Page 49 of Deserving Maisy
All he had to do now was wait for Brick to call him back so they could discuss arrangements to get him home without leaving a digital trace, make sure they knew he wouldn’t be alone, that Maisy would be coming with him, and then wait for the right time to make his escape.
Whatever the reason he’d been brought here and lied to, Stone was done playing their game. By the time the sun rose, he’d be on his way home. To histruehome. To the men and women who’d never lie to him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Where’d you go today?” Jason yelled in Maisy’s face.
She flinched and tried to step away from him, but he grabbed her arm and hauled her closer.
“Did you hear me? Where’d you go?”
“J-Just for a picnic. Paige packed us a lunch,” she stammered.
“Liar! You’re lying! You went to the bank, didn’t you?” Jason asked.
“What? No!”
Jason shoved her away hard, and Maisy went flying backward, hitting her hip on the edge of his desk before falling to the floor. She landed on her left arm, and it hurt. A lot. But she didn’t like being on the floor when her brother was standing over her. She was way too vulnerable down there in range of his feet. He’d kicked her before. And it hadn’t felt good.
She was scared out of her mind. Of her brother, yes…but something had happened to Jack today. One second he was there with her, and the next she felt as if he was a million miles away. She had no doubt his head hurt, she could tell by the stiff way he was holding himself and from his furrowed brow, but there was more to it than a simple headache.
He was distancing himself from her for some reason. She’d racked her brain to try to figure out why. Had she said something to piss him off? Done something? She didn’t think so, but he was definitely acting different.
Of course, the most obvious reason he hadn’t touched her even once after they’d started home was because he’d remembered something. But surely he would’ve said something, right?
Maisy wasn’t sure. She didn’t know how amnesia worked. She hated her brother a little more right then, for not bringing a doctor in to see Jack. What if he was permanently disabled by whatever had been done to him by the kidnapper Jason had hired?
“You were gone way too long for a fucking picnic!” Jason snarled as he stalked toward her.
Maisy crab-walked backward away from him, but she wasn’t fast enough. Her brother reached out and grabbed her by the hair, hauling her upward as Maisy desperately tried to take the pressure off her head.
“Tell me where you went. What you did. Now!” Jason ordered.
“I swear, we didn’t do anything! Jack wanted some different scenery, so we went to the park and hung out. Then we ate the lunch Paige packed for us and came home. Please, Jason, let go, you’re hurting me!”
Her brother eyed her with a cold expression. Maisy shivered just seeing it.
“Beg.”
“What?” Maisy asked, trying to pull herself out of his grip, with no luck.
“Beg me to let you go.”
“Please, Jason.”
When she didn’t say anything else, he yanked on her hair. “More.”
If she could’ve gone to the police right that second, Maisy would have.Thiswas the man who’d killed his wife because she’d outlived her usefulness.Thiswas the monster who’d likely killed their parents because of greed. She hated him. Completely and utterly.
“Please let go of me. I swear we didn’t do anything other than have a picnic today. I wouldn’t betray you that way. I’m begging you, Jason, let me go. Please, please please…” It was humiliating to lower herself this way, but she would if it meant getting away from her brother.
For the first time, it hit home what Jack had given her by not making her plead for anything. She’d brushed it off as being a quirk of his, but she was more sure than ever that at some point in his life, he’d had to beg for something, and he understood how demeaning it was. How hopeless it made you feel. Because at that moment, she felt lower than a bug. Jason was toying with her, and it felt awful.
He smirked, then shoved her away from him so hard, she stumbled and fell to the floor yet again. As she rolled, her face hit the leg of the chair opposite the desk. Pain bloomed in her cheek, but she didn’t hesitate to jump to her feet.
“Don’t fuck this up,” Jason warned. “We have less than three months until we can get that money. All you have to do is keep your legs spread, keep his dick happy, and we’rehome free.” He narrowed his eyes. “I know you’re in love with him, it’s obvious…andpathetic. But don’t go thinking the two of you can live happily ever after. It’s not gonna happen. We can’t risk him remembering. All that matters is that the marriage certificate was filed and the countdown to getting what we deserve has started. Understand?”
“Yes.”
