Page 91 of Coerced

I pushed off the wall and raked my fingers through my hair. Why would Britney ask me to do that? Had Aria really believed I wouldn’t understand whatever this was? Did she think that I could so easily pretend I felt nothing for her?

Aria had turned my world upside down in the best way imaginable. There was so much to like about her, so much more I wanted to explore with her. She’d effortlessly wormed her way into my heart and my life.

Needing Britney to understand where I stood, so I could tell Aria exactly what she meant to me, I declared, “I don’t need to do that. I love her, Britney. Whatever this is, I’m not going anywhere. But I need to know what it is, so I can help her.”

“It’s her family.”

“What?”

“Her dad, specifically,” she clarified. “Aria’s mom got sick, and things got bad at her family’s store. Between the medical costs and the downturn at the store, things got really bad for them. They were going to lose everything. Aria’s the reason they didn’t. She made it possible for them to keep their home, pay off the creditors, and get the medical debt cleared.”

My stomach was twisted in knots at the endless possibilities of what Aria could have done to fix a situation that seemed so grave. “What did she do?”

“She painted.”

I had a lot of ideas in my head about what Britney was going to say, but it was safe to say that wasn’t one of them. “She painted?”

“Yes. And she’s phenomenal at it. So, when her father came home from the store one day, probably one of the darkest days next to learning about Florence’s cancer diagnosis, and he told the family that an art dealer had come into the store, seen one of Aria’s paintings, and wanted to buy it and the three others in the collection for twenty-five thousand dollars, they sold them. Those paintings had so much sentimental value, and they all agreed to sell them. It crushed her. But she did it for her family, to save them. And once those paintings sold, more were commissioned. Aria was ecstatic, and she painted nonstop for years. Even after her mom was better and the bills were all caught up, she continued to paint and take care of her family. But then about a year before she moved, Aria learned the truth.”

“What truth?”

“The paintings were never in an art gallery. There was never an art dealer.”

My stomach pitched. “They were a cover for something,” I stated, quickly determining the direction this story was headed.

“Yes.”

“What was it?”

Following an extended silence, Britney replied, “Drugs. Aria was devastated, Paxton. You have to believe me. She told her father she was done, that she was never going to paint again, but he told her they couldn’t just quit like that. He needed time to get them out. She gave him a year, never telling her mom and her sister the truth about what was happening.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. “He never got them out, did he?”

“No. And Aria never told her mom or her sister the real reason she left. They called her selfish for not continuing to paint and take care of them. They don’t know what her dad did. Worst of all, since she’s moved, her father has been trying to get in touch with her. She told me he was frantic, pleading with her to come back, or at least tell him where she was. I don’t know. I think things likely took a turn. Aria was always the strongest of the bunch when it came to taking care of them, but that’s because she loves fiercely. My guess, if what you’re saying is the truth and she walked willingly into a car with these people, her family’s got to be in trouble. They hurt her, betrayed her, and she’d still risk herself, her morals, and the possibility that you might not ever speak to her again just so she can protect them.”

Aria always said things to make it seem like I was the most compassionate person she’d ever met. Yet here she was, doing this, to save her family again.

I took a few seconds to consider my options. With my mind made up, I said, “I’m putting together a team, and I’m coming out there. I can’t go into this blind, and I won’t screw it up, especially if she’s at risk and there’s a chance this is going to come back on her. I need to work out some details here, and I’m going to need more information from you, Britney. When I call you back, you need to answer.”

“Of course. You’re going to save her, right? That’s what you do.”

I didn’t know how this was all going to go down or the scope of what we were dealing with, but there was one thing I didn’t have any doubts about. “I’m going to save her.”

The moment the words were out of my mouth, I set about doing what I had to do to make that a reality. And when the dust settled, and she was safe again, I prayed that Aria would realize she never had to worry about me walking away from her ever again.

TWENTY-FIVE

Aria

My body was pushed forward harshly. I stumbled to the ground, barely taking in what should have been familiar surroundings, and put my hands out in front of me to brace for the fall.

As my body went crashing to the floor, Ronnie spoke. “You have one hour to make a decision. It better be the right one.”

Two hours and fourteen minutes. That’s how long it took from the time I was all but forced into the back of his SUV and brought here, a place I hadn’t anticipated returning to.

And for two hours and fourteen minutes, I felt nothing but sheer terror. What were they going to do to me? Where would they take me? Would my family be okay?

The worries I felt quickly shifted away from my own self-serving interests. I worried about Sasha. In the heat of the moment, in the terror I felt with Ronnie and the guy Inow knew was called Vic, I hadn’t been thinking straight. I hadn’t begged them to allow me to put my cat inside before they took me. My mind was assaulted by the worst thoughts imaginable of what might happen to her. I prayed she’d stay put until Paxton got home from work, that he’d see her and take care of her.