It was so hard to pretend you know nothing.

Sitting in the dinner table with Rogue, watching him eat and smile at his phone, I wanted to crawl on the table and stab him. I wanted to scream and ask him what it was he wanted. How a man so wealthy and respected could actually be a devil.

My heart screamed as if it was being murdered. The hand holding the spoon was shaking in my hold. I didn't feel hungry. I was worried about Hanna. Had she eaten? Did he give her food? Was she suffering so much while I was sitting here enjoying? While I was complaining about being kidnapped and enjoying the luxury offered to me, Hanna was suffering more.

"I'm not a fan of quiet people."

I gripped my spoon. My teeth were gritted. Yet, I told myself to relax. He was observant. Any slip up would cause me a lot. I couldn't afford to let Hanna down. Somehow, I felt like this was all my fault. I needed to do better.

"I'm just feeling down today, that's all," I answered, playing with my food.

"Look at me." His command wasn't loud, but it wasn't gentle either. It sunk my stomach and made my heart tremble. I managed to look up, meeting his eyes. "Is there anything you're not telling me?"

Panic gripped me. He held my gaze firmly. "You know everything, Rogue. I don't think I can hide anything from you."

"You should try." There was a pause, then his amused voice, "Figuring it out is exciting. I'm encouraging you to please hide something from me."

I tried to control my breathing and spoke calmly, "Whatever." I looked down at my food and played with it again. My jaw was visibly ticked, but I remained silent.

"How are you doing today?"

I dropped my spoon and looked at him, fire brimming in my eyes. "Are you kidding me?" Came the shaky, yet firm command. "Why do you care how I am? You're selfish. You only care about your needs. What I feel or how I am is none of your concern." My teeth chattered as I waited for a response.

"You're wrong about that, like how you're wrong about so many things. You're in my home. I treat my guests like I worship them." He didn't wait for my answer. "So, how they feel concerns me." He talked to me as if he were educating a student, filling me in, letting me know what to expect from him.

"Your state of mind concerns me the most."

"You should watch how you talk to me, Bethany. There is a world of difference between me and everyone else. One that I think you wouldn't appreciate. I am still capable of things you can't imagine. Provoke me again and I'll prove it." He turned, a wry smile playing across his lips.

I looked away without thinking, then stared down at my food. I was sure I would completely break down if I tried to imagine all the things my mind wanted to ponder on. In fact, I was imagining some of those horrible things, and how he had held my friend in captivity. I wanted to probe on the topic. It wouldn't be suspicious. After all, I had been asking about her.

"You haven't updated me about Hanna for days now."

He couldn't help himself, he laughed. "I'm choosing not to." His voice, thinly coated with civility, filled my head.

I glanced at him. "Why? She's my friend. I deserve to know what's happening."

"I've limited what you deserve to know and what you don't deserve to know, Beth. If you have a problem with that..." He looked at me intently; brows knit together, his mouth set in a hard line. "Well, I don't care if you have a problem with it."

Of course, he wouldn't care. Of course, he had no other excuse to say. This was crazy. There was fear of this man—eating at me. The words hung in the air. How long before? Before he admitted that he had Hanna? What did he plan to do with her? Would he continue to play games with me?

Does he plan to let me go? And Rogue sat on his seat as if he were a god who had the world at his palm, not caring for my feelings.

"Speaking of problems.." The second he finished saying that, I was about to tear his head off and that was when I saw the man who walked into the dining room. The first thing I did was blink.

"Taylor," I uttered under my breath, watching my friend's brother's attention remained on Rogue before he swept his gaze back onto me, and my legs weakened. His eyes matched Hanna's. His face resembled her. Although they weren't twins, their resemblance was uncanny. He was handsome.

He smiled and approached the table. "It's nice to see you again, Beth." He wore a casual blazer and slacks.

I swallowed my breaths deep and deep inside. Taking my eyes away from Taylor, I set them on Rogue. "You brought Taylor," I said absentmindedly. This was a shock to me. I never expected him to bring Taylor. He had made it clear I wasn't going to see him, much less talk to him. What was Taylor doing here?

"I thought about it and you were right. Hanna is your friend. You deserve to be given a chance to meet her brother and ask him whatever you want." My heart turned traitor as Rogue tilted his head with a smile, his eyes never leaving mine.

Sucking back a disbelief noise, I kept looking back and forth between them, making sure my gaze lingered on Rogue for more than a few seconds. "You brought him here." I shook my head, clouded in confusion. "This isn't what—"

Taylor interrupted in as he pulled out the chair next to me and slide into it, his eyes on me. "Beth, I apologize for what happened between you and Rogue. The thing is, when he makes up his mind about things, he doesn't budge." He gave a quick glance at the culprit.

Rogue laughed. "He's right about that." He picked up a piece of cut meat from his plate and slowly stuck it in his mouth, all the while looking at my face.

"I'm here to discuss the information we have so far on Hanna. I'm sorry I took too long to meet with you. I knew you wouldn't turn against Hanna. You love her. She's your friend. I know you're loyal. Rogue was sure you knew something."

I did my best to straightened my spine and took in the fact that Rogue had just turned the table around. What did this mean? Why would he bring Taylor? My throat constricted. Maybe that was what this was? Another game? Poor Taylor. He had no idea his friend was the one who had taken his sister. Otherwise, he wouldn't be here entertaining him or seeking his help. Rogue was indeed a bastard.

"Unless you've changed your mind?" Rogue slanted his brow, drawing my attention to the smirk on his lips. My stomach twisted. He frowned. "You don't look quite excited anymore."

I tried shaking away my feelings, to stay with them. "No, I..I'm happy. I want to know," I rushed out, glancing at Taylor. "Can we discuss this..." I gave a side look to Rogue. "alone?" I had decided to tell him everything. He was the only one who could help us. If he knew Hanna was here, he would get her out. He would get the both of us out and Rogue would be over.

Yes. That sounded like a good plan.

Taylor chuckled, giving me a displeased look. "Nonsense. Everything I know, Rogue does too. I'm sure he's kept a lot more than he should have." He threw him a look that I couldn't decipher.

"Possibly," Rogue returned amusingly, his gaze still locked on mine. I knew he was trying to read me, but I couldn't give him anything. It was foolish of me to say I wanted to talk to Taylor in private. Rogue was starting to get suspicious, I knew. I needed to get him back on track. To get myself off his list.

"Beth?"

My gaze snapped back to Taylor. "Are you alright?"

No, I wasn't alright. The man who had my friend and your sister was sitting with us, but I couldn't tell you this in front of him. The worst thing was, you would not believe me. Worst case scenario, Rogue could have moved Hanna. This could be what this was about, right? Did he know I found her? Was he testing me?

Bloody hell. I hated all these speculations. My heart did its best to shrug off its death shroud and find hope once again. I couldn't expose myself just yet. I needed to play Rogue's game.

"Sorry, Taylor. I feel a little drowsy today. Have you found something that could help us find her?"

Rogue studied me, not reacting. I felt his gaze over every inch of my body, and he almost lazily looked back up to meet my eyes. His head tilted to the side.

"We're still searching. Whoever has her is doing a damn good job at hiding her. No traces have been left. There's been no communication ever since the hoax." He sighed. "I still can't believe you're unable to find her, man. You have damn good resources."

"Sometimes, Taylor, to find something, you just have to wait for it to fall back into your hands. Other times, you wait it out until it resurfaces. You know I'm very good at my job, and there are always ways to get what I want. The end is what I'm worried about, not the how."

That was how I felt his words washed over me. I had looked away but damn him. I lifted my eyes, against my wishes. As always, something about him drew me in, his words lured me. Our eyes locked.

What did he mean by the end was what he was worried about? Either way, it was making my heart sink.

"Why can't I leave again? If you know I'm innocent and have nothing to do with this, I should go home, right? There's nothing keeping me here." I swallowed over a knot.

Taylor's response was quiet. "Rogue said if he can't use you in one way, he will use you in another."

A rage built in me. It bloomed, filling my chest. "So, it comes down to him is what you're saying? You know there's nothing keeping me here and you're agreeing with his stupid decision? Really, Taylor? Can't you see what Rogue is doing here?" It wasn't in his place to keep me here. Fuck him. He had an agenda. Hanna and I were both his victims.

Rogue's head tilted to the side. His lips tugged up just for a second before falling back.

"I'm sorry, Beth," Taylor replied remorsefully. "I never wanted this, but I will do anything if it means getting my sister back."

"Tell her," Rogue urged. "Tell her the other thing."

I looked between them in confusion.

Taylor looked at me. "You know Annie Mars, right?" My stomach dropped and I nodded calmly. "I have tapped the phone of every friend of Hanna's, and the only one who stood out is Annie. It took her a little while before she slipped off. We've been monitoring her for days, and it paid off. She made a tiny mistake and now we have a new target."

I felt the blood drained from my face. "Annie?" I said, flabbergasted. "Annie would never hurt Hanna. She's been her friend for years. There's no reason she would do anything to her. All of this is a setup—" the words choked inside me when I realized my slip off.

Rogue tipped his head forward, his eyes almost admonishing me. "You were saying?"

I opened my mouth and closed it. He smiled at me, and I knew he was laughing. I saw it in his eyes. I had a feeling he was considering my words and my reaction, sifting through them. I flushed, and it was an angry flush. I was heated all over.

"You can't claim innocence for everyone, Beth."

"You're right. It's not everyone we should trust around us."

His eyes were heated, smoldering with promise. "Of course, that's why it's really important to keep a small group of friends." He leaned forward. "It's really hard to trust people these days." He drew out each word as if speaking a secret I understood very well.

"What do you know about trust?" I snapped.

An emotion flickered there, then disappeared. He responded with, "Enough to know that I only trust in the fact people can't be trusted," he said smugly.

Rather than risk a fight I couldn't possibly win or ended up making things worse. I returned my eyes to my forgotten food.

**

I rushed toward the bathroom, lifted the toilet lid, and vomited everything I had eaten. My voice echoed a strangled gurgling sound that finally gave way to heavy breathing. After I was done, I finally flushed. The food I had eaten couldn't sit well with me, not when I was going through so much.

Rising to my feet, I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked tired. There were bags under my eyes and my hair was a tangled mess, which I tried to rearrange. I knew the reason why, and Rogue Slade was the center of it. He was the source of all my fear and confusion. He was the one slowly draining out the light inside me, but I couldn't let him again. No more.

The bathroom door swung open, making me jump. Rogue appeared, then started approaching me calmly. Holding my breath, I could hear my pulse pounding in my eardrums. His calm and my fear hung between us in a thick and heavy coil. He was going to reveal that he knew what I was doing, something in me knew it. That certainty nearly numbed me.

His presence was overwhelming and I gulped because my body responded to him, to his closeness. He had a hold of me, whether I wanted him to or not.

"You ran out of there faster than I had ever seen anyone."

"I'm not feeling well."

Rogue's brows shot up. "You puked?" he guessed. "Ah, don't tell me you're pregnant. I haven't even come inside you yet." He smiled. It was a smile that struck me instantly as both beautiful and evil.

My cheeks flushed. "And you would never." I glared at him.

He closed the distance between us. "That's debatable, sweetheart." He wrapped his fingers around my wrist, and from his touch, electrical energy trickled into me. I was utterly petrified and annoyed. Mostly angry.

"What do you want?" I trembled under his touch.

He held the palm of his hand up to my face and ran his fingers across my face, holding me firmly when I tried to shrink away. "I had a free time to spare so I decided to check on you," he notified calmly.

"And you couldn't wait until I was out of the bathroom?" I hissed, as he raised his right hand, pushing my hair off my shoulder, and then caressing the back of my arm. A violent shiver ran down my spine causing me to move back.

"Maybe I thought you'd slip past my fingers." His fingers speared into my hair, possessively, cradling my head as I continued to stare up at him. My heartbeat pulsated in my ears, my breathing became labored.

"You have issues, Rogue, and I don't know why you're making it about me."

He grinned. "Our guest has gone."

My fear sat heavy in my stomach. "He left?" Taylor left without talking to me?

He chuckled. "What's wrong? Did you want to say goodbye? My apologies. I had no idea you were interested." He caressed my face, running his fingers over my earlobe, down the column of my throat, the back of his fingers brushing across my collarbone. My breathing became broken, heavy.

My hands shook badly and my knees felt as though they might buckle. "I'm not, but it would have been nice."

Finally dropping his hand, he nodded and stepped back. "Ah, but that's not what I am, sweetheart." He backed away saying, "Have a good night, Beth. I have a feeling it would be your best one."

What did that mean?