Deceiving Lies

“I don’t know how to explain it, but I know something bad is about to happen!” I hissed and grabbed onto his forearm before bringing his hand to my chest so he could feel my racing heart. “I won’t turn you in, Trent, I swear, but we need to get out of this place.”

“Rachel”—he pi

“No, I don’t know that!”

“Look, I want to get you away from here, you have to at least know that. And you heard Jaime the other night, because of what I’m doing for you, I’m out, do you understand what that means?”

“No—”

“It means, when Romero gets word of this, or gets out, I’m dead. Trust me when I say I want to get out of here just as much as you do. But you’re out of your goddamned mind if you think they don’t have men stationed at the exits!”

I flinched away from his harsh tone, and immediately one of his large hands cupped around the back of my neck, forcing me to look at him again.

“Shit, I’m sorry. We just can’t get out of here, okay?” When my eyes kept going down to my lap, he spoke gently. “Don’t be scared of me. I’m sorry for snapping at you. You have to understand that I would do anything to get you away from here, and it’s killing me that I can’t.”

I nodded and waited until my heart was going at a normal pace before asking more questions. “Who is Romero? Where is he getting out of? Is he in jail or something?”

“Rachel,” Trent said in a clear warning, but I didn’t stop.

“Why is he the one that decides if you’re ‘out’? Oh my God, are you in a gang, Trent? Are all of you in a gang?”

“Please stop asking questions,” he begged and stood quickly from the bed. Dragging his hands agitatedly through his hair, he blew out a heavy breath and began pacing.

“You are!” Oh my God, thank God. “He’s going to find me. He knows all the gangs in this area better than anyone. I know he’s going to find me.” I started chanting to myself, and for the first time in days, I had hope that Kash would come rescue me.

“Who is going to— Oh. No, Rachel, he . . . he’s not.”

It felt like my heart had dropped to my stomach as I forced out, “W-what . . . did you . . . you said you wouldn’t hurt him!”

“And we haven’t,” he hissed and stalked back to the bed, bending over me enough that I fell back onto the pillows. “They stopped looking for you over a week ago. They all stopped looking for you.”

Fat tears began rolling down my cheeks before I even realized I was crying. “No, he wouldn’t. He can’t. He has to be looking for me . . . right?”

“Rachel.” He reached out for my cheek, but I smacked his arm back and turned away from him. “Please talk to me.”

But there was nothing for me to say to Trent anymore. He’d just confirmed everything I’d feared the other night. Kash probably thought I was dead. And the department, Mason, and Kash had all given up hope of finding me. A hollow feeling had filled me, and I’d wondered if this was what it felt like to give up on life.

Even when I’d been terrified, and afraid that I wouldn’t make it out of here alive, I’d always kept hope that Kash was coming to find me. And now that I knew he wasn’t, I felt my body succumb to the knowledge that I was gone from Kash for good. I hadn’t even felt that way when I’d been with Blake last year, or when Kash and I had broken up.

I was positive that being tortured by Blake was easier than dealing with that sense of loss.

Hours passed before Trent tried to get me out of his bed again. “Come on, we’re going into the kitchen, and you’re going to eat something.”

I didn’t respond.

“Rachel, let’s go. You didn’t eat lunch, and I’m not about to let you starve yourself. Get up.”

When I didn’t make any attempt at even moving, he lifted me out of the bed and walked me toward the door before setting me on my feet. He made sure I wasn’t about to fall over, and when he stood directly in front of me, he sighed heavily and pulled my body close to his. I stumbled over my feet and smacked into his chest but didn’t make a move to get away from it.

“He stopped looking for me. He thinks I’m dead,” I whispered into his chest.

Trent’s arms tightened around me. “I’m sorry.”

“I have—I have to do something. I have to let him know I’m alive.” A thought hit me, and the desperation I’d felt this morning came flooding back to me. I pushed away from Trent, and lunged for the workout equipment blocking the door.

“What are you doing? I’ll get that.”

“I have to get out of here! I have to find him, I have to let him know I’m alive!”

Trent’s arms went around me, pulling my back against his chest. “If you try to get out of here, they will catch you. They won’t let you out, don’t you understand that?”

“I need to try! Kash needs to know!”

“Rachel, no!” Spi

“I don’t care!” I nearly shrieked. “You can help me this time, I have to try to get back to him!”

Turning us, Trent pressed me against the wall and covered my mouth with his large hand. After a dark look, he dropped his head, and turned it slightly as he listened for anything coming from the hall. When minutes passed, and nothing happened, he removed his hand and leaned in to whisper softly in my ear, “You can’t yell things like that. If one of them heard you, they’re going to be waiting for us. There are men waiting upstairs, there’s no way for both of us to get past them without them trying to take me down . . . and take you.”

“I need Kash to know I’m alive,” I said hoarsely. “I’ll do anything, I’ll risk it, I don’t care.” I hadn’t tried to escape since those first couple days here . . . but at the time, I’d known Kash would try to find me. Knowing he’d given up had changed everything for me. “If he isn’t coming for me, then I’ll die trying to get back to him.”

A brief, choking noise left Trent, and the arm still curled around me tightened. “I can’t let you do that, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let something happen to you now. I— Fuck. If I . . . Rachel, if I try to get in contact with him, will you please make an effort to keep yourself alive while you’re here?”

My head flew back, and my gaze rested on his pained expression.

“But know that even if I do get in touch with him without one of the others finding out, it might not end well for him. This place is full of armed men; he might not get in here, and get you out, alive. I can’t be the person responsible for that. You would hate me.”

“Trent, please! Please, anything, I’ll do anything! Just let him know where I am and that I’m okay. I know they’ll come for me.”

His dark eyes took on more hurt as he nodded his head. “I’ll try. I can’t promise anything, there’s no cell service down here, so I’d have to go up toward the top. Getting close to the outside right now with everyone against me might not be easy. They might already know if Romero wants me out, and if they think I’m trying to leave, they’ll kill me in a heartbeat. It would leave you unprotected, and without him knowing. I just . . . I don’t know. I can’t put you in that position.”

“It’ll be okay.” I tried desperately to reassure him, and just watched as the pain on his face turned to sorrow. “Everything will be okay, but we need to try!”

He watched me for a few seconds before nodding and releasing me. “I’ll do it, if that’s what you want.”

Yes, that’s what I want. I want my fiancé back. I want my life! I want to get out of here and never leave Kash’s side again.