The car ride to the Hamptons was long, but at least this time, Armando wasn't in it.
Jeri had been waiting in the car, oblivious. She chattered excitedly, apologizing for a "last-minute family thing" that had kept her from picking Alexa up herself. Alexa looked at her friend's bright, innocent face and couldn't bring herself to explain that the "family thing" had been Jeri's brother, personally ensuring her capture.
"You are going to love my brother's estate," Jeri gushed, scrolling through photos on her phone. "He calls it the Rose Manor. He has, like, hundreds of different kinds of roses. It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen."
Alexa's stomach clenched.
"He's super private about it, you know," Jeri continued, oblivious to Alexa's inner turmoil. "He almost never invites people there. You're the first friend I've ever been allowed to bring. He must really like you!"
The words were meant as a compliment, but they landed like a death sentence. She didn't want to be the first. She didn't want him to like her.
The photos on Jeri's phone showed sprawling gardens and seas of flowers that were, objectively, breathtaking. But all Alexa could see were the thorns. The beautiful, fragrant prison that was waiting for her.
She tried to probe, carefully. "Your brother... is he always so... intense?"
Jeri laughed. "Oh, you mean Mr. Brooding and Mysterious? Yeah, pretty much. He's a total workaholic, super serious. We're all a little scared of him, to be honest. But he's good to his family." She nudged Alexa playfully. "He was nice to you, though, right? I mean, he personally came to get you. That's a huge deal."
Alexa forced a smile that felt brittle enough to shatter.
She pulled out her own phone, her thumb hovering over her brother Gideon's contact. She typed out a message: Hey, going to the Hamptons with Jeri for a few days. Something feels... off.
She stared at the words, then deleted them. How could she explain this? My friend's terrifyingly rich brother has kidnapped me for a vacation? Gideon would drive here himself and probably get arrested for trying to fight Armando. She couldn't worry him like that.
The feeling of being utterly alone and without recourse settled deep in her bones.
Jeri eventually fell asleep, her head resting on Alexa's shoulder. Alexa stared out the window as the concrete jungle of New York City gave way to the lush, manicured green of Long Island. She felt like she was being ferried across the River Styx, leaving her entire world behind for a gilded, dangerous underworld.
Her wrist tingled with the phantom sensation of Armando's grip.
The car turned off the main highway, passing through a set of magnificent iron gates. The gates were wrought into the shape of climbing rose vines, with a large, stylized 'H' in the center. They swung open silently, like the mouth of a great beast.
A long, winding driveway snaked through a landscape so perfect it looked unreal.
"We're here!" Jeri said, waking up as the car rolled to a stop in front of a sprawling stone mansion that looked more like a European castle than a summer home. "Isn't it incredible?"
It was incredible. It was also the most intimidating place Alexa had ever seen.
She took a deep breath, the air sweet with the scent of a thousand roses.
She knew, with a certainty that chilled her to the core, that the master of this beautiful prison was inside, waiting for her.
