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Wasbetting his life on it.
“And I’d say that even if it was Alaska in that basement, and Jason was that asshole trafficker who wanted to get his hands on her.”
Andthatwas why Brick was one of his best friends. The loyalty. The trust. The absolute certainty, even though he wasn’t a Navy SEAL or a Delta Force Operative, that Stone could handle the situation at the house until help arrived.
Just then, a text notification sounded from Stone’s phone. Looking down, he saw it was from Ry. Another link. Clicking on it, Stone watched as a man he definitely recognized knocked on his hotel door. The time stamp was from an hour ago.
As soon as Maisy opened the door, Don punched her, then reached down and grabbed her, hauling her out of the room with a grip that looked painful, forcing her down the hall. Stone’s teeth clenched.
“What’ve you got?” Tiny asked.
Instead of answering, he sent the link to both his friends. “You can show that to the cops.”
He waited while Brick and Tiny watched the short video clip, their bodies going tense when they witnessed what Maisy had endured.
“She probably thought it was me. I know she was worried about where my head was at. I left so fast after we got back to the room, she probably assumed I forgot my key. I’m gonna fix this. Once and for all. Her brother won’t be an issue after tonight.”
“No, he fucking will not. Go,” Brick said. “Take the car.We’ll get a taxi to the police station and meet you at the house.”
After getting the keys from Tiny, Stone headed for the door. He was still wearing shorts and a T-shirt, his standard workout gear, but the only thing on his mind was getting to Maisy. She had to be terrified. Wondering if he’d come for her.
He’d made a vow, one he had no plans to break. Once this was behind them, he’d make sure his wife never had a reason to doubt him again. He’d done nothing but break her trust, and if she took him back, he’d make sure it never happened again.
Maisy was the most amazing woman he’d ever met. Life kept kicking her in the face, and yet she could still see the good in people. Open herself up to others. She embraced a group of strangers at The Refuge and made them fall in love with her after a few short weeks.
Just as he had.
He loved Maisy. He hadn’t said the words out loud since he’d regained his memory, and Stone regretted that deeply. She’d told him time and time again, probably hoping she’d hear the words returned. One more way he’d been an ass. But no longer.
She was his. Legal marriage license or not, she washis. Just as he was hers.
Time to prove it to Maisy.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Maisy had no idea what time it was. No idea how long she’d been in the safe room. All she knew was that her ass was numb from sitting on the concrete floor. And she was cold. And hungry. But those things were the least of her worries. She’d be hurting a lot more once Jason returned.
It was still hard for her to believe her own brother planned to cut her fingers off if she didn’t sign the papers he put in front of her. But then again, he’d killed Martha, probably killed her parents, and had plans to frame his friend forhermurder. What was a few fingers in the scope of things?
A sound from outside the room had Maisy jerking where she sat, the chains attaching her to the wall clanking. Her heart was pounding and every muscle was tense. She wouldn’t make it easy for Jason to touch her. He’d have to sit on her to get to her hand. She’d use her fingernails to claw him so his DNA would be found on her body as well. Mark him as much as possible so maybe the cops would be suspicious.
Using a knife on her would also cause her to lose a lot of blood. If she could somehow get him to cut himself at the same time, and his blood mingled with hers, the people at the labs would be able to figure out that he’d had something to do with hurting her, as well as Don.
Her mind was going a mile a minute. All the murder shows she’d watched flashed through her brain as she tried to figure out a way to make Jason pay for his crimes, even after she was dead and gone.
The very last thing she expected to see when the door opened was Jack.
For a moment, her spirits soared—then her heart fell into her stomach when she saw Jason behind him, pointing a gun at his head. Her heart shattered into a million pieces. All it would take was Jason threatening Jack and she’d do whatever he asked. He could cut off every finger and every toe and she wouldn’t make a peep of protest. Not if it meant keeping Jack safe.
“Hey, sis! Look who decided to join the party!” Jason said jovially as he entered the room. “Over there,” he told Jack in a much harder tone.
Without complaint and as if he was joining them for an afternoon spot of tea, Jack went over to the wall on the other side of the room from her and sat where Jason had pointed.
“Put them on,” Jason ordered, gesturing to the handcuffs with the gun in his hand.
Again, without a word, Jack did as he was told, clicking the handcuffs around his wrists.
Maisy tried to catch his eye. Tried to tell him without words to stop. To fight.Something. But Jack didn’t look at her until he was as trapped as she was.
