Meadow’s POV:


    Make sure they have her contained


    There was no way ric was referring to someone else when he said that. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but when I walked into the garage <b>and </b>he didn’t notice me because he was on the phone, I just stood there And I caught the end of a very important conversation.


    He was talking about Juniper–with Trip, no doubt


    “We’ll discuss what to do with her? What the hell did that mean?


    What were they doing to her?


    I forced my expression to be neutral


    “West isn’t driving us there?” I asked. I looked around, spotting the SUV West usually drove, my eyes widening at the number of cars in this garage.


    I didn’t know much about cars, but I knew what luxury vehicles looked like–and these were examples of


    them


    “No.” he replied simply “Is it a crime to want to be alone with you?”


    I forced a smile, looking away.


    I wanted to ask ric about the part of the phone call that I’d heard, but when I opened my mouth,


    something else came out.


    “I’m ready” And then I slid into the passenger seat


    ric’s form was tense as he shut the door and turned around to his side.


    Thankfully, he didn’t say a word to me for most of the <b>long </b>drive<b>, </b><b>and </b>he seemed to be deep in thought. But I didn’t mind. I had no idea what I would say or do if he’d tried to speak to me, because I was still gathering up the courage to ask about my sister


    Thest time I mentioned her, he’d been so dismissive. God knows what he’d do if


    “Meadow” ric’s <b>voice </b>was deeper than <b>usual </b>as it cut into my thoughts, bringing me back to the car.


    I turned to him. I <b>thought </b>he must’ve asked me a question but I was too deep in my own thoughts to hear hum “Sorry?“”


    “Are you nervous?” he muttered, sparing me a nce before he faced the road “Is that why you’re so quiet?”


    +15 <b>BONUS </b>


    I let out a breathyugh “Well, you don’t seem to be saying anything either.”


    ric hummed. “Fair enough. But you’re meeting my mother in a few minutes, Meadow.” His mouth pulled up <b>into </b>a smirk. “Your nervousness is practically radiating all over this car.”


    He was right. I was nervous. So fucking nervous that I’d been practicing what on earth I was going to say


    to his mother when I finally met her. But most of that nervousness had already been trumped by worry


    <b>and </b>curiosity.


    I needed to find my sister. Needed to <b>get </b>her out of wherever the hell they were keeping her.


    I flipped my hair, my hands shaking as I spoke. “Well, I’m not supposed to be nervous, though, am I?”


    He nced at me with narrowed eyes and a rock formed in my throat. I swallowed.


    “You have every right to feel nervous, Meadow.”


    “But I’m not supposed to,” I said quietly, hoping my voice wouldn’t betray me. “We both know this isn’t a real marriage, ric, so it’s not like you’re introducing me as the love of your life. The real one, anyway.”


    If I weren’t watching the side of his face, I would’ve missed the subtle way his jaw clenched and unclenched<b>, </b>and the way his grip barely tightened around the steering wheel.


    My heart dropped


    “Still doesn’t mean you can’t be nervous about meeting new people.”


    And then he turned to nce at me <b>again</b><b>, </b>something I couldn’t recognize swirling in his eyes as he


    asked: “Are you okay, Meadow?”


    “Yeah,” I lied, letting out a breath. “I am. I just… you’re right. I am nervous. Sorry.”


    He hummed again but he didn’t say another word.


    My eyes scanned the touchscreen disy on the dashboard. The GPS. If ric had taken this car, which I was almost fully certain he did, the history would probably be there.


    But… no. Maybe I should ask nicely.


    Feeling a new wave of confidence wash over me, I cleared my throat, shifting my gaze to the side of his


    face again.


    “ric… can I ask you something?”


    “Anything, love,” he murmured, teeth scraping over his bottom lip.


    My heart skipped and a shiver ran down my spine from the buttery smoothness of his voice.


    “And you promise to answer honestly?”


    He hesitated. “What’s <b>this </b>about?” His <b>voice </b>was tight <b>now</b>.


    I took a deep breath. “Where’d you go the night we were interrupted? Was it really work<b>?</b>”


    He didn’t hesitate this time. “Yes, it was.”


    I almost believed him. Almost. ric was a damn good liar and had no single tell. Not that I’d noticed, anyway. But with the tension in the car and the way his voice had gone cold instantly.


    “You’re lying “I said before I could stop myself. “You hate it when I lie to you but then you lie to me without so much as a blink.”


    He said nothing, but I noticed the way his nostrils red. “Meadow-”


    “Where were you, ric?” I asked. My voice was shaky now and a sheen of sweat coated my skin.


    His throat bobbed, and nearly a minute passed before he spoke again. “You heard the call.”


    It wasn’t a question


    I decided to be honest. “Not much. Just enough to know that you had hermitted and are now keeping her ‘contained‘ like she’s some kind of criminal-


    “She is a criminal,” he said simply.


    I scoffed. “But she’s my sister, ric.“I took his hand in mine–the one that wasn’t on the steering. And then I squeezed so he could feel me. ric tensed.


    “She’s the only family that I have left, and you taking her away like that against her will and mine is just…


    wrong.”


    ric nced at me, his eyes hard, and when he opened hith, he said: “We can talk about thister.”


    Just that. A fuckingmand.


    “What?” I stuttered. “ric, no! We-”


    “We’re here, Meadow,” he cut in. The car slowed to a stop and I looked out the window to see <b>that </b>we weren’t on the highway any longer.


    We happened to be parked–along with other cars–in some sort of driveway. And not far from us was a


    mansion.


    One even <b>much </b>bigger than ric’s.


    His mother’s house, I supposed.


    Now, the panic really set in<b>. </b>


    My breath heaved and ric squeezed my hand the way I squeezed his “Hey,” he whispered.


    I whipped around to face him.


    “We’ll talk about your sisterter, okay? I promise.” He sighed, gently raising my hand to his mouth and cing a kiss on the back of my hand.


    Something fluttered in my stomach.


    “But right now, I need you not to be upset with me for a few hours, baby. Can you do that?”


    Fuck. Me.


    I hated it when he spoke to me like that because there was no way I was going to say no. And he knew


    that.


    “Yes,” I breathed. “Okay.”


    He smirked. “That’s my girl.”