Amelia and May make a plan

Amelia’s voice cut through the tense silence, sharp and bitter. “You know, May, before they tied me up, those guys hit on me. Like, seriously hit on me. They were gross about it too, but… they were distracted. I bet if we played this right, we could use it to our advantage.”

May’s stomach twisted. She stared at Amelia, horrified. “You’re not serious.”

Amelia’s eyes narrowed, anger flashing in them. “You got us into this mess, May. If you want to fix it, you better start thinking about how we can get out.”

“But… I can’t…” May stammered, her throat tightening. The very thought of what Amelia was suggesting made her feel sick. “We can’t do that.”

Amelia jerked her head toward the door, her voice rising with frustration. “Look at where we are! We’re in a warehouse, tied up by some thugs, because you couldn’t keep your affair a secret and dragged me into it. This isn’t the time to be squeamish, May. You want to survive this? You better grow a spine and start thinking like a survivor.”

May’s heart raced as she stared at her friend. The betrayal and anger in Amelia’s eyes stung like a slap, and she knew that, deep down, Amelia was right. It was her fault they were here. If Amelia hadn’t been caught up in this, none of this would’ve happened. And now… there was no clear way out.

“I just…” May whispered, the words catching in her throat. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

Amelia’s voice was cold and biting. “You don’t have a choice anymore. This is about survival now. We distract them, and maybe we can figure out a way to get free, to get out of here. Otherwise, we’re sitting ducks.”

May looked at her, helpless. Amelia’s eyes were full of fury, but behind that, there was fear—raw and real. She had been dragged into this mess through no fault of her own, and now she was tied to a chair in a warehouse, **** to think of ways to escape a nightmare that wasn’t hers.

“If you hadn’t run your mouth to me about Elliott, we wouldn’t be here, would we?” Amelia continued, her voice harsh. “You wanted to dump your guilt on me, and now look what happened. So, you can either help me, or you can sit there and wait to see what these guys do to us when they’re done negotiating with Elliott. Your call.”

May winced, feeling the full weight of Amelia’s words crash down on her. She knew Amelia was right, that this whole situation was spiraling out of control because of her decisions. But the idea of seducing those men, of using her body to try to manipulate their way out of this, made her skin crawl.

Still, there was no denying that Amelia was right—they were trapped, and the men clearly had some kind of interest in them. That might be their only advantage.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, May nodded, her voice barely above a whisper. “Okay. We’ll try it.”

Amelia let out a frustrated breath. “Good. Now untie me, and let’s figure out how to get these guys’ attention without getting ourselves killed.”

With shaky hands, May began untying the ropes around Amelia’s wrists, her heart pounding in her chest. Every fiber of her being screamed at her that this was wrong, that they shouldn’t have to do this, but the reality of their situation was inescapable. They were cornered, with no other options.