Page 92 of Tease
Wow, how nice that must be…
CHAPTER 65
KC
Istartle awake when I hear two male voices talking. My head is pounding and my whole body is stiff and aching. I try to blink my eyelids open a few times, but they don’t want to open. I go to wipe my eyelids and can’t. It feels like hard plastic is holding my wrists together behind me.
“What the—?” I grunt, shaking my head, as I try to free my hands.
“Oh, look who’s finally awake—sleeping beauty. Let’s go get the Collector. We need to let him know they’ve already been scanned. No tracers.” The man’s voice sounds like he’s been a smoker all of his life.
I hear a door open behind me, and heavy footsteps are walking away from me.What the fuck happened?I try to think back to the last thing I remember… Ajani, Sarah, and I were at Darla’s. I’m finally able to lift my eyelids and look around the darkened room. Ajani is next to me, on my right side, sitting in a chair. Her hands are zip-tied behind the back of the chair, and her head is hanging down.
“Ajani,” I whisper. “Hey, wake up.” I scoot my foot over to nudge hers, but we’re too far apart. She doesn’t make a sound or move.Is she alive?I squint my eyes, zoning in on her upperback, to make sure it’s rising and falling. It is. Thank fuck, she’s breathing.
I look around the room. We’re surrounded by cement walls, and a drain is in the floor, located between our chairs.How the hell did we end up here?I continue to try and break the zip tie that’s binding my wrists together, when I hear heavy, quickened foot steps.
The door creaks, and I can hear someone walk in before closing the door. After that, all I can hear is our breathing mixed together. “What do you want with us?” I yell.
He tsks. “Your little friend here doesn’t matter. It’s you, Kailey Caine. That’s who he’s wanted all this time.”
That voice… the tone… It’s different from the man’s who was in here before, but like a fuzzy memory that I recognize but can’t pinpoint. “Let us go. We won’t tell anyone,” I whimper.
“Now, why would I do that after I went through all this trouble to collect you?”
The familiar mystery man slowly walks into my periphery, stopping a few feet in front of me. His hands are clasped in front of him, and his face slowly lifts up to meet me. His bald head is shiny; he has pale skin and no eyebrows, and he towers over me at at least six foot two. When I look into his eyes, I notice they’re grey and devoid of any emotion.
“You don’t recognize me yet, do you?”
“I don’t know who you are. You’ve got the wrong woman.” My words are rushed as I try to hold back my tears of fear.
“Yes, you do. Think.” The man’s finger taps the side of my forehead.
I start to shake my head, my control breaking. “You’re lying! We’ve never met before. I don’t know what you want from me!” I scream at him, looking him directly in his eyes.
He laughs, his palm going to his chest. “Oh, Kailey. Always one for the dramatics.”
He squats down and whispers into my ear. “Beth.”
My breathing halts, and my vision blurs before focusing again. “No. It can’t be.”
“Say my name,” he demands.
“Joey,” I quietly sob.
“You just couldn’t live your life without teasing men, could you,SparkleySkittle?”
“What are you talking about?” My bottom lip starts to quiver, while my heart races.
Joey’s steps are slow as he walks around my chair. “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. After the night of my initiation, of course. Looks like fate has brought us full circle, Kailey. What are the odds… that the guy I had to prove my loyalty to is the same guy you ended up teasing—Lorenzo Russo. The one who sent me to collect you, ultimately sealing your fate.”
Initiation?Lorenzo Russo? Collecting me?What is this fucking bastard talking about?
“I can see the confusion written all over your face, Kailey. Let me tell you a story.My story.”
Joey walks behind me and drags a chair back with him, the legs scraping across the cement.
“You know, I truly did care for your sister. Hell, I think I might’ve even loved her. But the people I wanted—no,neededto get involved with wanted me to prove my loyalty.”
