Page 92 of Coerced

Of course, at the thought of Paxton, a new wave of emotions rolled over me. He was wildly observant and worked in situations like this all the time, so I had to assume he’d realize something was wrong. I even believed he’d take the steps to try to find me.

My biggest concern was that if he was able to locate me and save me from this situation, he’d get me home safely and walk away from me. Why would he, a man who was so good, who had such high moral standards, ever want to be with me, a woman who went against her better judgment and continued to work to help an illegal operation?

I knew I’d lose him, and my heart ached nearly the entire drive, thinking about how I was going to need to find a new place to live if I managed to survive this. It would be entirely too difficult to look out my window and see Paxton, knowing I couldn’t have him.

Pressing my palms into the carpet I’d walked on thousands of times when I lived in this house, I pushed myself off the ground, stood up, and ran to the door. It was locked. The door was locked on the outside, when it hadn’t been that way my whole life.

I let out a frustrated sigh, prepared to go out the window, but the moment I turned around, I froze in my tracks.

Because that’s when I saw them—Mom, Dad, and Jasmine.

They were no longer gagged, but their wrists and ankles were bound together.

The moment was tense, uncomfortable. It was the first encounter we’d had with each other since I’d left Birch Creek.

“Aria,” my mom rasped, tears spilling down her cheeks.

I wondered why she was crying. Was it because she was overcome with emotion at the sight of her daughter for the first time in months? Was she afraid for herself in this situation? Or did she feel guilty about how she had treated me months ago now that she knew the truth about why I left?

I said nothing to her.

My eyes slid to the side, taking in my sister. Unsurprisingly, she was a wreck. Admittedly, in this situation, her reaction was justified. She couldn’t seem to bring herself to hold my stare. Once my eyes locked on hers, she looked away. And I was left wondering if that was the result of her feeling upset about me having left months ago or if she was sorry for having treated me the way she had because I did.

When my stare settled on my father, something I couldn’t quite describe washed over me. Deep down, I loved him—I loved all of them. Sadly, the fact I was in this situation now, that I was taken from my new home while my cat was left outside, was the result of the choice my dad had made. And it was that knowledge which overshadowed my ability to want to run into his arms and hug him tightly.

I stepped forward, bent down, and untied the bindsaround my mom’s wrists and ankles before doing the same for my sister. If Ronnie, Vic, or anyone else involved in this nightmare of a situation thought they were going to toss me into this room without any binds and expect me to leave my family tied up, they were mistaken. Despite what I felt about everything that had happened between us, they were still my family, and I wouldn’t leave them like that.

With my mom and sister free, I finally moved to my father and untied him.

“I’m sorry, Aria,” he croaked when I’d released the last of the binds.

I lifted my chin slightly and squared my shoulders, my throat bobbing as I swallowed past the tightness in my throat. “You should have listened to me. You never should have done what you did to begin with, but you certainly shouldn’t have continued. You should have stopped.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the way my mom and sister sat up a little taller, like they were worried they were going to miss out on hearing some crucial piece of information.

I ignored that first warning sign, stood, and kept my focus on my dad. “Aria, please don’t.

I blinked in surprise at him. “Don’t what? What’s happening now? Why is Ronnie warning us there’s only an hour to figure something out?”

“You know his name?”

My body tensed. “He followed me home from my job one night weeks ago!” I spat. “Do you know what that was like for me? Do you even care?”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen.”

“Then you would have done something about it a long time ago. You were the one who had the power to fix this.”

“What is she talking about, Melvin? What is this about, Aria? You know who these people are? Where have you been?”

Sending a look of disbelief her way, I asked, “Are you serious? Are you telling me you have no idea what’s going on here?”

Jasmine spoke for the first time since I entered the room. “Do you?”

My lips parted in shock, my eyes cutting to my dad. “You haven’t told them?”

He sent a pleading look my way as my mom asked, “Told us what?”

“Are you going to tell them, or am I?”