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I get Harlee from her seat, she’s fast asleep, probably worn out from all the crying. I follow Finn out of the car and up the stone steps leading to the large door, which opens as we approach. Another man in a suit stands patiently whilst we file in. Finn turns to him, “Dennis, is Mary still around?” The man nods whilst taking Finn’s jacket. “Great, have her stay so she can meet my family.”
“Very well, Mr Lawrence.”
“I’m just going to show them to their room.”
He takes the winding staircase, knowing I’ll follow. I stare after him in disbelief, he’s acting like all this is normal, like he didn’t just beat my boyfriend over the head. Tears threaten to fall again when I picture Ryder lying there lifeless.
We stop outside one of the rooms and Finn opens it with a key. He stands to one side, indicating for me to go in first which I do. I stare at the king-sized bed, the white cotton sheets look crisp and fresh and I fight the urge to slide under them and close my eyes in the hope this is all a bad dream. I turn towards the French doors and hope ignites inside, maybe once he’s gone, I could climb out of those? He sees me staring and laughs before marching over to them and pushing on them. They don’t budge. “They’re locked, Neve, do you think I’m stupid?”
“What are you trying to achieve, Finn? I don’t understand,” I ask as I lay Harlee onto the bed and pull a blanket over her. She doesn’t even stir and I pray that by the time she wakes, I’ve figured a way to get us out of here.
“I just want my family back together,” he says with a smug grin.
“Why? You haven’t wanted us for years. In fact, I don’t think you want us at all, you just don’t want anyone else to have us.”
“If you hadn’t have broken the rules, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“Rules?” I scoff, glancing at Harlee to make sure I haven’t woken her. I step closer to him, glaring angrily, “You don’t get to lay down the rules when you’ve left, Finn. That’s not how the break-up works.”
His smile fades and a darkness takes over his eyes as he grips me around the throat. I close my eyes and concentrate on breathing through my nose. I’ve learnt over the years that if I don’t panic, I can get through this. “The rules were there for a reason, Neve. You belong to me.” He shoves me back a step, releasing me. “Now,” he says, more calmly this time whilst he straightens his shirt. “Let’s meet my staff.”
Staff. He has staff? When we were together, we spent all our time in the luxury apartment he owned in London. Now suddenly he has this huge house and fucking staff? I give Harlee one last glance before begrudgingly following him back downstairs.
We go into the kitchen and I almost gasp out loud at the size of it. The units are all white with a marble worktop. The fridge is enormous and right now, none of it’s making any sense to me. An older looking lady is sitting at the table sipping a cup of something hot. “Mary, this is my wife, Neve.” She smiles tightly, giving a slight nod in greeting.
“Separated,” I add, arching a defiant brow.
Finn ignores me and continues, “Mary will bring your meals to your room. The only time you can leave the room is if I am with you.”
I roll my eyes, “Are you kidding me? You want to keep me locked away with a five-year-old?”
“Think yourself lucky I’ve put you in a nice bedroom, and not downstairs,” he retorts, pointing to a white door across the room.
I stare at the giant padlock on it. “What’s downstairs?”
“Keep asking annoying questions and you’ll find out.”
Finn makes quick work of showing me the rest of downstairs. The grand living room, the dining room with a table that seats twenty guests. I want to point out that he doesn’t have twenty people that would want to willingly sit down to dinner with him, but I stay quiet. By the time he walks me back to the bedroom, I’m relieved to be getting away from him. The house tour was nothing more than a chance to show off, because clearly I won’t get to spend time anywhere but in this room.
I wait for him to leave, locking the door, and then I climb into bed beside Harlee and allow myself to break down.
Ryder
I groan and roll onto my side. A searing pain rips through my head and I grip it, feeling my hair is matted. I glance around and see the dried blood around me, immediately sitting up and regretting the sudden move. The room spins and I groan, feeling my head again and running my fingers over the oozing cut. And then my memories hit me like a sledgehammer. Harlee screaming. The cat. And him, fucking Finn. “Neve,” I call out, gripping on to Harlee’s empty bed and pulling myself on to my knees. I know they’re both gone. Of course they are. But I still shout her name again and again as I stand and hold onto the wall for support. I carefully make my way back to Neve’s bedroom. It’s empty, just like I expected.
I grab my mobile from the bedside cabinet and open the tracking app. It shows Neve’s phone as being here, at the house. I growl in frustration. I dial Griff’s number.
“Brother, where are you, yah dirty stop out,” he answers.
“Griff, I need you,” I mumble, sitting on the edge of the bed and gripping my head again. The pain is unbelievable and my vision blurs. “Neve has . . .” I can’t think straight and I lie back, closing my eyes. “Brother, I-” And then everything goes black.
The sunrise blazed through the French doors. Not that it mattered, I’d laid here wide awake since Finn left me here. The constant worry over Ryder keeping me tossing and turning. What if he was dead? What if no one found him for days? Would Griff worry if he hadn’t heard from either of us? Probably not right away because he’d be giving us time to sort our shit out.
Harlee’s eyes suddenly shot open and she instantly began to cry. I snuggle against her, whispering comforting words.
“I want to go home,” she says between sniffles.
“Me too baby,” I whisper.
