had sent her flying.
She pushed up to her hands and knees while trying to sort out her thoughts. All the chaos made it hard, though. Alarms blared, shrill and ear-piercing, competing with shouts and heavy, running feet. Suddenly, it hit her—was this it? Was this the escape the note had promised?
Even as Alice climbed to her feet, she hesitated. What if this wasn’t part of the plan? What if the house was on fire, and Alice was about to be burned to death because she’d waited for some mysterious savior to arrive? She sniffed. There was the smell of smoke hanging in the air, but it wasn’t heavy—not yet, at least.
Either way, if it was a disaster or if someone had come to help her escape, she needed to be ready to run. Alice hurried over to the closet. Ever since she’d found the note, she’d been preparing for this. Shoving aside designer dresses hung on satin-lined hangers, Alice grabbed a full backpack and the stack of clothes that were sitting at the very back of her enormous closet. She yanked on jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, topping it off with a black hoodie while jamming her feet into hiking shoes.
Heaving the pack onto her back, she hurried out of the enormous closet, not feeling a single pang for all the expensive clothes she was leaving behind. They’d been chosen for her by her father and, over the past few years, her brother. To her, the clothes were just costly prison uniforms.
Back in her bedroom, Alice hesitated again, still not sure if she should try to escape or wait for someone to arrive. The smoke was thicker, and the voices were more urgent, although still muted, blocked by at least one level and the heavy door to her room. She moved to try the door, but it was locked from the outside, as always. Every night, from ten until six in the morning, she was bolted into her room.
Her already thrumming heartbeat picked up even more. What if her unknown friend didn’t realize that she was locked in? What if they’d only been offering a distraction, an opportunity, and this was it? She could be missing the only chance she’d have to slip away, to escape from her brother and Logan and a future that was heartbreakingly close to her present.
