Page 100 of Callum
His eyes narrowed, his voice hardening. “Like I said, it will take you some time to adjust.”
“This is crazy. You see how this is crazy, don’t you, Freddie?”
“What I see is the woman I love! The woman I’m a fucking shadow of a man without. The woman I need to win back. When the opportunity arose, I took it. Jesus, Fiona, Isavedyou! That woman was going to kill you.”
She could have laughed at his earnestness. “If you really believe that, you’re lying to yourself.” She tried to calm her voice. “Let me go, and I won’t tell anyone what you did. I’ll pin it all on her.”
It was a lie. She’d scream to anyone who listened about what this man had done, but her desperation made it sound true enough.
“No.” The word came quickly, with no leeway.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
Her gaze went to the stairs. Were there still people in the library? Was Callum, Liam, or Tyler still up there somewhere?
She opened her mouth and screamed—a long, loud wail.
But Freddie didn’t even flinch at the sound. He just shook his head. “They’re gone. Which means we’ll be gone soon, too.” He glanced at his watch. “Five more minutes.”
She tried to swallow her panic, her mind scrambling to come up with something to get her out of this. “Freddie, look at me.”
He’d started that pacing again. It was his nervous pacing. She’d seen it many times before. But he did as she requested and stopped to look at her. She forced her features to soften. “You know this won’t work. You can’t abduct someone and expect them to love you. Things will never be like they were between us ever again.”
And why did he even want that? They weren’t good for each other. He’d been having sex with hersister. Maybe even her cousin at the same time, for all she knew.
Betrayal pressed on her chest. If the situation was different, she’d allow that betrayal to choke her. But it wasn’t different. She was here, bound. She didn’t have the luxury of feeling sorry for herself. She had to focus on getting out.
Freddie moved forward, once again crouching in front of her, hands on her knees. “I know. Things will be evenbetterthis time. I didn’t appreciate you before. I got engaged to Amanda because she told me she was pregnant. Then I tried to fill the void with Stacey once you left. But neither of them wereyou. I won’t hurt you again. We’ll disconnect from our families. From Cradle Mountain. It will just be you and me, living on a big property I purchased for us in Utah.” He cupped her cheek. “It will be an adjustment for you, but I’ll look after you.”
It took everything in her to not pull away from his touch. To not flinch or dry heave. He was taking her from her life, and he expected her to be…what? Excited? Grateful?
God, he was crazy. Just as crazy as Olivia.
Words tried to crawl up her throat. Words about Callum finding them. Saving her and murdering this man. But what would that achieve? It would cause him to restrain her even tighter. Possibly knock her out again so he could get her to the car.
She swallowed the words she wanted to say and whispered words that sounded sick to her own ears. “Ihavemissed you.” Her voice trembled with the force of the lie, the strength it took to release it into the air.
Hope danced in his eyes—but only for a moment, then it was replaced by suspicion. “You’ve missed me? You were just calling me crazy.”
She wet her dry lips, using the fleeting moment to scrounge more lies. “Because you drugged me and tied me up, Freddie. My head, wrists, and ankles hurt. But…yes, I missed you. You cheated on me, so I had to try to learn how to live life without you. But if you can promise that you won’t cheat again…”
“I won’t. I swear on my life.”
Ha. Like she’d believe anything this lying sack of shit said. “Good. Because I don’t want to be cheated on again. I need to be able to trust you.”
That’s it. Make him work for it.
That hope returned to his light brown eyes. “You’ll be the center of my world, Fiona.” He nodded and stood. “Good. See? This is good. We can start a new life together.” When he looked at her again, his gaze lowered to the rope around her ankles.
“I can walk, Freddie. I won’t run.” She was impressed by how the lie came out with such ease.
He ran a hand through his hair, the tremble in his movements becoming more violent. “I need to keep your wrists bound, but I’ll untie your ankles. Getting out of here will be easier if I don’t have to carry you.”
Her stomach dropped, but she was careful to keep her features clear in case his tenuous trust snapped and he decided to knock her out instead. With unbound feet, she could run. With nothing over her mouth, she could scream. There was hope.
Her heart thumped when Freddie lifted a small knife from a table against the far wall. He used the sharp blade to cut through the rope on her ankles.
“Once it’s safe for her to do so, Olivia will return here and clean everything up,” he muttered, almost to himself, like he was reminding himself of the details of the plan. When her legs were free, Freddie pulled her to her feet. Her head swam and her knees almost buckled.
