Page 47

She paused, and I decided not to wait around for her to make a choice. I threw it into gear and spun rocks as I made the U-turn. I wasn’t even sure where I was going. I put the pedal to the floor and desperately tried to put distance between me and my brother.

I thought she was going to lose her voice before she stopped screaming.

At least she wasn’t pounding on my arm anymore, it had made it hard as fuck to drive those first few miles.

“Let me out, Roy. Please. Please,” she pleaded, tears dripping off her cheek.

“Where is your phone?” I asked, not for the first time.

“I– I don’t have it. I don’t know… I…”

She was a mess. Her pretty green eyes were wild and full of panic. Her face was wet and her chest was heaving. I hated seeing her like that.

“I’m not going to hurt you, but we have to keep moving. If you have a phone, get rid of it. Now, Kennedy!”

She furiously shook her head and ran her hands over her exposed thighs, before sobbing, “I don’t even have my underwear. He took off and I knew he was going to steal my car. I just– I ran after him.”

“He will track it. Hell, he’ll likely track this.” I gestured around the vehicle, “It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s had something on your car for weeks. He’s a slick motherfucker.”

Her face was a mask of horror and her silence broke my heart a little. I took a deep breath, and my thoughts finally slowed enough for me to decide on a path.

There was really only one option before us, my mother was the only one I could trust. She was Kennedy’s safest bet and likely the only one who would have some suggestion of how to get my ass out of this.

I’d done what I could for Paxton. I’d left a witness, even. Now, I could only hope her presence would be enough to keep King from pulling the trigger.

If he wanted to take out Paxton, he’d be forced to drop them both.

My stomach rolled as I inwardly debated whether he’d do it or not. If he was willing to take out Kennedy, what the fuck would stop him from offing a sweetheart?

“Where are you taking me?” she quietly asked, after several miles of her excruciating silence.

I glanced toward her, but she seemed determined not to look at me.

“My mom’s house.”

She gave a slow, stiff nod.

“What makes you so sure that Kingston wants to hurt me?” she managed, after clearing her throat.

I bit my lip, unsure of just how honest I should be with her.

“Roy,” she loudly prodded.

When I glanced back at her, she was staring at me. I’d have given anything for her to look at me the night I came home. Maybe all of this shit would have been different…

“He does. You just have to trust me.”

“How do you know that he wants to hurt me?”

I had to be honest with her if she was going to trust me, even if it killed me to admit, “Because I was supposed to help him.”

Her arm flew toward me, and I brought my shoulder up to guard my face. It wasn’t slapping she had in mind, though. That crazy woman grabbed the wheel of her car and snapped it to the right with all she had.

We flew off the road, skidded down the ditch and did a complete circle before the car came to a rest and I was pointed back toward town.

“Jesus,” I huffed, only for her nails to slice down the side of my face.

Her other hand came up and clipped my jaw, leaving me flailing to grab her arms.