Once the words had spilled from my mouth and I saw the sickening smile on his face, I knew that I had truly made a deal with Devil.
"Perfect," Nicolas said, before gesturing to something behind me. "Get them out of here." The three men then grabbed Ashley, Charlie, and Ben.
"No!" I screamed, struggling against the chains, but my toes barely hit the floor. "Don't you dare hurt them!"
"Calm down, love," Nicolas said, grabbing my face to get me to stop moving. "You do what I say, and I promise no harm will come to them."
"Why should I trust a single word that comes out of your mouth?" I said, forcing myself to not spit on him.
"Because," he said, stepping forward so that his mouth was by my ear, "you know that I don't break my promises."
"Get away from me," I said, struggling to not kick him, for fear of my family's safety.
"As you wish," he said, stepping away. I let out a loud breath.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Talk."
"Talk?" I asked incredulously. "You have me chained to the ceiling and are threatening my family, and you want me to talk? About what?"
"These past four years…well, really more of the first 2 ½ years," he said chuckling. "Took us a while to find you, you know."
"You've had eyes on me that long?" I asked.
"As you said," he said, sitting in the chair that Ash had been in moments before. "I have contacts everywhere…Quite the favor I cashed in on to get 24/7 surveillance on you… my contact almost backed out, but nothing that a little more money couldn't fix."
"Fine, what do you want to know," I said, trying not to think about how exposed my life had been.
"How on earth did you stick to such a routine for so long?" he asked, leaning into the chair. "I know you…you're ambitious and you hate predictability."
"It's the same reason I'm making deals with you," I said venomously, "for my sister and her family."
"Ah, yes, you are quite the selfless heroine, aren't you?" he said, laughing before leaning forward to meet my eyes. "But you and I both know that isn't quite true…"
"Shut up," I said, narrowing my eyes. "This is about my time in Witness Protection? Fine. Then let's stay on that subject."
"Feisty as ever," he said. "But I suppose you are right…Why a PR agency as a secretary?"
"It's what I could get," I stated.
"Why yoga and pilates? You were always more inclined towards boxing, correct?"
"Not a ton of places that offer that for women in Stafford," I said, before narrowing my eyes. "Why does this even matter to you? You're going to kill me anyways"
"It doesn't but I'm intrigued. You managed to evade me for nearly three years, and I find that interesting." He said getting up and circling me. "What made you change your routine?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"What was it about that man, Doctor Reid, is it? What about him made you abandon routine so easily?"
"Why does that matter?" I asked. "That was after you found me and after the two and half years."
"I made the rules, therefore, I can change them," he said nonchalantly, stopping in front of me. "Now, why?"
"I don't know," I said exasperated. "I got bored."
"So, your relationship was born from boredom?" he asked, smirking. He always knew how to get on my nerves.
"That's not what I meant! It's just… I missed… connecting with people… And we just – I don't know – connected," I said, my mind going back to Spencer.
God, I missed him.
"Tell me about him."
"No."
"No?"
"No, I am not going to tell you about Spencer and I's relationship. You had freaking cameras in my apartment, I'm sure that you know all you need to from that," I said.
"Ah, yes, the cameras," he said. "Unfortunately, the video feed was only set up months ago."
Well, that was kind of reassuring.
At least, I had slept without eyes on me at some point in the past year.
"How did you get in my apartment?" I asked.
"I believe I am asking the questions here," he said, smiling.
"Fine. Is there anything else?"
"You didn't answer my last question. Tell me about him," he said.
"How do I know you won't try to hurt him?" I asked.
"Guess that's a risk you are going to have to take… Save your brother-in-law and nephew, or possibly protect your ex, the choice is yours…" he said, walking and sitting back down in the chair.
He knew what I would choose.
The same thing I chose every time.
"His name is Spencer…Spencer Reid. He's a profiler for Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI… he's crazy smart, like basically a genius, multiple BAs and PhDs… He's awkward but in this sweet, endearing way and he is full of interesting facts that I never knew were true… and he always gets so animated when he talks about things that are interesting to him," I said, letting my mind wander to Spencer and forget where I was. "Sometimes, we just sit on my couch and read together… we don't even speak, we just sit together…"
"Now, that wasn't so hard, wasn't it?" he said, smiling wickedly and he stood.
"Just let them go," I said, closing my eyes.
"Of course," he said, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him, "because I promised… And I never break my promise, love."
"Let them go," I said, my voice breaking slightly. He made a gesture to someone behind me, and I heard the door open and close.
"They'll be at a hospital within the hour, and I'll make sure we get surveillance video proof, because I sense you still don't trust my promises?"
"How could I trust the words of a murderer?" I asked, my words sharp as daggers.
"I'll remind you," he said, his face close to mine, "There was a time when you did. Or have you forgotten?"