by Sophia Gray
“Come on, Corinne. You’ve…” I trailed off. Mentioning all the guys she’d been with over the years might not be the best way to go about making her feel better.
“The condom was in his top dresser drawer. It hadn’t been there before.”
“Does he have a roommate?” I suggested. I couldn’t remember. One thing I did have to give Corinne credit for was that she didn’t move in with all the guys she dated. She kept her own apartment. She might not actually spend a lot of time there, but if she needed to, she did have a place she could go to.
“No.” She sighed. “I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but shouldn’t you be telling me to dump his ass?”
“I think you should talk to him. Ask him about the condom. Don’t confront him about it. See what he has to say about it. Then decide if you believe him or not and figure out what you wanna do after that.”
There was another slight pause. Trenton was tapping his foot. He gestured with his hand holding the gun for me to wrap it up.
“I can’t just ask him—”
“Why not?” I demanded. “A relationship is about trust. You need to trust him—to tell you the truth, to not be cheating on you. A relationship is also about communication. You have to talk to him. Don’t you want to know the truth?”
“Maybe it’s better not to know.” She sounded torn.
“No,” I said firmly. “Being in the dark isn’t ever good enough. You can’t have a real relationship if one side is keeping secrets. I get that you’re scared, that you don’t want to learn that he’s cheating on you, but—”
“So you think he is cheating on me.” She blew out air. “Damn it. Where the hell is Sage? I wanna talk to her. We need to go out and get drunk and—”
“You wanna go out, go out.” I avoided looking at Trenton, but I could still feel his irritation and anxiety rolling off him in waves. He was getting worried. Afraid I’d slip up. I wasn’t gonna slip up, but I might try to plant some seeds into Corinne’s head. “I know you think I’m all dried up, that I don’t need sex like you do,” I started, “but that’s not true. I’ve been having some lately, and—”
“You have?” Corinne perked up for the first time since we started talking.
“Yes. And it’s actually with a friend of Trenton’s. The guy in charge of the—”
Trenton shoved the gun’s barrel into the middle of my forehead.
I gulped. “Anyhow, we’re not just fucking. We’re not just having sex. We’re making love. And there’s a difference.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know—”
“Do you?” I pressed. “Because sometimes it can be confusing. Find someone who loves you and that you love back. Find someone to make love with. Find someone you can talk to without fear about any topic. Find someone you can do more than just spend time underneath the sheets with.”
Corinne hmmed. “And you think I need to find myself first before I can find someone like that.”
“I’m not saying you have to find someone new. For all we know, that condom means nothing. Or maybe it does. Maybe Jack isn’t the guy for you. You deserve a fairytale, Corinne. You deserve happiness. Don’t settle.”
I sure hoped Sage was listening despite being in the bathroom. She needed to hear this, too.
“Good advice. Sage’s been right.”
“About?” I felt shocked, and Trenton looked shocked himself.
“You needing to get laid. You’re actually giving really good advice. Huh. So you’re getting some. What’s his name again?”
I can’t risk it, and Trenton’s lifting the gun so it’s level with my forehead. “I gotta go,” I said in a rush. “My guy’s gonna be coming along soon, and—”
“Say no more! Thanks, Sage’s mom!”
Trenton disconnected the call. “Why the fuck did you—”
“I didn’t mention his name,” I said calmly, doing my best to ignore the cool metal pressed against my forehead. “And it’s not like his name would cause an issue anyhow. Corinne’s not gonna do any digging.”
Actually, I was kinda hoping Corinne would be nosy. That she’d find out Grant. That she might try to find him and ask for details. Because if she can hunt him down, at least Grant would know I’m all right. It was a stretch, but my options were so limited right now that I would take what I could get.
Trenton cocked back his arm. Was he gonna hit me with the gun again? Better that than him firing it.
“Trenton,” Sage called from the bathroom. Her voice sounded a little shaky.
Uh oh. My stomach twisted nervously. She wasn’t gonna start deviating from the plan, was she? For the most part, it was going well.
“What is it, babe?” Trenton called, his arm upraised yet.
“Can’t I go and see Corinne?” she pleaded. She walked out of the bathroom, and Trenton immediately lowered his arm, but he didn’t out the gun away. Her eyes were puffy, and her nose was red. She held a wad of toilet paper to her nose. “She needs me. Jack is—”
“An ass. I hated that guy from the start. Tried to tell you both. If you would’ve listened to me, none of this would’ve happened.” Trenton scowled.
Sage took a deep breath. She was trembling. Uh oh. I had a bad feeling about this. Really bad. Sage, you don’t wanna provoke him. Not when he has his gun out. I tried to catch her gaze, but she was staring at the worn carpet.
“You’re right. She should’ve taken your thoughts into account,” Sage started.
I winced. Yeah, because every girl cared about what her best friend’s guy thought. Somehow, I refrained from rolling my eyes. “Maybe,” I said, but before I could say more, Sage cut me off.
“I know you never cheated on me,” she continued, and I felt marginally better, “and I never cheated on you, but Corinne…She’s been through so much. Let me go and—”
“You aren’t leaving,” Trenton said coldly. A muscle in his jaw jumped, and he was tapping his gun against his thigh, like he wanted to remind us that he had it.
“Corinne will be fine,” I said.
I stared at Sage, trying to give her some of my strength. She just needed to hold out a little longer. Just a little longer. Grant had to be coming. He had to be. Traffic must’ve held him up, but he would make it through soon.
I hoped. I prayed.
“So will we,” I continued. “We’ll all be fine. We’ll walk away and—”
“And what?” Trenton snapped. “Go back to our happy lives? Don’t you see?” he hissed. “Nothing will be like it was.”
My gaze shifted to the gun. “No it won’t,” I said a little coolly. Damn. Even I was losing my composure. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t all survive this.” Fuck. My voice cracked a little. If I couldn’t remain strong, how could I expect Sage to be?
“Baby,” Sage said, coming over to Trenton and holding onto his arm.
Good. She needed to calm him down. His face was red, and if he were a cartoon, smoke would be coming out of his ears. She had worked magic on him earlier. She could do it again.
He jerked away from her. “Don’t touch me,” he growled.
“Two hours,” she begged. “That’s all I need.”
Oh, Sage. Stop. He won’t let you go. Stop asking for it. He’s just gonna get more pissed off!
“No.” He sat down on the edge of the bed, his hands on his head, the gun pointing toward the wall. As long as he had that out, I couldn’t breathe right.
“Then the phone,” Sage pleaded. “Let me call her and—”
“No!” Trenton jerked to his feet so suddenly, so swiftly, Sage stumbled backward.
“Why not?” Sage caught herself, straightened, and narrowed her eyes. Her tears had dried up, and now she was pissed.
Fuck. Fighting fire with fire wasn’t going to go over well at all.
“You let her talk to Corinne.” She gestured violently toward me. “Why can’t I?”
“Just do what I say, and it’ll all work out,” Trenton growled, his voice low and menacing.
I had to try to stop this. “I’m sure he’ll be able to find a job doing…”
But they both ignored me, not that I could think up of a job.
“What do you mean?” he asked slowly.
“What do I mean? Come on, Trenton! You can’t expect—”
“A mechanic!” I shouted. “Trenton, you could be a mechanic. Just think about the amount of money you could charge per hour! It would be perfect! You like motorcycles, right? You have to be handy with them.”
He didn’t even glance my way. The look on his face as he stalked toward Sage left me terrified. “What do you mean I’ll have to skip town?” he asked, his voice terribly cold.
I tried to jerk my wrists, twisting and yanking, trying to loosen the impossibly tight restraints, but I was bound too tightly. I couldn’t get free.
Sage backed up. “You…You don’t listen to me,” she said, her voice quivering.
He advanced more. “You don’t listen to me half the time.”
She bumped into the TV as she kept backing up. “You don’t care about my friends.”
“You never cared for mine.” He narrowed the distance between them.
By now, Sage was as far away from him as she could get, trapped in a corner.
He stood in front of her, arms up, pining her there in place. “You aren’t planning on leaving me, are you?”
There was a raw edge of pain in his voice. Despite his loudness, despite his threats, despite his anger, he cared, almost too much. He had made Sage his whole world, pinned all of his faith and trust in her. Too bad he didn’t know how to treat her right so that she’s stay by his side.
“Trenton,” she said desperately.
I had to say something, anything to get them to stop. “I have to pee!” I shouted even though that tactic hadn’t worked earlier.
Neither looked at me.
“Well?” Trenton demanded.
“I…I don’t…”
“Don’t what?” His grip on the gun tightened. It wasn’t pointed at her, but how long would that remain the case?
“Fire!” I shrieked, desperate enough to try screaming again. “Help! Someone call the police! We’re being—”
Something hard slammed against my head. For a second, my vision darkened to total blackness, but then I blinked and lifted my head.
Trenton was staring down at me. “You pull that shit again, and I swear I’ll kill you.”
My head was pounding, and my ears were ringing. I knew I mouthed the word, “Fire,” but whether or not I actually said it, I didn’t know.
He brought up his arm again.
Sage grabbed his arm and pulled back. “Don’t you hit her!” she shrieked. “You stupid fuck. Don’t you see you ruined everything? I thought I loved you. I wanted to live with you, to marry you, to have our lives be one. I didn’t need money. I needed you! But you had to go and get sucked back up into the darkness. You had to go and fuck it all up.” She took a deep breath, and I thought she was going to burst into tears, but she just narrowed her eyes and slammed her fists onto his chest. “You—”
He grabbed both of her wrists with one hand. “‘Loved,’ huh? You mean to tell me you don’t love me anymore?”
Her eyes went wide, and she twisted around to look at me.
Tell him you love him still, I tried to tell her with my eyes.
“I…” She hesitated.
“Don’t look at her!” Trenton shook Sage.
She shrieked. “You’re hurting me!”
“Do you love me?” Trenton demanded.
“Do you love me?” Sage countered.
Good. That might work.
“Or do you love your drugs or money more?” she continued.
Fuck.
Trenton went to strike her.
I lunged forward, and the chair tipped over, clattering to the ground with me still tied to it.
Trenton, cursing under his breath, put me back upright. He kept his face inches from mine. “You did this. You twisted her against me.”
A sudden wave of lethargy washed over me. “No,” I said, my speech slurring slightly. “You did that yourself.”
Sage was back to crying again, like she had when I first came. Had he broken her? Damn it. This wasn’t good. What the fuck could I do to get us out of this mess?
“Trenton,” I said desperately.
“Shut up,” he directed toward Sage. He turned back to me. “That goes for you, too.”
I glowered at him. Who the fuck did he think he was? The sympathy I might’ve felt for him was swiftly disappearing. At some point, you had to stop using your upbringing as an excuse and start taking responsibility for your actions. And his actions weren’t of a man in love. More like a man who desperately wanted some measure of control. “Trenton, you have one last chance,” I said. “Let us go. I’ll give you some money. You can create an alias and start over fresh, away from the drugs and all of that crap. Or you can wait for Grant to come. Because you know he’s coming. And it won’t be with the money.”
“You think Grant’s gonna save you, honey?” He laughed long and loud and obnoxiously. “Grant doesn’t give a damn about anyone.”
A shiver ran down my spine. I didn’t believe what he was saying. I couldn’t. Grant did give a damn—about me, about Trenton even.
“If you thought he doesn’t give a damn about me,” I said slowly.
He started to nod. “Then why the whole ransom bit? Just in case. I’m running out of options, and that makes me desperate.” The guy actually stroked his gun, petting it.
I swallowed hard. He had crossed the line into madness. Whether or not it was drug-induced or full blown, I didn’t know and it didn’t matter.
Think, Victoria! How can you calm him down?
Talking about the past was out. That would only get him to remember bad memories. Talking about the future was out, too. Money issues would only cause him more stress. What about right now?
Thinking about Corinne made me think about the beach, and I blurted out, “What about a destination wedding?”
Sage burst into a fresh round of tears, and I did my best not to grimace. Yeah, dangling her before him might not be for the best, but Trenton wasn’t the only one running out of options.
“You could pick an island. Get married on the beach. Start a new life. Trenton, you don’t have to do this!”
He kneeled down in front of me. “Oh, but, Victoria, here’s the thing: I already am. And aren’t parents supposed to encourage kids to see things through until the bitter end?”
“The end doesn’t have to be bitter,” I said softly.
Trenton glowered at Sage over his shoulder. “It already is.”
Fuck. If he thought things between him and Sage were really over, it would only make him that much more desperate, that much more unpredictable.
“Yes, it is,” Sage said. She continued to cry, but she seemed angrier now. “How can you expect me to want to be with you when you would tie up my mom? Threaten us with a gun?”
“I was doing this all for you! Can’t you see that?” he asked, almost pleading, although his tone was getting edgier and angrier, too.
“I think—” I started, but neither of them were paying me any attention.
“You’ve always been so demanding,” Sage said.
“Me? What about you? You always wanted me to buy you shit like that stupid dress that made your ass look huge.”
“There’s no need for—”
Again, they ignored me.
“Maybe if you had been truthful about how the dress looked on me—” Sage started.
“It’s not about the fucking dress!” he shouted.
“Damn straight it’s not. It’s about how you couldn’t be completely truthful ever. I liked you
right from the start because you were mysterious, you were a bad ass, and you had charm. But you took forever to open up to me to shed the mystery, you could be just a plain ass, and you were charming only when you wanted to be.”
“I opened up to you,” he protested, his voice not quite so loud this time.
Sage was breathing heavily, but she also seemed to be calming down a little. “Yes, but even that was like getting you to pull teeth. You only give me little bits here and there, and honestly, Trenton, I’m still not sure I have the whole story.”