Before I could react, a vein throbbed at his temple and he lunged forward, his hand clamping around my throat. "Tell me. Where did you take Desiree's parents?"
My face flushed dark red from the lack of air. It took everything I had to force out a single word. "What?"
Desiree flung herself to her knees at my feet, sliding forward, face tilted up—all wide eyes and trembling helplessness. "Tracey, I'm sorry. I'll never carry Conrad's child again, I swear."
"Please, just let my parents go."
It turned out that half an hour ago, Desiree's parents had disappeared.
They were last seen somewhere near the distillery.
So naturally, they had decided I was the one who'd taken them.
I could barely find the words to argue back. "I don't even know them. How would I have any idea where they went?"
I wouldn't say what he wanted to hear, because there was nothing to say—and the last of Conrad's patience burned out.
Dozens of liquor bottles lined up in front of me.
Conrad's voice, ice-cold:
"Tracey. You did something wrong. Now you pay."
Then glass after glass of liquid was poured down my throat.
The burn of alcohol tore through me.
My stomach felt like it was on fire.
Every time I passed out, a bucket of ice water came crashing over my head. The cold drove straight into my bones, and I clenched my teeth, shaking so hard I couldn't stop.
The clear water pooling beneath me slowly turned red.
My voice came out broken, half-sobbing: "Conrad, take me to the hospital. I think I'm losing the baby."
He stepped back two paces in disgust. "So it's gone. Big deal—we'll make another one."
"Didn't you just call her child a bastard? We're done. The second we're back, I'm filing for divorce. Desiree is going to stand beside me the way she should have from the start."
I don't know how long it went on. The cramping folded me in half, wave after wave, until my body gave out and the world dropped away.
At the same moment, a bodyguard burst in, panicked: "Mr. Graves, there's a fire!"
The flames were spreading fast.
Conrad started toward me—toward where I lay crumpled on the ground.
Behind him, Desiree suddenly clutched her stomach and doubled over coughing. "Conrad, my stomach hurts…"
He didn't hesitate. He swept Desiree into his arms and ran, and over his shoulder came the words: "Tracey, wait for me. I'll come back for you."
His silhouette vanished from my sight.