I hoped.
Something, I’m assuming a box spring, squeaked behind me and my spine straightened. I knew that it was Conlon before he appeared in front of me, his tall, lanky frame still reeking like cigarettes.
He crouched down in front of me and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, hey there, sleeping beauty.”
I didn’t say anything, only gritted my teeth and tried not to let my fear show.
“So brave.” He smiled and I wanted to headbutt his big ugly nose. “How pissed do you think Logan’s gonna be when he realizes you’re gone?”
I stayed silent and was satisfied when he shot me a hard glare. I was getting to him. Good. Little did he know the reason I wasn’t speaking was because I didn’t want my voice to shake, didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he scared me. But he did. I was absolutely terrified.
What if I didn’t get out? There was a chance I wouldn’t.
What if Logan showed up too late? There was a chance he would considering I didn’t even know where I was.
What if this was the end? I never told him I loved him.
That realization shattered me. I never told him, and why not? Because I was a coward, because I was afraid of rejection. I let the fear of rejection stop me from doing so much in life, and now there was a good chance I was going to die filled with so much regret over the fact that I let those three little words scare me silent. It was such a mistake not to tell him the truth about how I felt. Who cared if he didn’t feel the same way? At least I would have said it, gotten it off my chest. At least then he’d know.
His face was all I saw. It wasn’t Conlon and it wasn’t Nicole. It was Logan. Those chocolate eyes and that mussed blonde hair. His hard body and the way he said my name, so soft and deep all at once. Logan’s voice was like velvet, smooth and thick with his slight Boston accent. I loved all of those things about him.
But, most of all, I loved his heart. I loved the way he protected his sister from the wrath of their mother and the way he put everyone else first. All Logan ever wanted to do was help people and give them a second chance, even when he was drowning in his own disease. He was openly flawed, stubborn, and sometimes so difficult it made me want to scream. But I loved all of those things because I loved him.
“He’ll get me out of this,” I said defiantly, hating the way my voice shook but happy that I was able to get the words out at all.
Conlon smiled in a way that was so condescending it made me grind my molars. “So naive. I’ll give him credit, though. He has great taste. I love tough, strong women, it’s always much more fun when they fucking break.”
“Fuck you,” Nicole whimpered, her voice nearly inaudible.
He ruffled her hair and she flinched so hard I thought the chair she was tied to would tip over. “Aw, you already did that.”
His sleeve rode up and I saw bloody white gauze wrapped around his forearm. It really was his blood all over the house. She must have cut him, tried to stab him. I hoped she tried to kill him, something I never thought I’d hope for. There was a lot of blood soaking through the hastily wrapped wound, and I could only assume she cut him deep.
“You know what we’re gonna do?” Conlon said and stood up, clapping his hands and rubbing his palms together. “We’re gonna call Logan and see what he’s up to.”
My heart started to beat faster as I saw him slip his phone out of his back pocket. He made a show of waving it around, flashing the screen at me just long enough to recognize that it was, in fact, Logan’s number. He paced back in forth in front of mine and Nicole’s chairs, tapping a finger against his chin.
“Hey, fucker.” He eventually spoke into the phone with a smirk on his face.
I couldn’t hear the response, but Conlon laughed and shook his head. “Don’t worry, your little girlfriend’s just fine. What’s that? Oh, no, see, she can’t come to the phone. She’s a little tied up at the moment.”
I growled in frustration and tugged harder at my restraints, ignoring the pain as the rope bit into the soft skin of my wrists. My ankles, however, weren’t tied, and I was able to knick Conlon in the shin hard enough to make him wince. He rushed forward faster than I could blink, his fingers wrapping around my neck while his palm pressed against the hollow of my throat. He squeezed and my mouth fell open in a silent gasp, my body stiffening.
“I have a question for you, Logan.” Conlon spoke into the phone as he stared down at me with menace. “You ever choke her while you fuck her? She’s got a pretty small throat, my whole hand fits around it.”
I struggled and he squeezed harder, effectively cutting off my oxygen. Nicole watched in horror and gave a small whine, shaking her head. “Greg, don’t! Please, please don’t do this. She hasn’t done anything wrong. Greg!”
“Shut up!” he screamed, his grip so tight I feared I’d pass out, or worse. My vision was beginning to blur.
I tried to keep an eye on what Conlon was doing as he pulled the phone from his ear and put it on speaker.
“Juliette, say hi to Logan. Let him know you’re okay.”
I couldn’t say anything. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
He shook me harder. “Say hello.”
“Logan,” I gasped.
“J?” his familiar voice came through the phone as Conlon pulled his hand back.
I gasped and coughed, sputtering as I heaved air into my lungs, hanging my head and staring down at my lap.
“Juliette.” Logan’s voice came through the phone, clear as day. Tears sprung to my eyes at the sound of my name on his lips. “You’re okay. Breathe.”
I let out a shaky breath and then inhaled again, willing myself not to go into hysterics. I wouldn’t give Conlon the satisfaction of seeing me breakdown in tears over the fact that he’d scared me. Even though he had. Brutally.
“Listen to me.” Logan spoke again, his voice so controlled it was as though I didn’t recognize it. He was angry, I could tell. Pissed to the point where he was speaking through what sounded like gritted teeth and a clenched jaw. But he was there, talking to me. “I’m going to get you out of this. I promise. I just need you to bear with me for a few hours, okay, babe?”
“Okay,” I whispered, still feeling like my windpipe was being crushed.
“Nicole, honey, you good?”
“I will be when you get me the fuck away from him,” she snarled, eyeing Conlon as he stood above us.
“Logan?” I said softly, a lump forming in my throat as I realized that there was a chance I wouldn’t see him again. Never be able to reach out and run my fingers over his scruffy jaw.
“What’s up, beautiful?”
I took a deep breath before speaking. “I love you.”
It was terrible fucking timing, I knew that. I’d said those three stupid words while we had an audience, but I didn’t care. If it was my only chance to let him know, then I was going to take that chance and hold tight to it. There was no room for hesitation and no guarantee that I’d get a second chance. So, I needed to let him know right now. Right this second. Because if I was going to die, I sure as hell wasn’t going to die without telling him the truth about where my heart was.
Because my heart was with Logan.
Always.
I heard him blow out a breath before he spoke again. “You’re going to tell me that again when we’re together, understand?”
“Lo-”
“Do you understand me?” There was a desperation to his voice that I’d never heard, though I was sure Conlon and Nicole didn’t pick up on it.
“Yes,” I responded finally.
“Good girl.”
Conlon turned off the speaker and pressed the phone back to his ear, turning around and walking into what I assumed was the bathroom where he closed and locked the door behind him.
All of this was such a surreal experience. Here I was, twenty seven years old, professing my love to a man while I was tied to a chair and probably on the verge of being murdered. Yet I was so cal
m about it. Maybe because I knew that I’d said everything I needed to, maybe because I knew Logan had a plan. I wasn’t sure. But there was a layer of peace that surrounded me.
I’d mended my friendship with Rose and Violet.
I finally told Logan I loved him.
If this was the end, my end, then okay. So be it. But I wasn’t going down without a fight, and if Conlon wanted to kill me then he’d be sporting twin cuts on both forearms before all of the fight was out of me.
Okay, so maybe I’d never physically harmed anyone except for the time I accidentally hit Toby Kingsley in the face with a textbook when we were twelve. But this was a totally different situation and I didn’t see any textbooks in the tiny cabin I was trapped in.
“You really think he’ll get us out of here?” Nicole asked and looked at me with tears in her eyes.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth and say that I could only hope he would. She was so scared, bruised, and shaken that I just wanted to make her feel better. “We’re going to get out of here, Nicole. I promise.”
Just then, Conlon emerged from the bathroom, slipping his phone back in his pocket. He walked over to us and then crouched down in front of me again, his head cocked to the side as he studied me curiously.
“What?” I finally growled through gritted teeth.
“That was a sweet moment, wasn’t it? Was that the first time you told him you loved him?”
I wanted to slap him. Spit on him. Throw a tantrum. But instead, I didn’t answer for a moment and allowed my heart rate to slow. “Yes. But you wouldn’t know anything about love, would you, Greg?”
His eyes darkened. “What the fuck did you say to me?”
I cleared my throat and spoke a little louder, leaning forward. “I said you wouldn’t know anything about love. It’s why you are the way you are, right? Mommy issues, perhaps?”
I anticipated the slap as he backhanded me, but nothing could prepare me for the pain that rocked through me. My cheek stung, immediately hot, and I tasted blood in my mouth. My right eye watered from the force of the slap, but I was too far gone to care. I’d gotten the reaction I wanted.
I’d finally struck a nerve with Greg Conlon and it felt so good.
However, it didn’t feel so good when he spoke again a few moments later and said the words that chilled me to the bone.
“Logan will be here soon with that little fucking mutt of yours. That was the deal, J. You for the dog. Still feeling cocky?”
Chapter 19
I t was the middle of the night, at least, I assumed it was the middle of the night, when headlights shone through one of the windows. The snow was still falling and I could only assume the roads were a mess. The cabin had gotten colder and colder as the night wore on, and by the time Logan got there my teeth were chattering and I was at least fifty percent sure that Nicole had a concussion and possibly pneumonia.
An hour after Conlon got off the phone with Logan, he transferred us into the small, closet sized bathroom and tied our bound wrists to the towel rack. Nicole sat with her arms above her head and I stood, looking around the room. But it was completely empty except for a towel that smelled like cat pee and a single roll of toilet paper.
“Have you been here this whole time?” I asked as I heard a car door close, craning my neck to try and catch a glimpse of Logan.
“Yeah,” Nicole croaked.
“You want to tell me what happened that night?”
The truth was, I didn’t even want to know what happened that bloody, gruesome night at Conlon’s house. I couldn’t imagine the fear she must have felt, the threat that must have loomed over her as she grabbed that steak knife. I didn’t blame Nicole, I would have done the same thing if I was in that situation.
Then again, I never would have been in the type of situation where I stayed with a man who had been abusing me for however long.
I didn’t hate Nicole for coming back to Boston after what Logan had done for her. I’d never be in her shoes, never understand her mindset or why she did the things she did. I didn’t understand her and there was a good chance I never would. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t sympathetic towards her. Conlon had clearly warped her way of thinking and probably spent months gaslighting her into believing everything he said. Some people, both men and women, were more susceptible. It could happen to anyone and, unfortunately, this time around it happened to Nicole because Conlon targeted her.
“He was so drunk,” she whispered softly as I sank down next to her on the ground. “I came home from the store because he wanted a pack of cigarettes and he told me I took too long. Greg’s never been a patient man, you know? So, anyway, he started an argument and when I tried to walk away, he cornered me and started hitting me. Smacking me on the top of my head and flicking my nose. I always hated it when he flicked my nose. Wouldn’t you? He told me I was dumb, called me a cunt, and said he wouldn’t ever forgive me for leaving him and letting another man help me. I was his woman, I belonged to him, and I was lucky if he’d ever let me out of his sight again.”
“Greg just kept hurting me and calling me names. He wouldn’t stop no matter how hard I cried and begged. He kept going, and when he punched me in the nose I was done. It was… it was like all that fear I had transformed into anger. I hated him, Juliette. I fuckin’ hated him and I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to hurt him the way he hurt me. I… I wanted to kill him. So, I ran into the kitchen and grabbed the knife. It felt like it wasn’t even me doing it. It felt like it was someone else, like I was out of my own body and watching what happened next.”
Nicole was openly crying and I wanted to put a hand on her shoulder, but my damn hands were tied so tight it was making the skin around my wrists chafe and bleed. All I could do was sit and stare, picturing Conlon hulking over Nicole’s small frame, getting off on the fact that he was intimidating her.
Nicole wasn’t the only one who wanted to kill him now.
“By the time he was in the kitchen, I already had the knife and I tried to stab him. He put his arm up and I just… I cut him. It was so easy. I remember the way he cried out, how dark the blood looked as it dripped onto the floor. I was crying and screaming that I was going to leave him and I wouldn’t come back this time. Greg wasn’t going to hurt me anymore because I wasn’t going to let him. I’d kill him if I had to, but I was getting out.”
She turned her head to look at me. “I was going to call you and Logan the second I was out of the house. I’m so sorry that I didn’t. You’re here because of me and I’m so sorry.” She sobbed hard, her whole body shaking. “It’s all my goddamn fault that you’re here.”
I was already shaking my head, trying to soothe her while we were tied up in a bathroom with her psycho ex boyfriend in the other room. “None of this is your fault, Nicole. It isn’t your fault and it isn’t mine. This is all because Conlon is a sick, sick abuser. But don’t you dare, for one second, let him make you believe that any of this is because you did something wrong.”
For reasons unbeknownst to me, Nicole cried even harder, shaking her head and sniffling. “I see why Logan loves you as much as he does. You’re so nice.”
I smiled even though I was screaming inside. I was about to respond when I heard a familiar bark outside.
Mac.
Oh God, there was no way Logan was actually going to trade Mac for me, right? He had to have some sort of plan up his sleeve. We’d come too far and done too much to protect the pup from Conlon just to give him back like this.
There was a hard knock at the front door and I turned my head to the side, trying hard to listen for the comforting sound of Logan’s voice.
“Well, look how big the mutt is,” Conlon said as a greeting. I hated how muffled his voice was with the bathroom door closed.
“Where’s Juliette?” Logan asked as the wind howled outside.
“Juliette, say hi to Logan!” Conlon called out to me.
“I’m in here,” I responded, my voice scratchy.
At the sound of my voice, Mac started barking his ass off and I openly cried, tears rolling down my cheeks. No, no, no! Logan couldn’t give Mac back to him. I’d rather die than know that he was going back to an abuser like Conlon.
You have to have a plan, Logan. You have to.
“It’s nice to know you’re good at following orders, Ashford.”
“I held up my end of shit. Bring them out here.”
“In a minute. Come inside. Close the door behind you. Now.”
I heard the shuffle of Logan’s boots against the wood floor as he entered the cabin and closed the door behind him, Mac’s collar jingling as he, presumably, looked around.
“You know, I think if you didn’t pull that shit with Nicole, me and you could have been friends,” Conlon said conversationally.
I rolled my eyes.
Logan gave a hollow laugh. “I’d rather drown in a pool of my own fuckin’ blood.”
Conlon laughed and it actually sounded genuine. I hated it. Hated how scratchy and raspy his voice sounded every time he opened his ugly mouth.
“You know what I think?” he asked. “I think we’re not so different, you and I. You like having control, so do I. You like getting your way, so do I. I mean, fuck, I bet we even like the same movies.”
I heard footsteps and what sounded like a lighter, for once wishing I actually had x ray vision so I could see what the hell was going on out there. I hated being out of the know, especially when my life actually, literally, depended on it.
“You know what I think?” Logan’s response was so low I barely heard it. “I think your bullshit opinion amounts to a drop of piss in a rusty bucket. So, let’s get this shit over with. I’m done playing nice with you.”
“Careful how you talk to me, kid. Or I’ll put a fucking bullet in your girlfriend’s pretty head.”
My jaw clenched as fear lanced through me. I knew there was no way Conlon was actually going to let me and Nicole walk out of here. Even though Logan showed up with Mac just like he’d told him to, things wouldn’t be that easy, and I wasn’t naive enough to think that they would be. Which was why I had to believe that Logan had a plan. A real plan that didn’t involve anyone getting shot or leaving in a body bag.
Reckless and Wild: A Small Town Romantic Suspense (Port James Series Book 1) Page 17