He pulled at the sides of his head as she lay down and strapped her arms into the cuffs as she’d been taught. The second hand was always tough. But she’d found a way by using the solid headboard and twisting of her wrist to close it.
“They said they gave you a shot for that.”
Eve may have given into his world, but I noticed when he pulled a cell phone from his pocket and dialed. Eve remained passive and didn’t seem to care about the call he made. But my ears perked up.
“How the fuck could she be pregnant?”
I couldn’t hear who he spoke to on the other line, but I imagined Sir’s voice.
“How the fuck would I know? Maybe she was like that when you gave her to me. Did you fuck me over on her virginity?”
Eve said nothing, when I might have told him we had been a virgin. But I would have yelled about his disregard for my life and choices. Eve was better at being the good girl we needed to be.
“So what if it’s been six months? I want this taken care of.”
Six months? That’s how long I’d been here. I would have said years. The prison of light he left me in never went dark. There weren’t windows for me to see the sun or the moon.
“Fine. But you’ll take care of it. My wife can’t find out about her. She can’t have that kid here. You come get her.” He paused. “Fine, and you’ll take care of the kid when it’s born.” He paused again. “Hell no, I don’t want it. Get rid of it.”
He shoved the phone in his pocket. I thought maybe he wouldn’t be in the mood. I was wrong. At first he left, but he came back sometime after, swaying on his feet. I’d closed my eyes and fallen asleep. Seeing him there, I hated myself for weakness. I could have tried to get away; instead, the soft bed, so different than my pallet, had lulled me into a false sense of comfort.
“I still fucking own you. And I’m going to get my money’s worth,” he slurred.
Without mercy, he flipped me on my stomach, pulled my hips until I was on my knees and ripped my world apart much like he’d done the first time on the boat.
When he finished, he passed out, leaving me feeling tears on my face. It had been a while since I’d felt pain. Eve had stepped in all the times before as I’d floated somewhere in a cloud. But I’d forgotten to have her take over.
I scrambled to the side, not liking any part of him touching me. One of my numb arms came free. I dumbly stared at it. As pinpricks of pain lit it up, I nudged it against Adam. He didn’t wake.
My brain came on line. I rolled to the side of the bed only to be stopped by the tether the other cuff had on my other hand. But just out of reach were his pants. I extended my leg and used my foot to work several minutes before they were within my reach. I went for the phone.
I glanced over my shoulder in the silence. Fear had me believing that he was awake and ready to knock my head in for attempting this foolishness. It made me move slower than I should have.
Yet, he lay there, facing the opposite wall, still knocked out.
The phone came on, but there was a lock. I didn’t attempt to use his finger to unlock it. Instead, I touched the corner that said emergency and held my breath as it rang.
“What’s your emergency?”
“My name is Luana,” I nearly sobbed.
“What? You’re breaking up.”
Adam stirred some.
I whispered, “My name is Luana and I was taken while on vacation. Please someone get me.”
Adam rolled on his back and I held there as the emergency person asked me for more details. I rattled off as much as I dared before he woke up, like my parents’ names and where I’d been taken. Then I ended the call. I shoved the phone back in his pants pocket, toeing them out of reach roughly where they’d been. Then I crawled on the bed and tried to put my wrist back in the cuff.
“What are you doing?” he said.
His voice was dangerous. Eve cringed back. I smiled on the inside. I’d made the call. Hopefully, help would come.
But when he backhanded me for not answering, I wondered if I would survive before help could show up.
43
REAGAN
We ended up tumbled on the floor of the rowboat. I sprawled out on top of him and he smoothed the shirt I wore to cover me as we drifted on the water in the early morning light. It was serene and another first for me. I tried to shape the words in my mouth to declare my feelings. It felt right, but a motor coming to life on the lake had us scrambling to sit upright and he rowed us back to shore.
We spent the rest of the day exploring his property, from the woods to the endless fields behind it. He held my hand and I didn’t want to let go.
That night I offered to cook for him. It was one thing Mom had taught me. According to him, the house was stocked by a crew that came in to clean, and to open and close the house when it was in and out of use. But after checking, I didn’t have everything I needed. So he drove me into town to a cute store run by the locals that had everything else I needed to make Coq au Vin with lightly grilled vegetables—at least my version. I wasn’t a master chef, but Mom and I had watched enough cooking shows to be pretty good cooks.
We spent a blissful four days by the lake. Dad had kept his word and Mom hadn’t called.
Back at campus, I stood on the shore with the rest of the onlookers waiting for the first race to begin.
“You don’t think you can keep him, do you?”
I turned to see Jenny standing there with a smug look on her face.
“If you’re referring to Tade, he’s not a pet.”
“And you’d be stupid to catch feelings for him. He told me he was headed to Cambridge after he graduated and didn’t want a girlfriend.”
We hadn’t talked about that, but I did my best not to look shocked.
“He didn’t tell you, did he? Not surprising, a guy like that can’t be tied down.”
Megan showed up to rescue me. “Stop being a bitch,” she said to Jenny. Then she faced me. “Ignore her; she’s just jealous.” She’d moved to step between us, but then turned back to Jenny. “You should know they spent spring break together. And where were you?” When Jenny didn’t answer, only scowled, she said, “Besides, have you heard the news?”
Megan lifted up her screen to show me the headline.
“She’s been found,” I said.
She gave a little shrug. “They think it’s her. She was found only twenty miles from here and has blonde hair. But her face is too messed up, they can’t be sure.”
A hot ball of fear grew in my chest. I glanced at my phone, expecting a call from my mother any second. Then again, maybe she would just show up.
“Hey.”
I tipped my head to meet blazing green eyes laser focused on me.
“Hey.”
My reply came a little too hesitantly and Tade noticed. Then again, he seemed to be able to read my moods as easily as words on a page.
“Are you all right?”
He looked around and didn’t so much as acknowledge Jenny.
“Shouldn’t you be out there?” I deflected.
I didn’t want him to worry about me, so I didn’t tell him the news. It wasn’t like he could do anything about it or me.
He cupped my face and kissed me. “I needed that.”
Heat burned in my cheeks. “For what?”
“Good luck.”
He was cut off from saying anything else when he was flagged down by Gavin.
“Dude, the race is starting. Get your sappy ass over here.”
Tade flashed him a grin, but didn’t move.
“They can’t start without me,” he muttered.
He brushed my hair over my shoulder and stared into my eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Nibbling at the corner of my mouth, I didn’t want to lie. “Go.”
“Good luck, Tade,” Jenny said.
He glanced at her. “Thanks.”
His reply was quick because his focus shifted back to me. “Are you going to wish me luck?
”
“Good luck.” I got to my toes and brushed my lips over his. “Hurry.”
I felt the grin he flashed me all the way to my toes.
“Later.”
We watched the guys jog off before Megan laid into Jenny again.
“Now that’s why you should let things go. Clearly he just wasn’t that into you.”
Megan pursed her lips and shook her head until Jenny stomped off.
“That was mean,” I said, trying not to laugh.
“But it’s the truth.”
“Speaking of truth. Where did you and Gavin go over spring break?”
“We went to Ocean City.”
She clamped her mouth shut and I pointed at her.
“I knew it.”
“There’s more than one Gavin in the world. How do you know I was talking about him?”
I tossed my head back and laughed, momentarily forgetting the things Jenny said about Tade and the news about our fellow classmate.
“Why can’t you just admit it was him?”
“Because he’s a total jerk.”
“And you like him.” I waved my pointed finger at her.
“I don’t want to.”
I patted her shoulder. “It’s okay. I don’t think he’s a bad guy.”
“You don’t know his kind. He’s got more secrets than Fort Knox has gold. He’s the kind of guy my mom warned me about.” Humor died in my throat thinking of my own mom. “No, Tade is a good one.”
“Is he? You heard Jenny,” I said.
“She’s jealous. And so what if he was a bad boy?” She held up fingers to mime air quotes. “He’s not anymore. He’s like all into you.”
I wanted to believe her.
“Are you listening to yourself? Gavin is the same.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Gavin’s nothing like Tade. He drives a beat-up truck and hangs out in seedy places. He tells me he’s not good enough for me one day and then he’s like punching some guy for talking to me the next.” Her head swayed side to side. “No. He’s not Tade.”
Then the announcer sounded before the race began and I turned my attention to the water.
44
TADE
The burn in my muscles awakened me to the competition going on all around me. It was a good thing this was a solo race. I wasn’t bringing anyone else down with me, as I’d been lost in thoughts. Biscuit tried to hide it, but something had been bothering her. What had Jenny said to her?
I was annoyed, but what could I do? I’d never imagined that I’d fall for any girl. My plan had been steadfast for as long as I could remember.
Now with graduation looming, I thought about my acceptance to Harvard. It had been Dad’s dream for me to go there. Somewhere along the way, it had become mine. But now, I thought about her plans after graduation. Would she be willing to come to Cambridge with me?
We hadn’t talked much about our futures. Would she consider doing whatever it was in Massachusetts?
I felt eyes on me and I glanced to the side to see that though I had been in the lead, one of my competitors was charging ahead. I freed my mind and got my head back in the race. I forced my muscles into overdrive because the finish line was near. I may have lost this one through no fault other than my own.
Having lost the crew races as expected, I would go home empty handed if I didn’t pull my shit together.
Nose to nose as we crossed the line, the photo finish would determine who won.
Finding the shore, I caught sight of a blonde figure jumping up and down. It was then I realized I didn’t care if I won.
I had school pride, but there wasn’t a future for me in this race. If I’d wanted to train for the Olympics, I would have picked a different school for undergrad.
After all the races were over and I’d gotten everything put away, I headed to where she stood in a dress that had me weaker than I’d gotten after a couple of hours racing under the sun.
She wore a wide-brim hat she hadn’t been wearing earlier that half hid her face in shadows. She looked at me from under her lashes.
“Hey you,” she said, meeting me halfway. I circled an arm around her waist and dipped my head under her hat to sneak a kiss.
Gagging noises came up behind me and Gavin was there with a scowl on his face. However, I didn’t think it was aimed at us. He had his eyes on Megan, who wore an expression of boredom.
“Congratulations,” Biscuit said.
Gavin cut in before I could thank her. “For what? They came in second.”
My girl said, “Second isn’t bad.”
Gavin huffed. “Yeah, if there weren’t only two crews in the competition.”
Biscuit was having none of it. “It doesn’t matter. Besides, he won his individual race.”
My best mate wasn’t feeling charitable toward me or anyone else. “You call that a win? Tade doesn’t have close races. He blows everyone out of the water. What you saw there was his head up his ass. Apparently he had pussy on the brain.”
Although he was speaking to us, his eyes never left her friend until he was done speaking. Then he stormed off before I had a chance to tell him what an asshole he was being.
“Forget it?” I shook my head. “He’s being a dick.”
Megan folded her arms over her chest.
“Well your friend is the biggest asshole ever,” she shouted over our shoulders in Gavin’s retreating direction. “Besides, I’m feeling a little nauseous standing here with you two. I’ll catch you when you decide to sleep in your room again.”
Bricks could have been laid the way she walled us off and stalked away. I arched a brow at Biscuit, wondering if she needed to follow after her friend.
“She’ll be fine,” she muttered, more to herself. I could tell she was torn as to what to do. In the end, I steered her in another direction.
As we walked to my dorm, she was quiet, too quiet.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on in your head?” I asked, trying not to sound like an asshole when I did it.
Finally, her eyes met mine.
“Have you been accepted to law school?”
Fuck me. “Yeah, I have. I’m going to Harvard next semester.”
She nodded to herself. A few seconds later, she pulled her hand free of mine.
“When were you going to tell me?”
“Honestly?”
Her response, though soft, was full of sarcasm. “That would be nice.”
“I wasn’t keeping it from you. I found out in the fall—before we met—that I’d gotten early acceptance contingent on me graduating. And since then, I haven’t really thought about it much.”
“Or maybe you don’t think about us? See a future with us. Maybe this is just a spring fling to you.”
I reached for her, bringing us to a stop.
“That’s not it at all. I’ll admit I never expected to have a girlfriend.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t.”
I cupped the side of her face and tipped it up so she would look at me.
“I’m new at this. I messed up. I should have told you. But this—” I pointed between us, “—is not a fling.”
45
REAGAN
There was such earnestness in his eyes; I desperately wanted to believe him. It may have seemed like a small thing to him, but being able to trust him was so important to me. My old fears whispered in my head just like Jenny, that a guy like him didn’t need a girl like me.
“Let’s go to my room so we can talk.”
I nodded, unable to speak, holding back the tears and the anxiousness that wanted to bring me down.
Once we got there, he sat next to me on the bed, but left enough room so we could meet eye to eye.
“Ask me anything and I’ll tell you the truth?”
Do you love me was the first question to pop into my head.
“Were you on a date with that girl when I saw you at the restaurant?”
We hadn’t talked about it becaus
e I’d told him it wasn’t any of my business.
“No.”
He held my gaze and his never wavered. I believed him.
“Was she a former girlfriend or someone you liked before?”
“No. Since I saw you at the bar that first night, there has been no one else I’ve been remotely interested in.”
My insecurity warred with his sincerity. Self-doubt wanted me to bombard him with a thousand more questions on the subject. I fought against it and moved on to another topic.
“Tell me more about your parents.”
He hadn’t said much more than that he’d been adopted by his aunt.
“Well, I told you that they were my aunt and uncle.”
“No, I mean your birth parents.”
“Oh.” He seemed to think about his answer, as it took him a while to respond.
“My father’s in jail.” My jaw went slack. “Yeah, he did some really bad shit and now he’ll never see the light of day.”
I could tell that had been hard for him to admit. Considering I hadn’t thought my questions through, not really wanting to reciprocate, I left that alone.
“Wow. What about your mom?”
His shoulders quickly moved up before falling again. “I don’t know much. According to my father, she showed up with me and took off.”
There was a hefty dose of skepticism in his voice.
“You don’t believe that?”
“Mom, my aunt, she had a private detective try to find her. According to him, she disappeared without a trace. No one knows if she ran or if she was taken against her will.”
His words triggered the headline. “That girl from campus, they think they found her.”
“Alive?” He asked like he knew her.
“No.” I didn’t want to imagine what she’d been through. “She’d been beaten pretty badly. They have to run a DNA test on her.”
“Can’t they check her dental records?”
I went on to explain how her face had been caved in, shuddering at the thought.
“Jesus,” he swore.
Because of Him Page 16