Saint opens his eyes, watching me with that intrusive lens of his.
I cock my head to the side. “Do you want to tell them or shall I?”
CHAPTER 23
SAINT INSISTS WE shower before talking as we’re all covered in blood and reeking of smoke. He also insists on watching me scale the drainpipe and climb through my bedroom window, telling me if I end up falling to my death he’ll have to explain it to my mom.
He’s an idiot if he thinks I believe that.
Douche just wants to ogle my ass some more.
As I’m leaving my room after freshening up, I make a mental note to install the other padlock I bought to the front of the door because climbing in and out of my window is getting old real fast.
I saunter into the basement in a cloud of perfume, the musky, sensual tones of jasmine, vanilla, and sandalwood mixing with spicy dark fruits, swirling around me in an alluring haze. My freshly blow-dried hair is tumbling down my back in soft waves, and I love how each of the guy’s gazes roams my tiny denim shorts and the off-the-shoulder short-sleeved black and silver top I’m wearing.
I’m slowly reeling them in whether they realize it or not.
I’m in my bare feet, and I know my legs look super long and slim and that the edge of my sheer, lacy purple bra is evident on the side where my shirt hangs low. Even dickhead Galen can’t tear his eyes away. I swipe a beer from the bucket on the table and sit on the couch beside Saint, trying not to gloat. I purposely sit close enough that our thighs brush together. The other guys are on the leather couch across from us, their eyes glued to my body, as I get settled.
I bring the beer to my lips, tipping my head back in slow motion and savoring the glide of the cold liquid down my dry throat. I feel the guys’ heated attention, and blood rushes south, making my core pulse with need.
Sexual tension is thick in the air, and my nipples pucker, poking through my flimsy bra and the thin material of my top. My eyes meet Caz’s penetrating gaze, and he looks seconds away from pouncing on me. I lick my lips, tracing the tip of my finger along the rim of the bottle, and his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat while he stretches his thighs out to accommodate the growing bulge in his jeans.
Saint clears his throat, eyeballing Caz. “I thought you wanted the truth.”
“We do,” Theo says, cutting through the heated atmosphere and refocusing our collective energies. His eyes dart to mine. “You told me you didn’t know who kidnapped you. That they kept you blindfolded and they used initials for names.”
“That was all I knew back then. It was only much later I discovered the truth,” I admit.
“And how is it you know?” Galen asks, jerking his head at Saint. “I thought there were no secrets between us.”
Saint scoffs. “Don’t talk out your ass. Every person in this room is hiding something.”
“It’s not as if it matters much,” I say, crossing one leg over the other. Four pairs of eyes greedily follow my movement. “It’s in the past.”
“Of course, it matters!” Galen yells. “It fucking matters a lot.”
Why? He fucking hates me. I frown, wondering what else I don’t know.
Galen scratches the back of his head as he shares a pointed look with his cousin. “How long have you known?”
Saint flexes his arms, glancing at me as he says, “I’ve always known.”
“Explain that,” Theo grits out, and I’ve never heard him use that tone with Saint before.
Saint ignores Theo, holding me prisoner with his intense gaze. “Am I the reason you figured it out?”
I stare into his hypnotic blue eyes. “It wasn’t really one thing. It was a bunch of pieces slotting into the puzzle all at once.”
“When?” he asks.
“About two years ago.” After me and Theo were over.
“Can you stop talking in code and fucking tell us what the hell is going on?” Caz asks with a pout.
“I was kidnapped on my way home from school,” I say, beginning to explain. “I was only three blocks from my house when a van drove up onto the sidewalk and a strange woman yanked me inside. She put tape over my mouth and a cloth bag over my head.”
I take a sip of my beer as I relive one of the worst days of my life. “We drove for what seemed like ages. I couldn’t breathe properly, and I was gagging, almost choking, before she removed the bag and the tape. She threatened if I made a sound she’d cut my tongue out. I was too frightened to disobey. When I was taken out, we were at an abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere. A few cars and trucks were parked out front. The woman walked me up to the entrance and forced me to face the other way while she argued with some man.”
“Dad didn’t know I’d snuck into the back of his truck,” Saint interjects, picking up the story from his side.
I’ve always wondered how he came to be there.
“I was thirteen, and we’d just started getting more involved with the business, but this night, he said I couldn’t come with. I was pissed and stubborn, and I went along for the ride anyway.”
Caz rolls his eyes. “Not one bit surprised.”
Saint flips him off. “Sinner had only been inside the warehouse a few minutes, and I was about to get out and spy through the window when a van pulled up. I watched Dad’s latest piece of ass drag a girl out of the van.”
He peers deep into my eyes as he speaks. “I could tell she was scared. She was trembling all over, but she never said a word. Didn’t scream or protest. Just looked around, taking in her surroundings, knowing it would be futile to call out for help.”
He brushes a stray strand of hair off my face, and his touch ignites a host of fiery shivers across my skin. “I wanted to rescue you,” he says, lowering his voice. “I didn’t know you or why you were there, but I just knew I needed to get you away. I was trying to work it out in my head when you spotted me.”
“I never forgot your face,” I whisper, my mind lost in the moment, trapped in the past, reliving those few seconds that bonded us instantly. “I saw the fear and determination in your eyes, and I silently begged you to help me.”
“I know.” He cups one side of my face, lost to the past in the same way I am. “And I wanted to, but he saw me. Just before the door closed after you went inside.”
“What did he do?” Galen asks, his tone somber.
“He beat me bloody. Told me to forget I’d seen her. Said she would be released once her dad paid the ransom. He threatened if I told a soul, he’d kill her and then me.”
“I fucking knew there was more to it!” Galen jumps up. “I remember that time. You could barely fucking walk for days. When I asked you why he’d been so savage, you told me you’d thrown shade at him while he was drunk.” He looks at me, and for a brief second, there’s no anger or hostility in his gaze. “I remember him throwing up when the news reports came out after the fact. He was distant and troubled for months.”
“Galen.” Saint silences him on the spot.
Galen swings his gaze to his cousin. “You should’ve told us.”
“I wouldn’t risk her life like that,” Saint says, and my stupid heart swoons at his words.