Chapter 23

Sadie

T he sound of Keelan’s yawn jolted me awake as he shifted beside me in bed. I looked through the open shades of the window as Keelan climbed off the mattress, seeing the sun right above the building across the parking lot. We slept in again.

After dinner last night, I told Keelan he could sleep on the floor. Wouldn’t you know, the bastard snuck into bed when I fell asleep at three a.m. The pressure of his arm around my chest startled me awake. I tried elbowing him away, but he only gripped harder.

As frustrating as it was that he couldn’t give me space, there were times when we slept that I felt his erection press against my ass. If I was being honest, the thought of him forcefully pinning me down and having his way with me caused a knot in my stomach.

God, I’m so pathetic, and I’m starting to not even care.

Was I more frustrated with him … or myself?

When Keelan got out of bed and went into the bathroom with his change of clothes, I sat up, stretching my arms and relishing in the cracks and pops of my spine. I climbed out of bed and padded over to the suitcase. I shifted through the clothes until I found my black T-shirt and a pair of black leggings. Not wanting to be undressed in front of Keelan again, I quickly threw on the clothes and worked on brushing out the knots in my hair.

As I combed through my faded red hair, my thoughts wandered back to last night. Keelan gave me a gift that had meaning and thought behind it. He actually listened to me when I told him about my ambitions to build a rare book collection. I would have never thought he paid attention to anything I said, just wanting to fuck me and forget I existed afterward. When I thanked him, Keelan had a strange look on his face, but then he shrugged like it was nothing. It was infuriating trying to read him. We’d been around each other for years, but he was still a damn enigma—a monstrous one who killed without remorse.

The bathroom door opened, and Keelan walked out, dressed in jeans and a tight blue T-shirt that made his sapphire eyes stand out. Without realizing it, I was drinking in the sight of him. Keelan Blake was a beautiful man, and those tattoos only enhanced that beauty. Whenever we were having sex, I would take moments to memorize the tattoos and the intricate lines that made the art meld to his body. Despite the bullshit contract engagement, I really did want to try to understand my future husband better.

Suddenly, the memory of the man Keelan killed in the warehouse flooded my mind. The gurgling scream, the exposed bones and larynx of Richard Wertz’s throat as the knife severed them in half. And the blood, the endless black-crimson blood.

Nothing about that night made sense. Why would he kill my dad’s employee like that?

Keelan noticed me watching him and smiled, making me feel uneasy. I turned away, quickly finished brushing, and then braided my hair into a simple plait.

“Are you ready to hit the road?” Keelan asked as he packed away the clothes lying on the floor.

I nodded, went to the rickety nightstand, and picked up the Frankenstein novel. My fingers traced over the gold designs again, and my heart fluttered despite the horrible memory in my head.

“Maybe we can buy a small tote or something to protect that book for now,” Keelan said, breaking my train of thought. I turned to look at him, noticing the gentle smile playing on his lips.

My heart fluttered again, and a blush crept up to my cheeks. “Yeah,” I stammered, grabbing my bag. “That’s a good idea. I’d be sick if something happened to this book.”

Within ten minutes, we packed up and walked out to the car. Keelan had slipped the desk clerk another hundred-dollar bill with the unspoken threat of “Talk, and I’ll come back and cut you open.”

It was a beautiful, sunny morning. While I knew I was returning to being an unwilling passenger on a car ride from hell, the cold, fresh air and blue skies felt good. I closed my eyes and took a few breaths, savoring the smell of flowers and pine trees.

I miss Mason’s property. I miss the open air.

“Alright, get in, princess. We gotta get going.” Keelan sounded annoyed. He was completely different now from how he was at the restaurant. It was as if he had seen his own vulnerability through his kindness and the gift and was attempting to bounce back to the dick he always was. “No more pit stops unless we sleep, eat, or fill up gas. We got about seventeen more hours to Vegas. We may have to crash in Colorado, but we’ll get up early enough not to lose any time on the road. Our next stop after that is the Strip.”

Kind Keelan was an act. “How about you just give me a minute, so I can appreciate a nice day without the escaped convict getting on my ass?” I muttered, closing the door and putting on my seatbelt.

“Don’t start, Sadie. We have a lot of ground to cover today,” Keelan said as he started the car. “We can appreciate the nice weather when we get to Nevada.”

I pressed my lips into a tight line, glancing out the window as Keelan drove us out of the lot and onto the highway heading west. As much as I wanted to protest, I decided to let it go.

“City boys never appreciate a beautiful fall day like this one,” I whispered to the window, but it wasn’t loud enough for him to hear.

Dad had always warned me about putting my feet on the dash. A head-on collision or even a fender bender could snap my legs or drive them into my face … or something like that

Today, I didn’t care about that warning. A calm had settled between Keelan and me, and we were actually talking. In fact, we laughed and made jokes. We told stories about our time together as kids, and I reminded him how much of a bully he was. Keelan, of course, never apologized and laughed even more.

He had a nice laugh .

With my hair now tied into a messy bun, feet propped on the dash, and the window cracked open, I leaned back in the seat and breathed in the crisp, pine-scented Colorado air. It was freezing near the mountains, but I wanted to feel that icy wind on my skin. The drive was breathtaking, the setting sun painting the mountain range in deep hues of violets, hunter greens, and vibrant oranges. Stars were already peeking out from the dark, navy blue sky, twinkling like diamonds. The mountains were beautiful. A world separated from chaos, a testament to nature’s ethereal presence that we humans take for granted.

As we rolled down the endless curves of I-70, Keelan mentioned that we were almost to our destination. But almost to where? I knew we were about to meet his brothers in Vegas and, from there, Burbank. But as to what we were doing when we arrived, I still didn’t know. Every time I asked, he refused, reminding me that I am not privy to any information unless he deigns to tell me.

I am his prisoner, after all.

Keelan kept one hand on the steering wheel, his tattoos tinted orange by the sunset, and the other tapped rhythmically against his thigh. He seemed so … relaxed, as if this was another road trip rather than a kidnapping plot involving a dangerous escaped convict.

“Sade, remember this song?” Keelan asked, breaking my gaze away from the rocky cliffs. He smiled as he turned up the volume on the radio. The familiar notes of “Suffocate” by Bad Omens flowed from the car speakers. When Keelan was tattooing my constellations, this song blasted through the shop while he worked. I loved it so much that I made him play it on repeat for two hours .

“No, not at all,” I lied, but my lips curled, teasing him. He knew about how obsessed I became with that song.

Keelan’s eyes darted to me before returning to the road. “Aren’t you happy I talked you out of that butterfly tattoo?”

“I really did want that butterfly.”

“Yeah, but everyone has a butterfly tattoo.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, so? My idea would have been unique, and with your skills, it could have been pretty cool. Butterflies all start confined within cocoons, but once they break free, they can spread their wings and escape. To show the world their beautiful colors, no longer bound by what nature had forced them into.” I turned to look at him. “To be away from everything that makes them feel so afraid.”

Keelan didn’t say anything, nor would he meet my gaze. Instead, he continued tapping on the wheel and turned up the music to drown out the possibility of this conversation going any further. I rolled my eyes before pulling the lever on the side of the seat to raise me upright, my legs slipping back to the floor. Reaching out, I lowered the volume so I could talk.

“Clearly, this doesn’t matter to you,” I said, cocking a brow at him. “When we get back to California, I’ll just ask Gavin to give me one.”

I mentally smirked. That would earn me a stern glance.

“Are you trying to provoke me?” he asked, almost teasing. But I knew there was an edge beneath the light tone. A coded reminder of what kind of punishment he would give me later for suggesting another man touch my skin.

God, it’s so hard to get him to open up.

“How upset were you when your dad told you that you’d have to marry me?” I asked, changing the subject. “Be honest.”

Keelan swallowed, and the muscles in his jaw tightened. “I wasn’t upset,” he said, glancing at me momentarily.

I laughed. “Yeah, right. According to Logan, you threw your dad’s favorite whiskey decanter against the wall, sending glass shards all over the kitchen floor.”

Keelan snorted, his lips forming a smirk. He remembered. “That wasn’t why I threw it,” he replied. “Arthur caught me at a bad time.”

My eyes narrowed, and I sat back in the seat.

That was not the story that made its way through the families. Logan told me that Keelan was so angry about the engagement that he broke a few other items in the house. He hated me that much.

“We got into a bullshit argument about how I handled a client earlier that day. I was fuming and ready to leave when Dad threw in that tidbit of information. My hand was on the doorknob when he casually said, ‘Oh, and don’t make plans to leave town this weekend. You have your engagement party tomorrow night. You can’t disappoint your blushing bride.’”

He turned to me and met my eyes for a brief second before turning back to the road, and my stomach tightened a little. I wasn’t sure why this new information made me feel uneasy. Perhaps it was because he was trying to explain away this illusion I apparently had regarding the forced engagement, though he was probably lying.

“I wasn’t angry that they gave you to me. That’s just the nature of things when you’re bound to this life. It irritated me that they were forcing you against your will. While I may have earned the spot in Arthur and Finn’s agenda, you didn’t. You weren’t meant to be trapped in their world.”

And yet, he trapped me in his.

Keelan didn’t look at me again. My insides twisted into knots. That wasn’t how I remembered it. He never gave a shit about how I felt about any of it. The engagement party was such a negative experience I tried to forget. But I remember that night clearly. Mom had made me wear a blush-pink dress adorned with tiny white pearls. I wore matching pearl earrings and a necklace that felt like a noose around my neck. Dad didn’t say much, only to smile and say, “fucking behave,” before heading downstairs.

We all sat in the dining room, every member of our families attending—even Patrick, who mocked my outfit and commented to Keelan about how I would finally be of use. There was a meal and multiple toasts with champagne. Keelan and I were forced to sit together, fake smiles plastered on our faces, but only anger and disgust were beneath the veneer. My future had been decided for me. That’s when I started filling my glass with the bubbly liquid that would numb me.

After five glasses, I was drunk off my ass. I managed to sneak off to the bathroom without anyone noticing. After peeing and crying, I emerged to see Keelan waiting for me. He grabbed my wrist and led me upstairs to his bedroom. I was too hammered to protest, so instead, I threw myself at him. Keelan had drank almost as much champagne as I did, so it wasn’t as though he was taking advantage of me. Before we knew it, we were kissing and tearing each other’s clothes off.

That night, Keelan took my virginity .

The sex was frenzied and rough, with Keelan slamming me onto the bed and fucking me from behind. There was no foreplay from either of us, and the intrusion of his cock was painful but felt so good. For the first time since being told I was engaged to the violent Keelan Blake, I felt alive. The next day, my pussy was swollen and raw to the touch. I had bled on his bedsheets, too. After I went home, I wondered if sex was always that chaotic or if Keelan was some kind of unhinged animal. Either way, I soon realized that I was his new toy to play with whenever he wanted.

Most women would rightly be afraid. To me, it was a secret thrill that warred with my shame over it.

There was a chuckle in my ear, and my thoughts scattered, pulling me back to reality.

“What?”

“You.”

“What about me?”

“I can always tell when you’re daydreaming,” he quipped while smiling. “You were thinking about the party, weren’t you?”

No way I’m telling him that.

“The party? Ugh, no. I try my best to forget that night.”

Keelan turned the music down, and I braced for some smart-ass comment or insult. But he didn’t say anything. We both knew the truth about that night. We abandoned our mutual hatred and found comfort in the one thing we could give away without regret—our bodies.

Silence stretched between us, heavy with the weight of everything left unsaid all these years.

The tension grew thicker, the dark road ahead of us contrasting the chaotic twists and turns within the car. I turned to look out the window again, the clouds swirling under the starry night sky, trying to focus on anything but this conversation.

“Sadie? Why did you do it?” Keelan’s voice was quieter now, almost fragile. I couldn’t look at him. “Why did you testify against me?”

He can’t be serious.

“You know I didn’t have a choice,” I replied, keeping my eyes on the towering peaks of the Colorado mountains. “If I didn’t, you would have killed me.”

Keelan laughed. The fucker dared to laugh at my fear. Our families disposed of “witnesses” all the time. How could I not have assumed that would have been my fate, too?

“What is so goddamn funny about that?” I snapped, turning to him. “It was you in prison or me dead, Keelan. If you didn’t slit my throat, your father or brothers sure as fuck would. Testifying gave me protection from the families. I was done with all that bullshit. Including you.“ My words were as sharp as glass, and I aimed right for the jugular. “You killed a man, Keelan. For no reason. What did you want me to do? Lie? I didn’t love you, and I was tired of being property written in a damn contract. If anything, it gave me an out. I no longer had to marry a man who would kill me in my sleep on a whim. I wouldn’t have to share a bed with someone who didn’t see me as a human being, just a transaction.”

The bitterness in my voice tasted like venom, and I hoped it burned his soul.

Keelan swallowed, jaw tight. “Well,” he said. “Your little escapade didn’t last long, did it? Don’t think that you freed yourself from anything, Sadie. You’re still mine—my … transaction. You have no say in the matter, even now. ”

My jaw dropped, and despite myself, tears stung my eyes. I knew it. I fucking knew that Keelan didn’t give a shit about me or my well-being. I was a fool to believe he had even one speck of decency when he gifted me that book. Keelan was still the same—my tormentor.

“I wish you had just left me alone.”

Suppressed anger clawed at my gut, warring with a thousand other emotions I didn’t have names for. The air inside the car became suffocating. I had to crack the window farther to let in more ice-tipped wind. The sharp cold was a desperate attempt to feel something other than the rawness in my heart.

To feel anything else.

I turned away but saw him glance at me from my peripheral. For a moment, he looked like the boy I had grown up with, who I fought with over stupid shit. Who gave me a flower to cheer me up. Something in my heart ached. That boy was gone, replaced by this cold-hearted man who killed and hurt for his own satisfaction—an escaped convict who kidnapped me from my home for selfish desires.

My gaze drifted from the jagged rocks to the highway. The sun was behind the mountains now, and a halo of gold and pink light framed the horizon. It was a beautiful Colorado evening sky. But something else drew my attention, something twinkling in the distance.

Those are flashing police lights … shit!

My heart lurched, and adrenaline poured into my veins. It was a roadblock.

“Fuck!” Keelan swore loudly and took his foot off the gas .

We were far enough from the checkpoint that Keelan could turn off the headlights and maneuver the car behind some shrubbery on the side of the highway.

“Get out,” he ordered, the words sharp. “You’re driving.”

“What?” I stared at him, panic crawling up my throat. “No!”

The look he gave me set my heart racing in terror, and I nodded. The intensity in those icy eyes was enough to make me obey. I ran a shaking hand through my hair before I opened the car door.

When he came to the passenger side, Keelan grabbed my wrist, squeezing it hard. “Do not say a goddamn thing unless you want a cop’s death on your hands.” He paused, and for a split second, I saw something akin to fear in his eyes. “Please, Sadie. Don’t make me hurt anyone.”

My throat dried as I nodded again, my heart slamming so hard against my ribs it hurt. The world seemed to close around me, and the thin air throttled my lungs.

“If that roadblock is for you … they’ll recognize you, Keelan. I won’t be able to—”

“Most likely, it’s just a standard checkpoint, and they’ll wave you through once you identify yourself. I’ll be hidden in the trunk with the gun. You’ll figure it out. Because if you don’t … if you do anything to signal you’re in trouble, I’ll shoot those cops right between the fucking eyes. I didn’t go through all this to be caught. Do you understand?”

The lump in my throat damn near strangled me as I swallowed, tears stinging behind my eyes. “I understand.”

Keelan waited until I slid behind the wheel. He went to the back of the car and climbed into the trunk. The latch clicked, and I glanced at the rearview mirror. I wasn’t stupid enough to believe he didn’t have a way out of there.

Looking out at the dark, empty highway, I inhaled deeply and shifted the car into drive. My clammy hands squeezed the steering wheel hard as we drove toward the flashing lights. My entire body screamed to turn around, drive the car into a ditch, and run into the woods. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

The police lights were blinding as I pulled up, and the officers waved me forward. Their expressions were neutral, but their eyes were honed on my face. I forced a smile—at least they couldn’t hear my thundering heartbeat.

“Evening, ma’am,” the officer who waved me forward said, leaning down to peer into the car. I saw his eyes scanning the passenger and back seats to ensure I was alone. “Mind telling me where you’re headed?”

“Um, sure, yeah. Las Vegas,” I replied, my voice too high, too thin. “It’s my friend Kristen’s bachelorette party. I’ve never been there.”

The officer smiled, the corners of his dark eyes creasing, and gave me a quick nod. He scanned the car again. “Everything alright?”

Shit.

I didn’t think I looked that nervous, but considering the stress I’d been under, maybe my face showed more than I thought.

Offering a tired-sounding laugh, I said, “Oh, yeah. I’m just exhausted. I’ve been driving for hours.”

The officer studied for a moment before taking a step back from the car. “May I see your license, please?”

Was that allowed? I had no idea what the law was regarding checkpoints or roadblocks. Not wanting to appear suspicious, I reached into the bag where my wallet with the fake ID was. I slipped out the card and handed it to him.

Please, God, don’t let him look in the trunk.

The officer read the name on the card. “Tess Larson from Tucson, Arizona,” he said before smiling and handing it back. “Hope you win big this weekend. Congrats to your friend.”

Relief washed over me, leaving my insides trembling and cold. I smiled back cheerfully. “I’ll do my best. Thank you, sir.”

He waved me on, and I carefully drove past the lights and traffic cones back onto the highway. I checked the rearview several times to ensure I wasn’t being followed. It felt like my heart was going to explode.

I drove down the highway for several miles before my heart stopped thudding in my ears. My hands were shaking so badly that gripping the wheel until my knuckles turned bone white was the only thing to stop the tremors. My mind was screaming at me to keep driving, to find the nearest town and go to the police.

As I looked for any road signs, I heard a thud behind the passenger seat. Before I could scream, Keelan’s hand wrapped around my throat from behind, and the cold steel of the gun pressed against my temple. I lurched, swerving the car almost into the other lane.

Oh, my God. The bastard climbed out from the trunk through the backseats.

“Sadie, pull the goddamn car over.” His voice was so cold, so lethal. Acid boiled in my gut, and my body went numb. Wordlessly, I pulled the car onto the dirt shoulder near a grove of aspen trees. I didn’t dare breathe, not with that metal promise of death against my head .

“Thought you could pull a fast one on me?” he whispered, lowering the gun from my head.

“N ... no,” I croaked, my throat thick. My chest tightened with pain and terror. “I was trying to find a place to pull over.”

“Little liar. I know exactly what you were trying to do, princess.” Keelan squeezed my throat. Another threat. “Just remember, you have no freedom. Run all you want. Scream, plot, pray—I’ve already outmaneuvered you. I’ve strategically planned this for over a year, princess. No one’s coming to save you.”