by C. E. Wilson
He nods into my stomach before straightening up. His face is practically level with my chest and though I’m self-conscious, I feel whole.
“I knew it,” he says softly, squeezing me. “I knew it was you, Grace.”
Chapter Ten
As Reese slowly pulls away and stands up, I can’t take my eyes off him. Why hadn’t I noticed before? His silver hair is longer, and the highlights are new, but it’s definitely him. His eyes were duller before, not the vibrant purple in front of me… but the chocolate? The scent of chocolate always coming from him? How could I have been so stupid and forgetful?
“Pieces,” I say. “We called you Pieces.”
He nods slowly and more hair flops over his eyes. I have a sudden urge to ruffle his hair like I used to.
“I always carried candy in my pocket and no one knew where I got it from. The other Potentials called me ‘Reese’s Pieces’, but when the name got too long, they shortened it to Pieces. I guess that’s why you couldn’t remember. For a while, I started to doubt it was you.”
“I can’t… I can’t believe it,” I say breathlessly. I’m looking at him in a new light. He’s the same boy I remember but so grown up. He isn’t stocky and covered in chocolate. His hair is soft and not matted to his head with sweat. His lips are fuller. “You’re different.”
“I’m… I’m not,” he says in a rushed tone. “When they bought me, they only made a couple of minor enhancements and forced me to start exercising. The next thing I knew I was a Twenty.”
“Your… your aunts?”
“They’re not really my aunts. They’re my caretakers. They taught me everything I know. I pay them back by acting as a Potential Trainer,” Reese says.
“You… you train Potentials?” My memory tickles from hearing this mentioned before, but it only strikes me now at how the irony is almost too horrible to comprehend.
“They’re masters at spotting potential Beauties and they’ve got quite the network of former Potentials. We stay in touch with them and let them know what we find. It’s their clout that allows me to operate the way that I do. Obviously.”
“Obviously?” I ask. “Why obviously?”
He shakes his head so his hair isn’t blocking his eyes. “I found you, didn’t I?”
“Found me? You mean… you were looking?”
“Of course. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. After they upgraded me to Beauty at age twelve, I promised myself I’d find you. I was so sure that you were a Beauty, too, but when I couldn’t find you in the records…”
“You saw the numbers, Reese,” I say automatically.
“Those numbers are lies,” he growls. “Someone screwed you over.”
“No,” I say. “You remember me as a beautiful Eighteen, but look at me now. Whatever I had, I lost it years ago.”
“You haven’t, dammit. You’re the most beautiful girl… woman, I’ve ever known. Which is why I’ve got to get you out of here. Especially now that I know for sure it’s you.”
“Paulson said—”
“Forget what Paulson said. You’re not staying here and serving his daughter to pay back for surgeries you don’t need. That’s all he’s doing. He wants to give you—”
“He told me what he wants to do.”
“So… how can you?”
“Being here isn’t that bad,” I say. “Some work might be good for me, and I might be upgraded on my eighteenth birthday.”
“You probably would. And then you’d be stuck with them. In their debt,” he says. “Do you want to serve Celia?”
“You don’t seem to have much of a problem with it,” I can’t help saying. His brows furrow as he frowns. “Aren’t I right?”
“Until a couple of months ago, Celia was just one of the many random girls I knew whose father liked to buy Potentials. No more special or less special than the others. But that all changed one day when Shawn asked for my advice on an investment. Suddenly, I needed a coincidental reason to be around his house all the time.”
My mouth worked soundlessly. Finally I croaked out a few words, “Was I the reason?”
“Yes,” he says with exasperation. “Like I told you, I’ve been looking for you. If not for dumb luck, I would have missed you. Shawn came wandering into my Aunt’s office one day looking to ask her for advice on some high-risk high-reward Potentials. She was busy, but I was there and offered to take a look. Imagine my shock when I saw your face peering out of a pile of Twelves and Thirteens – I couldn’t hide my reaction from Shawn, but I was able to play it off as surprise at such a great deal. He got very interested after that and the next thing I knew he had agreed to buy you.” He pinches his eyes shut. “I spent hours studying your picture, fighting with myself over whether it could really be you. I had to find out for sure and a week before you arrived I ‘ran into’ Celia at a coffee shop and asked her out. I wasn’t sure it was you until the night you threw the bowl at me. You obviously didn’t remember me, but I acted completely on instinct. My body told me that I had to help you. I had to do what I could to keep you safe.”
“Sooo… this whole time…”
“I knew it was you. And I knew I could keep you safe until…” he scrunches up his nose. “all this stuff with Griff happened.”
“Pieces… I mean, Reese—”
“You can call me Pieces if you want,” he says, smiling through his long light lashes. “I like hearing you say it. It lets me know that you remember me.”
How could I have ever forgotten him? My body always reacted to his presence, but I ignored my gut feelings and lumped him in with all Beauties. I’m still in shock. There is someone in the world who remembered me, who knew me as more than a number. My eyes water as I fight the urge to lunge at him.
“Pieces,” I say, “you don’t have to do anything else for me. Seeing you is enough and—”
“But it’s not enough for me,” he says. “I’m getting you out of here.”
“Huh?” I croak out. “Getting me… out? You can’t. I belong to Shawn—”
“You belong to me,” he says in a voice like steel. “You belonged to me when we first met, and you’ve belonged to me since I lost you. I won’t lose you a second time. Especially not to a creepy prick like Paulson. I’m getting you out of here and this isn’t up for discussion.”
I wince at his words. He’s much stronger. He’s not the same kid from The Grave Market. He’s firmer. His words cut like a knife and all I want to do is answer to him and make him happy.
“So why, then?” I can’t help asking. “Why didn’t you say anything to me earlier?”
“I couldn’t blow my cover. I didn’t want to freak you out, and you would have freaked out, right?” I blush, knowing he’s right. “I thought so. Instead, I kept trying to make sure that I knew for certain it was you. My aunts said not to get my hopes up, but the more I saw you and the more I talked to you, the more I realized that I finally found who I was looking for.”
“How could you know?” I breathed. “How did you manage to do this for so long?”
He chuckles to himself. “You can thank my aunts for that. Not a day goes by that I don’t remember how lucky I was to end up with them. They brought me up and soon I felt comfortable enough with them to tell them that I was searching for you. It was a risk – everything is, you know. But they said they could help me. They took the time to train me to become a certified Potential Trainer.”
“I still can’t believe that you’re a trainer.”
“Believe it or not, I did it for you.” This shut me up. “Anyway, they advised me to find powerful people with powerful connections. That’s the best way to browse the files of available Potentials.” He stops talking immediately when he hears me gasp and waves his hands around. “I know it’s hard to hear, but please don’t think I’m like the others! I want Potentials to become Beauties and be free from that miserable life. That’s why I befriend collectors and hospital workers and their children.”
“So Celia and Griff
…”
“It’s not coincidence that I’m friends with them.” He presses his lips together before he goes on. “My aunts were happy to find out that I built a trusting relationship with Shawn. He’s always looking at Potentials and asking my Aunts about them. As a Potential Trainer, my opinion is trusted and I’ve gained a rep for having a ‘good eye’.” He uses air quotes to make his point, but I’m still not sure how I feel about what he’s saying.
“When he handed me those files,” Reese continues in a low voice, “I swear my heart stopped. For the first time ever, I saw someone who truly resembled that girl from many years ago. There was no guarantee that it was you, but it was the closest I had come in years so I had to take a chance.” He starts speaking faster. “It was all like a game of chess, Grace. All for you. And then… and then it was you. I knew it in my heart but I still couldn’t be too sure. I hoped you’d recognize me, but I had to be patient because if I was wrong, it could have ruined everything. All my years of patience and building my reputation. All for that moment.”
For that moment. “So you knew then,” I say in a low voice. “You knew it was me from the get go?”
“I would have bet my life on it and…”
“And…”
“And the more I got to know you, the more I was convinced. The more I knew that I made the right decision in fighting so hard for you.”
The words wash over me like a cold ocean wave. I’m here because of Reese. This whole time… from the moment I was purchased… it was all because of him.
Pieces.
“You wouldn’t believe how hard it was some days, Grace.”
“How could it be hard for you?”
“Ever since I’ve started seeing you…” he trails off and takes a slow step closer to me, “… I’ve wanted to ask you.”
His hands find my waist and his thumbs press my hipbones. My thighs grow warm as I try to look up at him, but he’s too tall.
“I’ve wanted to hold you,” he says huskily as his arms snake around my frail body and wrap over themselves to pull me closer.
His chin rests on top of my head while I inhale him greedily. Chocolate. Chocolate mixed with Beauty. I reach out and fist his shirt in one hand, making sure he can’t leave so easily, but his grip tightens to match mine.
“I can’t believe I found you again,” he says. “Years. I’d all but given up. I’ll never lose you again.”
“So make sure you don’t,” I whisper into his chest. He shudders. My words mean that much to him? I lift up my head to look in his eyes. It’s Pieces. My Pieces. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you. I’m sorry…” He’s the reason I woke up on some days, and now he’s almost unrecognizable in my eyes. “You’re so…”
“You are, too,” he says before I finish.
His chin lowers so I close my eyes and stand on my tiptoes so he doesn’t have to crouch for our lips to meet. I taste him. I taste and kiss the man I’ve wanted. I grip his shirt collar with my shackled hands and pull him closer to me. I want to melt into him. His hip brushes against my stomach and butterflies run rampant as his hands carefully explore what he’s lost.
Griff and Celia’s surprise attack melts away as I dissolve into his body. I can’t think of Griff or Celia. Paulson’s gone. All I can think about are Reese’s lips and how they fit like a puzzle piece into mine. I’ve never kissed him before, but letting him hold me in his arms, I’m home. He gently guides me to the bed and, though it’s cold, my body’s on fire. He’s gentle with my injury, but the chains still rattle when he presses his body on top of mine, securing me in place. He doesn’t seem to mind, continuing to kiss me.
“So long… I’ve waited so long,” he pants. “Please...”
“No,” I mutter, hardly believing myself. He stops and hoists himself off me, a hand resting on each side of my head.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to do it like this,” I say. “I want…” The words bubble violently in my throat. I don’t want to be chained. I don’t want to be cuffed when I’m with him. I want more. I’m finally ready to say it. “I want to be free when I’m with you.”
His face softens and he lowers himself down to drop a soft kiss on the tip of my nose. “You will be,” he whispers. He kisses one of my cheeks. “You will be free, and you will be mine.”
I nod. “Will you be mine?” I whisper as he starts to kiss me again. Gentler this time and less rushed. He kisses the thin skin over my collarbone and I arch my back from the feeling.
“Grace, I’ve always belonged to you.”
***
Shawn possessively wraps his arms around my shoulders and I try not to shudder. I can’t believe that I used to like this smell. I don’t like apples. I miss chocolate.
“I’m happy that you didn’t cut yourself more severely when you fell, Grace. This cut will heal with a minimal scar, and I’m impressed that you were able to take care of it without assistance. Celia has admitted that she shocked you several times last night while she was upset and I’ve had a talk with her about it.” I shake my head, too stunned to try to come up with a lie. “You’re showing great self-reliance lately, and that makes me feel better about my decision.”
I don’t know how to react. “Decision?” I ask tentatively. Shawn pulls away from me, holding me at arm’s length so he can see my face. He looks sad, but it’s nothing like how Reese (Pieces… I’m not sure what to call him) looked the night before. He furrows his brow.
“Grace, Eleven, I have decided not to sponsor you.” My eyes widen and he shakes his head. “You are too much of a temptation to keep in this house… for Celia. Next time, she may not be able to control herself.” His voice comes out like he’s in pain.
“But… but I’m not—”
“You are,” he replies. “I had hoped that… Celia would be able to control her emotions around you, but what happened last night worries me greatly. You have an effect on people that is singular, Grace. It makes them do things that they normally would not. If I were to sponsor you, I would incur some amount of expense which would tie you to this family. I no longer believe that this is a good idea.”
I try not to shout. I want to scream and rip off his lying lips and the throat that spews them. “What are you talking about? What could you possibly do? What have I done so wrong that… that you need to do this?”
“Can’t you see?” he snaps. “You’ll ruin me, Grace.”
“How?”
“You’ll ruin my family, Grace.”
“How?”
“You’ll ruin my reputation—”
“But how?”
“If you can’t see what I’m saying then it’s all the more reason you have to go! I have a number of connections, and through them I’ve been able to find a buyer who is very interested in your… unique qualities. They will pay a very fair price for you so long as you meet their needs.”
I lick my lips. What? Already?
“Their representative is coming tomorrow to have a look at you… and if the meeting goes well…”
“Then… what?”
“You’ll have a life of luxury and delight.”
“Overseas?”
“He lives quite far from here,” Shawn explains with a pained calm. “There will be no risk of me – Celia, I mean, seeing you again.”
I hear the doorbell ring upstairs. “Ahhh… that’ll be Reese. Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to explain. It’s a shame that you’re so....” he trails off again, clearing his throat. “I’ve enjoyed our time together, Grace.”
I’m still too stunned to think as Shawn gets up off the bed and leaves the basement.
Sold. He’s going to sell me to another buyer. I’m going to lose Reese. My heart pounds heavily in my chest as I hear his voice overhead. I can tell he’s trying to be surprised by Shawn’s story of Celia shocking me and me fainting and cutting my leg. The story is far enough from reality that he may have been surprised for real.
“I’m sorry to have t
o tell you this, Reese,” Shawn says, keeping his voice calm and collected as though he’s discussing trading a comic book. “But I’m afraid the Potential you have been training for me isn’t going to work out.”
Reese is silent at first. I try to picture his facial expression. Does he know? Did he see it coming?
“W-what… what do you mean?” he asks.
“She’s caused some family conflicts lately and I’ve made the decision, for my family’s sake, to put her up for sale.”
“You’re going to sell her?” he shouts. “What do you mean? You just got her. She’s the most valuable Potential I’ve ever come across!”
“She’s proving to be more trouble than she’s worth and Celia doesn’t care for her. You know how the beasts can be. Sometimes they’re not a good fit.”
“Y-yes,” Reese stutters, desperately trying to keep his composure, “but are you sure you want to give up on her so easily? If you sell her then… then that makes me look bad!”
“Yes, and I’m so sorry about that, Reese. If it makes you feel better I’ll try to explain it to your aunts. You’re a little too good at finding a Potential who’s the right fit for a buyer,” Shawn says. “Which is why I have to sell her.”
“But… but I don’t understand. Here, let me talk to her. I’ll see what’s causing the problem.”
“There’s no need for that, Reese. I’ve already received an extremely fair offer for her.”
“Already?” he croaks. “W-when?”
“They will be arriving early tomorrow and if all goes well, we’ll have a deal by lunchtime.”
“Why the rush? Why are you jumping at the first offer?”
Shawn lowers his voice. “This individual is a representative who handles overseas procurement for his client. He’s a busy man.”
“You’re selling her overseas? To who? Why?”
“This individual has specific tastes, tastes which Eleven would seem to satisfy perfectly. I stand to make out quite well in this deal, Reese.”
“How much is he paying for her?”