Page 52 of Caging Liberty
“I don’t care who it was,” I decide out loud. “Why didn’t you tell anyone about this sooner?”
Desiree frowns. “Because I know the consequences for her if I did. And I took her to the beach and had a really long talk with her about it. She promised me she wouldn’t try anything.”
I sigh and close my eyes, running my hand through my hair as I do. I don’t fault Lib for trying to escape her fate. I get it. Part of me even likes that she’s been so difficult to cage. Most of me even.
But I’m growing very tired of the way she’s going about things. Her attempts are useless. She’s nowhere close to getting what she wants, and she doesn’t even know it.
“Where would she have gone?” I ask, letting my hand fall to my side.
Desiree shrugs. “Your house, I think. She talked about trying to find a phone. I don’t think she was planning on actually running. She’s not quite that stupid.”
I catch the indignation in Desiree’s tone but ignore it.
I turn and head for the back exit.
“What are you gonna do?” she asks, hurrying behind me.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you want me to go get Sawyer?”
“No,” I snap, jerking to a stop. I spin and face her. “Youdo nottell a soul about this, do you understand?”
She nods, and I force my face to soften. “You did the right thing by telling me. Now go back to the playroom and pretend this conversation never happened.”
I pause a moment, debating on apologizing. I’d prefer things to be tense between us, but I also don’t want her getting pissed off and running her mouth to someone just to spite me.
“Sorry about earlier.”
She stares at me, resting bitch face on full display. I turn to leave without either of us saying another word.
When I get outside, several people are by the pool. A frequent manor guest, Alec Crow, waves and calls my name, but I ignore him and stride toward the gate. It’s so dark out, I can barely see in front of me as I travel the path to my house, but I could walk it blind with muscle memory at this point.
It takes several minutes to reach my back door, and I have a moment of relief when I don’t see any lights on inside. Maybe Lib didn’t go through with this ridiculous plan after all.
I throw open my sliding door and step inside. Before I ever get the light on, I hear a click, and my eyes dart to the left. Even in the dark, I can clearly make out my gun held steady in Lib’s hands.
“Turn on the light,” she commands.
I’m taken aback for a moment, but my surprise quickly turns to anger. “What’s your plan here, Ivy? You going to take me hostage?”
“Turn. On. The. Light.”
I huff out a laugh and hold out my hand. “Give me the gun.”
“Turn on the fucking light!”
My jaw clenches, and I slowly lower my hand, flexing my fingers when it’s at my side. I use my other hand to reach for the wall and flip on the kitchen light.
Lib squints like she’s been in the dark a while, and I wonder just how long she’s been hiding out here, waiting to point my own gun at me.
I inhale deeply through my nose to steady myself.
“Unlock the phone.” She nods toward the table where my cell is. I glance between it and her. She rocks back and forth on her heels, hinting at the endorphins flowing through her veins. Her eyes are wild, and both her hands hold the gun tightly enough her knuckles have turned white.
I give my head a shake. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Just do what I tell you,” she practically yells. “Otherwise, I’ll shoot.”