Page 46 of Deserving Maisy
Shit, Owl! Was he all right? What about Lara?
So many questions ran through his brain…but then the most important one surfaced.
Who the fuck was the woman at his side, holding his hand? Because she sure as hell wasn’t his wife. At least, she hadn’t been a few weeks ago—before he was kidnapped.
Feeling sick, Stone thought about the renewal of vows ceremony he’d happily participated in. He had a feeling it wasn’t a renewal at all.
He’d actually married the liar beside him.
“Jack? What’s wrong? Are you all right? Do we need to go to the emergency room? Talk to me, you’re scaring me.”
Swallowing hard, praying the pain would recede, Stone turned to look at Maisy.
She was frowning, looking worried as she stared at him, her hand gripping his tightly. If he hadn’t remembered everything, he would’ve believed that she was actually concerned about his well-being.
The level of betrayal he felt would’ve brought him to his knees if he wasn’t already sitting.
He had no idea what to say to her. Not knowing the purpose behind her deception kept him from lashing out. He needed information. Who was she? Why had she and her brother kidnapped him? Were they working with Carter Grant, the serial killer who’d vowed to get revenge against Lara? Where was she and Owl? Shit, he needed to call Brick. Find out what the fuck was going on.
“Please, say something!” Maisy pleaded.
“I’m okay,” he managed to get out, but even to him, his voice sounded flat and hard.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah…we should get back.”
“Oh, um…okay,” Maisy said uneasily.
He felt a twinge of guilt that he was obviously scaring her, but he pushed it down. He’d been fuckingkidnapped. Duped into thinking he was this woman’s husband! That his last name was Smith. He couldn’t trust anything she said or did. She was obviously an extremely skilled liar.
He dropped her hand and stood. She did the same, and he began to pack up the picnic. She bent to help, and he said in a clipped tone, “I’ve got it.”
Maisy nodded and stood back, watching him.
Stone’s mind spun. He needed to figure out his next steps. He had free run of the house, so it wouldn’t be hard to leave. But he needed answers before he disappeared. Needed to knowwhy.
His head hurt. His heart hurt. Hell, it felt as if every nerve ending in his body hurt. The memories of his past wouldn’t stop running through his brain like a bad B-movie. His time as a prisoner of war, the torture, the harrowing rescue, the calmness he felt in the mountains in New Mexico, his respect for his friends who’d settled there with him.
But along with those memories were new ones of Maisy. The way she looked above him as she rode his cock. How she felt against his side as she slept. How scared she looked around her brother. The mysterious bruises she claimed were from her clumsiness. The way Jason spoke to her when he thought no one was listening.
Stone was confused as hell. The feelings he had for Maisy hadn’t disappeared the moment his memory returned. Instead, he felt evenmoreprotective of her. Which was crazy. She was obviously a part of whatever plot was afoot with his kidnapping. She’d deceived him from the moment he’d woken up in her bed. But he couldn’t understand why. What the end game could be to this elaborate ruse.
They walked in silence toward the car and Stone got behind the wheel, barely waiting for her to shut her door before pulling out of the parking spot. Things were tense all the way back to the house, but Stone couldn’t think of one thing to say that wouldn’t give away what he was feeling and thinking. He needed some space. To try to figure everything out. To decide his next move.
One thing was for sure, he wasn’t spending another day in that prison of a house. He might not be in chains and may not have been physically tortured, but lying to him, telling him that he was someone he wasn’t, was a form of torture all the same. Mentally.
“I’ll bring the basket back to Paige,” Maisy said quietly after he’d parked.
“Okay,” Stone told her.
“Jack? Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just tired. I’m going to go lie down; see if I can get this headache to go away. Give me some time, all right?”
“Oh, yeah, I can do that. Do you think you’ll want to come down for dinner?”
“No, I’m not hungry. I’ll see you tonight. We’ll talk,” Stone told her. He looked at her then, for the first time since the park. Her cheeks were devoid of color and she looked extremely worried. As well she should be. Her life was about to be turned upside down…and she had no idea of how ruthless he could be.
