Veil of Treachery

10 ┊''Why is she tied up?''

                                                                ⋆༺𓆩♚𓆪༻⋆

                                                                   Victoria

Connor slammed me against the wall, his gun pressed against my throat. "Where is she? What have you done with Raya?" he snarled, his eyes wild with fury.

Morelli stepped forward, confusion etched on his face. "She was with me the entire time. What's going on here?"

"She's involved, I know it," Connor spat, tightening his grip on me."Raya went to see her in the hospital room, and now she's missing. This traitor is the only one who could have taken her."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I cried out, my heart pounding. "I've been with Morelli all this time!"

Ignoring my protests, Connor dragged me to a chair and bound my wrists and ankles with rope. Morelli tried to reason with him.

"Connor, I took her out of the hospital room early to work. She's been with me."

But Connor wasn't listening. "Tell us where she is," he demanded, pacing in front of me. "If you've hurt her, I swear..."

"I haven't fucking done anything!" I pleaded, my voice laced with desperation. "Raya's my best friend, why would I ever harm-''

The door burst open, interrupting me mid sentence as Raya strode in, clutching a broken necklace in her hand. Connor's face flooded with relief as he enveloped her in a tight embrace, checking her for injuries. ''Thank god, you're alive.''

"Thank god indeed. But why wouldn't I be? I was just looking for you," Raya said, holding up the necklace.

"Hammersmith broke the clasp when he won it in beer pong. I'm sorry, Connor, you know how I get when I'm drunk''

She rolls her eyes. ''Then the bastard broke it. He couldn't fix it, and said the technology was too advanced." She laughs. ''Whatever that means, he was probably too drunk-''

I scoffed, my anger rising. "So much for the unbreakable tracker. You had me tied up with a gun in my face for a malfunction?"

Morelli grunts but it turns into a cough. Raya's eyes widened as she realized the implications of my words, I wince, regretting them immediately.

She turned to Connor, pain etched on her face. "You put a tracker in my necklace? The one you gave me as a gift?"

Connor tried to explain, "Raya, I was just trying to keep you safe. I didn't mean–"

A slap echoes around the room as Raya's hand meets Connor's face. Connor's face fell. "Raya, I can explain..."

"Explain what?" she cried, anguish lacing her words. "That you violated my trust? That you saw fit to monitor me in secret?"

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she shook her head. "Don't you understand? You gave it to me as a gift. A gift. I thought you fucking respected me."

"I do, more than anything," Connor insisted, reaching for her, but she flinched away.

"Then why this deception?" Raya demanded. "Why couldn't you just be honest with me?"

Connor's shoulders slumped, shame etched into his features. "I was trying to protect you. The thought of anything happening to you..."

"By stripping me of my freedom?" she countered, wrapping her arms around herself. "By treating me like I can't take care of myself?"