I reach around the floor for my dress. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Don’t lie to yourself,” he counters.

Anger races over my skin and I point to the door. “Leave.”

He slips his cock inside his pants. “Lock your door tonight.”

I’m about to ask why, but he gets off the bed and walks out.

Leo was understandably upset when I called him later on, so I told him I accidentally locked the door and fell asleep waiting for him.

I’m not sure if he bought it, but at least he didn’t press me about it after that.

I’m beginning to drift off to sleep for real when I hear the doorknob of my room jiggle.

What the hell?

It happens again, and I sprint out of bed, ready to tell Knox off.

But then I realize…he’s the one who told me to lock the door before he left.

Which means it can only be my stepfather.

My heart hammers in my chest as I hear something enter the lock…as if he’s trying to pick it open.

Thinking quick, I sprint into the closet, closing the door at the same time the one to my bedroom opens.

What the fuck is he doing here?

Better question…what the fuck does he want?

I hear a huff of irritation escape him when he enters my room and realizes I’m not there.

I squeeze my eyes shut, cowering in the corner of my closet as I recall the words I said to him at dinner.

“Sure, daddy. I’ll do whatever you want tonight.”

Oh, God. I feel sick.

Obviously, I didn’t mean it…but what if he’s here to cash in on that?

My stomach churns as I lean my forehead against the wall of the pitch-black closet.

Only, it’s not smooth like it’s supposed to be. Running my fingers over it, I realize something’s been carved into it.

Almost like a secret message.

Tracing the wall, I make out the letter H easily. The next letter is more difficult, but I think it’s an A. Following that one is a T…and I’m pretty sure the next is an E. Underneath it are two more letters.

An M and an E.

Hate Me.

That doesn’t make any sense.

I hear the faint click of my bedroom door closing, but I don’t trust him not to come back, so I make no move to leave.

I do, however, make a mental note to buy a deadbolt lock for my bedroom, and open up a new bank account tomorrow as my eyes close and I fall asleep.

I wake to my alarm clock going off a few hours later. I push open the closet door, letting the sunlight stream in.

Angling my head, I look at the carving etched in the wall.

My heart sinks.

It doesn’t say Hate Me like I originally thought.

It says…

Help Me.

Chapter 29

Aspen

I try not to make eye contact with Trent over breakfast, but it’s hard because he keeps trying to talk to me.

Even going as far as to offer to take me car shopping again, which I, of course, decline.

I just want to save up money and get the hell away from all of them.

I’m pouring myself a second cup of coffee when my mother announces, “Trent and I will be taking a weekend trip soon.”

Knox and I exchange a curious glance. Clearly, this trip is news to him, too.

“When?” Knox asks at the same time I utter, “Where?”

Trent wipes his mouth with a napkin. “Not this weekend, but next.” His eyes narrow on his son. “I expect you to be on your best behavior while we’re gone.” They swivel to me next. “Both of you.”

“We’re going to a beach house a few hours away,” my mom says with a smile. “Given our wedding was so close to Christmas, we didn’t really get a proper honeymoon.”

Whatever. It will be nice to have them both out of my hair for a weekend.

I glance at the clock on the wall. “We should leave before we’re late for school.”

Knox pushes his chair back. “Let’s go.”

After leaving the table, I grab my knapsack off the floor of the mudroom and follow him out to his jeep.

I wait until we’re buckled in and he’s peeling out of the driveway to speak. “Thanks for the warning about locking my door.”

The muscles in his forearm flex as he clenches the steering wheel. “You should get a deadbolt for your bedroom.”

“I was planning on it.”

His nostrils flare on an indrawn breath. “You should also keep your fucking mouth shut around him and quit pissing him off.”

I want to ask him why he’s defending a creeper, but I clamp my mouth closed for the rest of the ride.

Knox will take his dad’s side. Just like he always does.

Besides, a horny old man looking for a piece of teenage ass for the night is something I’m used to fighting off at the club.

I can handle myself.

The school is up ahead on the left, but Knox speeds past it.

“Where are you going?”

He brings a cigarette to his mouth and lights it. “I have to run an errand.”

I glance at the clock on his dashboard. “Well, you better do it fast. School starts in five minutes.”

I’m expecting him to pull up to a gas station or a store, but he drives past those, too.

“What kind of errand?”

He doesn’t answer, but instead makes a right-hand turn onto a residential street.

The same street Leo lives on.

My stomach dips. “Where are we going?”

Knox stays silent as he pulls up to his uncle’s house…

And I hear the locks on his doors click.

The weird flutter in my stomach turns to full-on dread when he latches onto my seatbelt, preventing me from undoing it.

“Last chance to tell me the truth, Stray. Are you fucking my uncle?”

I adamantly shake my head. There’s no way I’ll let that secret leave my lips. Not only because it’s none of his business, but it will ruin Leo’s reputation.

And mine.

“Are you crazy? Of course not.”

He makes a low growly sound in his throat before he opens the driver’s side door and gets out. I attempt to climb out too, but he comes around to my side, blocking me from escaping.

After undoing my seatbelt, he grips my wrist…so hard I wince. “Well, if you won’t tell me, perhaps you’ll tell her.”