Secrets and Sins: Chayot: A Secrets and Sins novel (Entangled Ignite) (17 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Aslyn stared into the stygian darkness and breathed deeply.

In. Out. In. Out
.

She wasn’t suffocating.

She wasn’t going to die in the tiny closet where unseen things scratched and scurried behind the walls.

Shit
. Don’t think of that. She wasn’t prone to panic attacks or frenzied fits over crawly things, but with her hands and feet bound, she couldn’t slap them away or stomp them out of existence. She closed her eyes, preferring to stare at the back of her eyelids then straining her sight trying to see
something
in the blackness.

The back of her head tapped the wall of the closet.

Liam
.

Oh God. Liam was alive. And he’d shot—possibly killed—Riley and Jared right in front of her. The man who’d been in her life for ten years as her manager, big brother, and best friend was a killer. And her stalker.

She coughed, the sound caught somewhere between a sob and a harsh bark of laughter. Reason argued murder trumped stalking. Obviously, Liam hadn’t been the man lying on her living room floor under a sheet, even though Liam’s ring had adorned the man’s finger. For some reason, her manager had killed a man in order to fool people into thinking he was dead. That man—whoever he was—had probably left family and friends behind. His life had been taken as part of a scheme known only to Liam.

She, on the other hand, still lived. For now.

But the man she’d called friend, the man she’d trusted above all others, had waged a war of terror against her. Liam had been beside her when she suffered through the nightmare with Quinton Lakes, and yet he’d adopted those same tactics to make her life hell. He’d betrayed her, sought to harm her for reasons she couldn’t fathom. What had she done to him to incite the kind of hatred required to frighten and hunt her down like an animal?

How had she spent year after year with him and not recognize the evil simmering below the surface of his handsomeness, his smile and kindness?

Grief swelled inside her, different but as powerful and consuming as her sorrow the day before when she believed he’d been murdered. Yesterday she’d mourned because she’d believed he was dead, forever lost to her. Today she mourned because the friend she depended on, loved, didn’t exist—possibly never existed.

And he was as forever lost to her today as he’d been the day before.

She sucked in a breath, slowly exhaled.

Think. You have to think
.

He was returning for her. The promise, stated with a grim smile and steely glint in his familiar blue eyes, had sent shivers creeping over her skin. Those had been the only words he’d uttered to her since forcing her into his car after shooting Riley and Jared. The
I’ll be back for you
had seemed even more ominous on the heels of the absolute silence. He hadn’t mentioned Chay’s mother, nor had Aslyn seen her.

So she had to be prepared to fight, to run, to do anything to survive—for both her and the other woman to survive. Bile roiled in her belly and scalded her chest as visions of what “anything” might entail.

No. Nononono. Can’t go there. Prepare.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

How many times had Liam repeated his favorite Benjamin Franklin quote? Ironic that even now when he represented the threat to her life, she was still heeding his advice.

She tugged on the zip ties around her wrists and ankles. A futile struggle, but at least he’d imprisoned her hands in front of her instead of behind. She had to buy time. Give Chay as much time as possible to find her. Because she didn’t doubt he would. He was a hero—it’s what he did.

Besides, she had to tell him she loved him. She wasn’t leaving this earth until he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone—
she
—adored him, wanted him, accepted him.

Liam would not steal that away from Chay or her.

A slight shuffle reached her from the other side of the closet door. Her heart leaped to her throat and pounded there, deafening her to everything but the deep, resonant beats. Curling her legs under her hips, she planted her palms on the floor and pushed to her feet.

Damn if she would face him cowering on the floor.

The door creaked open reminding her of a crypt.
Shit
. Wrong thought. That would make her the dead person inside the tomb.

Light flooded the small, dark space. She blinked, desperate to adjust her vision as soon as possible to the abrupt brightness. Before the spots cleared from her eyes, Liam knelt and cut the tie around her ankles. Then hard hands gripped her wrists and dragged her forward out of the closet. She stumbled, but quickly recovered her footing.

“Careful, Aslyn,” Liam cautioned. “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Another punch of pain and rage socked her in the chest. His smiling face, his patient voice… It was like Halloween had arrived early, and a stranger wore the mask of a friend.

“Follow me.”

He didn’t give her time to obey but tugged her behind him out of one vacant room, into a corridor, and into another room empty of furniture, pictures, or knickknacks. Only a folding chair, fireplace, and a wood mantel provided decoration in the barren space.

And the big knife he set on top of it.

“Please.” He led her to the folding chair and lowered her to it with a firm hand to her shoulder. “Have a seat. I know it’s not comfortable, but we won’t be here long.”

Fear squeezed her heart. She refused to dwell on what that could mean.

She glanced around. “Where’s Chay’s mother? Is she okay?”

“Oh right.” He smiled, reached into his pocket, and removed a small, handheld digital recorder. A second later a woman’s voice filled the empty room.
“Hello? Hello? Is someone there?”
His grin widened. “I did a little digging, found Evelyn Sheldon’s number, and called her. I didn’t have to say a word. Just let her do all the talking.”

He’d tricked her.

“Liam,” she whispered, staring into his loved face. “Why?”

“You’re going to have to be more specific, love.” The familiar endearment ate at her like acid. “Why did I shoot your bodyguard and bring you here? Why did I kill a man to make you think I was dead? Or why have I been keeping tabs on you, following you, and watching you whore yourself out for a complete stranger?”

Jesus
. “Uh, take your pick?”

Liam stared at her, then chuckled. “Always the wisecracker, eh, Aslyn?” He knelt down in front of her and cocked his head. “Well, I want you to know. I want you to know why I’m going to kill you.”

She fought not to flinch, not to reveal her terror. “Kill me, Liam? You’re my friend. My best friend.”

“Friend?” He laughed and rose to his feet. “Don’t I know it, love. All I’ve ever been to you is the person to oversee your career and a good
friend
. Never mind that I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you. That I’ve given you everything. I’m still your
friend
.”

“Liam,” she breathed. He’d never betrayed any indication that he’d felt anything more than familial love for her.

“I’ve sacrificed clients, made you the center of my life and my career. Every move I’ve made in the last ten years has been with you in mind, as my priority,” he growled, pacing several feet away in front of her. “And how do you repay me? By trying to get rid of me. Push me out of your life.”

“What are you talking about?” She shook her head. “I would never—”

“Jeremy Sutter,” he spat. “All you’ve talked about even before Lakes attacked you was bringing in Sutter to replace me.”

“No, Liam. No,” she repeated, leaning forward in her chair. “That’s not true. I wanted to ease the load off you, that’s all. Since Mom and Dad died, you’ve been my manager and agent. I thought if we brought Sutter on board to take the agent role, it would free up your time, allow you to have more of a life that didn’t revolve completely around me. I didn’t want to get rid of you. I couldn’t have made it this far without you.”

“I
wanted
my life to revolve around you! I
built
my life around you. But did you see that?” he snapped. “No, because you’ve never seen me. You never
see. Me.
” He glared at her, his fist clenching and unclenching. Clenching. Unclenching. “I nursed you back to health, remained by your side through the stabbing and recovery, and even offered you my home when you wanted space. And still you wanted Sutter. To replace me. God, I wanted to—
needed to
—punish you. To make you suffer for all the pain you put me through.”

Unrequited love. He’d caused so much pain and misery because of a case of unrequited love? The fury rolled through her like a drum of incoming storm clouds—heavy, dark, and thick.

“So you’ve killed an innocent man, possibly three, and plan to add me to the body count, because I didn’t love you as more than a friend?”

“No.” He stopped, loomed over her. “I’m going to kill you because you let that son of a bitch fuck you,” he snarled. “I’ve waited for you. After those first two idiots years ago, I knew you were mine. No one had touched you in four years, because
you were mine
. But then you come here, and within a week of meeting him, you’re letting him rut on you like an animal.”

“H-how did you…?” She studied him, a sickening suspicion sneaking into her brain.

“I watched you,” he said softly. Almost gently. “After you had the security system installed, I couldn’t risk coming around the house and taking pictures again. So when you left the house the following day, I set up cameras all over the house. Thank you for the security code by the way. You made it so easy for me.” He grazed the back of his finger over her knee. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. She fought not to cringe.

But she must not have succeeded because his expression hardened and he rose to his feet again. Hatred glinted in his ice blue eyes. She shivered.

“You don’t like when I touch you, but you allowed that…that bastard,” he hissed, “to put his hands all over you. You left L.A.—and me—so easily. I thought after a month by yourself you would realize you missed and needed me and return. But one month stretched to two. And two to three. And during all that time, you still didn’t appreciate anything I did for you. I ran interference for you with the record company, the orchestra, the crew. If not for me, everyone would’ve known you couldn’t even touch a piano, much less play and fulfill your obligations. You think I didn’t know about that?” He scoffed. “I kept your secret. And still all I hear from you is, ‘
I’ll be back soon. I need time. Have you heard from Jeremy?’
Ungrateful. You were such an ungrateful bitch,” he snarled. “So I wanted to punish you. Punish you for your disloyalty. Scare you into returning to me and realizing I was the only one who could provide for you, care for you, give you everything you needed. But after your betrayal with Chayot Grey, you deserve to die. You both do.”

She gasped, gaped at him. “The brakes. Chay’s brakes. You did that.”

He shrugged. “It worked once before.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it, Aslyn,” he said, condescension dripping from his tone.

With that frigid stare trained on her, she racked her brain. What could he—? Then, like a veil lifting, the truth—the god-awful truth—whispered through her head.
Oh God. Oh Jesus
.

“You didn’t,” she rasped. “You didn’t. Liam, please…”

But he nodded, a malicious smile curving his mouth.

“Yes, I did. Your mother noticed the way I looked at you. One night after a show, she caught me in your dressing room, watching you shower from the bathroom door. She fired me, ordered me not to come near you or she would tell everyone what she saw. She threatened to destroy my career and take you away from me. I couldn’t allow that. So the next day, I sliced your parents’ brake line. The rainy night was pure coincidence. She shouldn’t have threatened me,” he explained, his nonchalance disgusting.

Disbelief, rage, grief. They consumed her. He’d taken so much from her. Her family, her security, her peace, and now he sought to take her life.

“You can’t get away with this,” she recited more to herself than him. “I won’t let you get away with this.”

“Really?” he sneered. “And what do you plan to do about it? You couldn’t stop me from luring Sutter here and killing him. You couldn’t stop me from planting a tracker in your purse when I broke in the house to install the cameras. You couldn’t stop me from following you to that so-called safe house. You couldn’t stop me from getting to you. How exactly do you propose stopping me now?”

He strolled to the mantel above the fireplace, confidence and menace in every step. He picked up the knife, his manner almost reverent, loving.

“Do you think no one is going to find out you’re behind this?” she demanded, terror clawing at her chest and throat. Her vision narrowed, expanded, and narrowed again on the lethal blade. Deliberately, she inhaled.
Focus, goddamnit. You can’t die. Not like this
. “Once they run Jeremy’s fingerprints, they’ll know you’re not dead. That you’re involved.”

Again, Liam lifted a shoulder.

“Doesn’t matter. I knew the ring would only buy me a few days at most. Once I take care of you, nothing else will matter; I’ll disappear.” He ran his thumb along the knife’s edge. “The most important matter is you. I can’t bear to exist in a world where you’re living happy and without me. Jeremy couldn’t have you, and that bastard, Chayot Grey, definitely won’t have you.”

Time had run out.

He advanced on her, the blade glinting in the afternoon sunshine. When his toes brushed hers, and he raised the knife, she shot out of the chair, palms up and pressed together. She thrust the heels of her hands at his face. Her stomach lurched at the audible crunch of cartilage and the spurt of blood from his nose. The weapon clattered to the floor as Liam covered his broken nose with his hands.

But he didn’t go down.

“Bitch,” he snarled, lunging for her.

She ducked. Shot out her foot. Kicked the back of his knee. Liam dropped, knocking the chair over. The impact vibrated up her flip-flop-clad foot and jarred her own knee, but she didn’t wait to see if he would stay down. Blood and adrenaline racing through her veins, she limped to the front door, which seemed miles and miles away.