Chapter 5

Imani

“Come on,” Allie said, grabbing my hand and squeezing tightly. “Please, please, please, don’t leave me with Jace. Can you bring me home? My car broke down yesterday, and Jace didn’t pick me up and—”

I glanced down at my phone to check the time, looked back out at the rain pouring outside the door, and frowned. Believe me, if I could drive Allie home tonight and hang with her, I definitely would, but Chris was on my every last nerve today, and I didn’t want him telling anyone, not even her.

“I can’t today, Als. I have … stuff to do with my parents.”

Lie. I hated lying to her.

“Maybe if we get done quickly, I can come over, and we can study for Mr. Barnes’s test tomorrow. You know it’s going to be so freaking hard.” The time on my phone read 2:59 p.m., and I stepped toward the door. “But don’t wait up for me. I don’t know how long it’s going to take.”

After giving her my best smile, I pushed the door open and stepped out into the pouring rain, balling my hands into tight fists and heading straight for the parking lot. This rain was going to make my hair so damn frizzy, and the hour I’d spent styling it this morning would be for nothing.

When I reached the lot, there were only a few cars that I recognized as the football players’ who stayed after to practice on the field. I slowed down and glanced around, unsure about where I was meeting Chris or even if he meant this parking lot. All these cars were empty.

I pulled out my phone and opened his messages, rereading his last one over and over until someone put a bag—a fucking bag—over my head. 

“Don’t say a fucking word,” the man said into my ear, a different voice than from earlier.

My entire body tensed, fear rushing through my veins. What the fuck have I gotten into?

Before I knew it, my hands were bound behind my back with rope, the knots tight and restricting, almost as if done professionally. I squirmed back and forth, wondering how nobody else was seeing this, and slammed my shoulder into whoever was handling me because it wasn’t Chris.

“Let me go. I’m meeting with someone.”

“You’re meeting with us.” He pushed me forward. When I almost stumbled over my feet on the pavement, he wrapped his hand around my upper arm to hold me steady and continued forward. 

The world around me was dark, and while I could usually tell where I was, I had no freaking idea where he was bringing me.

“Can you let up?” I asked. “You’re hurting me.”

After grunting ever so softly, he released my arm, opened what sounded like a car door, and pushed me in. A moment later, the door closed, and I sucked in a breath. I felt like I was about to pee my damn pants. This was not what I’d thought would happen when I met with Chris.

I’d thought maybe he’d want something like a slam, bam kind of afternoon.

Not a kidnap Imani type.

“What do you want?” I asked. My heart pounded, sweat lining my lower back.

The car went silent again, and I swallowed hard, unable to think straight. Someone grabbed the top of the bag on my head and yanked it off. When they tore it off me completely, I kept my eyes closed, in pure fear of who I’d see staring back at me because it definitely wasn’t anyone good. One moment passed, then two, and then I reluctantly opened my eyes. Staring back at me wasn’t one, wasn’t two, but it was all three of the most dangerous boys at Redwood.

Poison.

“I’m sorry for what I did earlier with Akio,” I said, refusing to make eye contact with them.

If this was a damn punishment for getting in their business, I’d take whatever consequences they had because Chris was waiting for me somewhere out in the parking lot, and I didn’t want—

“This isn’t about Akio. This is about Rosy,” Landon said.

I shifted my focus from Kai to João to Landon and sucked in a deep breath. Something about the way Landon looked at me, the way his eyes raked over my body like he had seen it a million times, and the way those full lips curled into that infamous crooked smile, I just knew.

“Oh my God, it’s you.” I shook my head and placed a hand over my mouth in disbelief. 

Chris was Landon, Redwood’s bad boy, and he now knew my darkest secrets.

They all stared at me with no emotion—no fucking emotion—for the longest time. And then they laughed.

My eyes widened, cheeks flushing. “What is wrong with you guys? Do you think that tying me up and putting a bag over my head is funny?! Because it’s not! I could’ve died from suffocation, and you would have had a dead fucking body on your hands.”

João curled his lips into a smirk. “Nothing we haven’t dealt with before.”

Somehow, my eyes widened even more. I didn’t know why I was even fighting with them or why I was surprised. Poison was baaaad freaking news, and I couldn’t be associated with them at all. But they now knew my secret, and I hated them for it.

“Imani,” Landon teased, leaning forward from the passenger seat and tugging on one of my frizzy curls.

“Untie me,” I said through gritted teeth, shoving my shoulder into him to push him away.

“A feisty one,” João said.

When I didn’t reply, he nodded to Kai, who leaned closer to untie the ropes around my wrists. 

As soon as my hands were free, I rubbed my palms and gritted my teeth. “What do you want? I’ll give you anything to keep this a secret. Please.”

Landon chuckled. “Oh, we don’t want your parents’ dirty money, Imani. We want you.”