Page 64 of Break My Rules
“So, where were we?” Max gives me another grin, moving closer. “You know, I had a feeling you were a bad, bad girl,” he muses, reaching out to stroke his fingertips up my arm. “I knew it from the moment Saint brought you around.”
It takes everything I have not to shove him off me. “Oh, really?” I flutter my eyelashes at him instead. “What gave it away?”
He chuckles. “I’ve got an instinct. A talent, you might say. I can tell from looking at any woman just how she likes to fuck.”
Asshole. I swallow hard. “And what did your instincts say about me?” I coo, silently praying the drugs will kick in fast.
“I’m a gentleman,” he smirks. “But let’s just say, I think you like pushing the limits. Going hard,” he adds. “Just like me.”
He’s right. He just doesn’t know how.
“It’s a shame I didn’t meet you first,” I say, then duck under his arm, and sashay across the room. I pretend to scroll through the music on my phone, but really, I’m buying myself a little longer before he actually wants to deliver on all this flirting. “Sounds like I’ve been wasting my time on the wrong man,” I add.
“Then we better get… We better…" Max squints, swaying a little on his feet. He swallows, gripping onto the counter for balance. “Whasgoingon?”
Finally!
“Are you feeling alright?” I ask, as he struggles to stay standing.
“I don’… Feel…. Good….”
Max crumples to the ground.
Thank God.
I spring into action. The sedative won’t last long, Phillip warned me, just enough to move to Phase Two of my plan. It’s not until I’m trying to haul Max to the cellar door that I realize, I didn’t reckon on single-handedly carrying the full weight of a grown man. It takes forever to even move a few steps, and I pant and strain to support him, but I lose my grip halfway down the stairs, and Max takes a tumble, hitting the steps and sprawling on the dusty ground.
Shit.
I rush after him. There’s no blood, and I don’t think he hit his head, so I drag him into the chair, and tie him down with the laundry line and tape. I’m sweaty and exhausted by the time he’s secured, but there’s still one more step to take.
I produce the second vial that Phillip gave me and transfer the contents to a syringe. Sodium pentothal. Phillip said it’s as close as you can get to a truth serum, it’s supposed to calm the nervous system and make the user more open and suggestible. Less able to keep track of their lies.
I grab Max’s arm and inject it all. Then I sink down on the bottom step, breathing hard. I wait there, until Max finally stirs.
“Mmmngghhh….” He lets out a muffled groan, waking. He’s groggy and disoriented, squinting around the dim cellar. “Tessa?” he says, finally noticing me. “What the fuck is going on?”
“What do you think?” I rise to my feet and fold my arms.
Max blinks, and I can see his brain working overtime, as he tries to put the pieces together. Bound and trapped in a dark basement, with nobody around—
He brightens. “Is this some kind of kinky sex game?” He tests the bindings on his wrists, chuckling. “Wow, you didn’t skimp, did you? Top marks. But just so you know, I’ll be returning the favor when it’s my turn.”
Is he serious?
“We’re going to talk,” I say coldly. “And you’re going to tell the truth this time.”
Max’s smile slips. He blinks at me in confusion. “What are you talking about? This isn’t a game?”
“Was it a game when you kidnapped my sister?” I demand, my control snapping. “Tied her up in a basement like this, and did God knows what to her? You’re lucky I’m not recreating her whole experience for you, because those are the kind of scars that don’t heal.”
Max looks bewildered. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Your sister?” he tugs at his restraints. “What does this have to do with Wren?”
“Nice try,” I stalk closer, anger pumping hot in my veins. “I know it was you.”
“What was?”
“Your alibi doesn’t hold up!” My control snaps, “I know it was you. You took her from the Blackthorn party! You hurt her. You… Youdestroyedher!”