Chasing Redemption (Book 2 of Chasing Series)

Twenty-Eight | One Option

I hear their hurried footsteps when they finally arrive for me. I don't bother moving from my spot on the basement floor, knowing they'll find me.

There is no hurry when you know they'll find you. It's all a part of Charlie's plan. A plan I still don't know how to react to.

I sit in silence as the basement door flings open on its hinges, whining loudly as it splinters against the concrete wall. Heavy feet barge down the stairs, almost in a pattern of anger.

"She's down here!"

It's Marco. Not exactly the first person I expected to see rescuing me. I hadn't seen him in a while and that didn't really bother me. He wasn't my favourite of the family by any means.

He assess me with his eyes, placing a hand on my neck as he moves it from side to side. He seems to scan for any injuries.

Hunger sits heavy in my stomach more than anything else. Dirt seems to cling to every fibre of my body. I don't feel the physicality of any of my injuries, just the extreme tiredness that aches my bones.

A second pair of footsteps make their way down the stairs and I glance up briefly, landing on Xavier.

He reaches for me quickly, pulling me to his side as his arms scoop around my back. "You're safe," he whispers into my hair.

I can't seem to move my arms as they stay limply at my side. "We're taking you home."

How can they not see that this is merely a set-up? Do they not think it strange that I'm missing for weeks and then my location is suddenly surrendered?

I want Brax, I think, and then I instantly hate myself. I don't want him at all. He ruined me and thought he was doing me a favour.

I don't want Xavier, either. He's just as bad. He pretended to care about me when all along he knew the truth.

"Can you stand?" Xavier asks.

"I'm not sure," I respond, numbly.

I'd been fine before learning of Charlie's plan. Even if Brax had done something that I didn't agree with, it didn't mean I wanted him imprisoned. But more than anything, I couldn't let someone harm Sof.

Xavier pulls me up, wrapping an arm around my shoulder to steady me. Marco holds my other side.

It doesn't take long before the bright light of the sun hits my skin. I almost hiss like a vampire, squinting as the beams warm me.

"Just a little further to the car," Xavier says.

"I can walk," I say, moving away from the boys. They let me walk ahead of them but guide me forward when I start to fall behind.

When I'm only a few metres from the car I notice someone is sitting in the front seat. Brax is watching me through the tinted window as I approach, his hands flexing on the wheel.

I go to climb in the back but Xavier moves me towards the passenger seat. "You should sit up front with him."

"What? No—"

"Please," he whispers. "He just wants to talk."

I frown at Xavier, distancing myself from him as I take a step back. I wonder if I confuse the look of hurt on his face or whether he's actually offended by my movements. Either way, I don't care.

"You trying to patch things up between you two by throwing me back to him?" I accuse, leaning my arm against the car when I start to feel lightheaded.

I notice Brax turn towards me again and I'm sure that he's heard my words. Yet again, I have no reason to care.

"Just get in the front, Rhea?" Marco says this time, sweeping a hand over his head. "You don't always need to make everything so difficult."

"Difficult?" I snap. Black spots begin to swarm my vision. "How...I'm not the one who's is..."

"Hey. Steady now," Xavier has his arms around me and I can feel my feet moving as we walk towards the passenger door.

Only when I'm placed in the passenger seat with my seatbelt buckled in does my vision begin to clear. I need water so desperately but I'm too exhausted to talk.

Brax starts the engine but he doesn't put the car into drive just yet. The car remains quiet, the purr of the engine the only sound surrounding us.

Suddenly, Brax's arm his brushing a strand of my hair over my shoulder. I flinch from the unexpected contact as I look over at him. I notice the way he pulls his hand back, like he's burnt me; the way his jaw works is a sure sign he's mad at something.

"Did he hurt you?" he asks quietly. It feels like, just for a second, that we could be the only two in this entire car.

I shrug. "Not really."

It had all been about the mental game with Charlie, though. I wonder if Brax can see that when he looks at me, glancing back and forth between my eyes.

As he pulls the car away from the building, I have the sudden urge to cry. I bite my lip hard, turning away from him as I stare out the window.

How had my life come to this? I had the worst decision to make, choosing between two people I cared about and I couldn't tell a single soul. It was going to suck the life out of me if I didn't make the only decision I could.

Sof had become almost like a sister to me in the past year, even with the time apart for the family. I couldn't let anyone hurt her ever. A part of me wondered, deep down, if I thought saving her could ever possibly make up for losing Casey.

There really only was one possible decision to make and it made me shudder. I hoped no one was looking over at me as I brought a fist to my mouth, muffling the sob. I was sure they would just narrow it down to the shear relief of being found after the abduction and not the fact I was about to change their lives forever.

Brax would have to go to prison and I'd have to been the one to send him there.