by Abbi Cook
Chapter Eighteen
Sophie
King’s touch should calm me, but I can’t stop shaking. I can tell he’s trying so hard to be gentle. It’s not who he is, but he’s doing his best. I want to tell him it’s not as bad as he thinks, that Tap didn’t bother to rape me because he was having too much fun torturing me, but every time I open my mouth to explain what happened, the words get stuck in my throat. All that comes out are sobs.
I have no more tears left. King probably thinks I’m in shock because I’m not crying, that I don’t know what’s going on. But I do. He found me, just like I prayed to God he would. All these hours chained to this concrete floor made me question everything, except King. I never doubted if he was still alive, he’d come and take me from this horrible place.
The only thing I didn’t know was if he’d get to me in time before Tap killed me.
“Sophie, I’m going to get you out of these chains and then we’ll go back home. You’re safe. I promise.”
Instead of making me feel safe, his words make panic race through me. He sounds frightened, something I’ve never heard in King’s voice.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?”
“No. You’re going to be fine.”
He smooths my hair and shakes his head, but his smile doesn’t go all the way up to his eyes. He’s lying.
I watch where his gaze falls to my cheek before he winces ever so slightly. He’s trying not to scare me, but it’s not working.
“You said he did something to my cheek. Why do you keep looking at me like that? How bad is it?”
God, I hate how weak my voice makes me sound. Like a victim.
“It’s going to be fine. We’ll be like twins with matching wounds, especially if the doctor only uses butterflies on you too. Don’t worry. Cam’s okay. He’ll fix you up.”
King smiles again, but this time it’s real. I can tell by the way it lights up his entire face, especially his eyes. They sparkle like chocolatey emeralds when he’s genuinely happy.
“Promise?”
“I promise. I haven’t let you down yet, have I?” he says just as someone walks down the stairs to join us.
Covering me, he yells at them, “Who’s there?”
“It’s just me, King. I got the bolt cutters you need.”
I can’t see the man, but he sounds kind, and when he hears his voice, King relaxes, leaning away from me. Looking around him, I see the man and remember him from that first night when Tap grabbed me off the street near my house.
“Thanks, Kroger.”
Embarrassed that this person can see all of me, I curl up in a ball the best I can. King sees me do this and says to him, “Hey, do me a favor and go upstairs and watch, just in case Tap comes back. I don’t need him coming down here and trying anything. And get me a towel, too.”
As Kroger runs back up the stairs, King turns back to face me. “Sorry about that. He’s a good guy, but I didn’t think about how he shouldn’t be here while you’re like this. My mind is occupied with other things.”
“What? What are you thinking about?” I ask, afraid he’ll tell the truth and it will be that seeing me like this makes him sick to his stomach.
He ignores my question and points at my left arm. “Lift up your arm so I can get these chains off you.”
“The cuts. He drew something on my arms.”
King’s gaze drops and I see him cringe. I can’t look, though. Squeezing my eyes shut, I shake my head.
“Sophie, I need you to let me take these things off you.”
I do as he orders, and a few seconds later, I’m free. My arms drop to my sides like heavy weights that threaten to crush me. King pulls me to him and holds my body against his, even as I try to fight him.
“I’m filthy. Don’t touch me. You’ll get covered in all of it too.”
Squeezing me tightly to him, he shakes his head. “Shhh. You were there for me when I looked like someone used me for a punching bag. Now I’m here for you. You’re safe, Sophie. I promise. I promise.”
His words lull me into a calm I didn’t think I’d ever feel again, and in his arms, I believe that he’ll keep me safe. “I want to get out of this place, King. Please get me out of here.”
Against the top of my head, he whispers, “I’m just waiting for Kroger to get back here with the towel. No need to have you showing off the goods to everyone on the estate.”
He’s trying to cheer me up, but when I lean back to look up at his expression, I see his attempt at lightening the mood didn’t work on him either. In his face, all I see is a mixture of rage and sadness, each one fighting to overwhelm him as he stares down at me and pretends like none of this bothers him.
Footsteps on the stairs tear us out of a quiet moment, and I shrink behind King while he covers me. “You got that towel, Kroger? I want to get her out of here before that asshole gets back.”
“Yeah, here it is. I had to look through like three cabinets. Tap lives like a fucking pig. This was the only clean one I could find.”
A second later, King wraps it around my body and once more tries to smile to make me think everything is going to be okay. “Let’s get the hell out of here. When we get back to the apartment, Cam will be there and then you can take a long bath and soak in the hot water like you told me to. You were right. It worked, so now I’m telling you to do the same.”
Turning his head, he yells behind him, “Kroger, watch the stairs.”
I slowly stand from my concrete prison, but my legs give out before I can get my balance. King catches me in his arms, and when I try to stand again, he shakes his head, stopping me.
“Don’t. I’ll carry you.”
He moves to scoop me up into his arms, but I push his hands away before he can touch my legs. “No! I’m covered in—you don’t want to get it all over you.”
Laughing, he ignores my protests and lifts me into his arms anyway. “A little piss isn’t going to be a big deal. I’ve been covered in blood and brains more times than I want to remember, so this isn’t going to be anything worse.”
As he turns to walk toward the stairs, I bury my face in that warm space between his neck and shoulder. His skin smells like only King does. I can’t place why it’s different, but it’s quintessentially him.
Masculine. Strong. Protective.
I don’t want to think about how I smell or what I feel like against his skin. It will only make me cringe. How he can ignore the scent of piss baffles me since before I filled my nose with the smell of him, that’s all I could breathe in.
Step by step, he takes me out of Tap’s basement prison until we reach the upstairs that looks just like King’s apartment. I didn’t see this when he brought me there, and now I just want to spit on everything I see as we leave this place.
Kroger holds the front door open, and when King takes that first step out into the night air, all I can think of is how fresh it feels against my skin now that I’m free. I know that’s not really true. I’m still not back in my home, safe and sound in my own bed, but in some ways, I am free.
King walks slowly back toward his apartment, each step solidly landing on the grass. His eyes narrowed to slits, he appears angrier now than he looked back in Tap’s basement. He’s nothing less than seething, but I don’t understand the change in him. If anything, shouldn’t he be happy now that I’m out of that terrible place?
Then a thought rips through me. Is it possible he thinks I did something to make this happen?
Looking up at him, I say, “I didn’t let him in, King. I wasn’t trying to get away either. I swear to you I didn’t do that. He had a way in on his own.”
He doesn’t immediately answer, but I watch as his expression softens. Without meeting my gaze, he nods and says quietly, “I know you didn’t, Sophie.”
And in those five words, I hear what I need. Like I believe in him, he believes in me.
The doctor smiles down at me and nods as he gently presses the last butterfly bandage to my face. “There yo
u go. Not bad at all, right?”
I try to smile back at him, but it feels all lopsided because my cheek hurts. “Thank you.”
“You’ll be fine. I don’t expect a scar there, so that’s good. I think you’ll be back to new in no time. The cuts on your arms aren’t deep, but we’ll have to see. King said he’ll put the bandages on them.”
He turns to talk to King, and I sit on the edge of the bed clutching that disgusting green towel from that asshole’s apartment and wishing the doctor would leave so King and I can be alone. After a minute, the doctor turns his focus back to me and pats me on the shoulder.
“If you need anything, have King call me and I’ll get here as soon as I can.”
They walk out of the bedroom, leaving me alone, so I tighten the towel around me again and follow them out. King thanks him at the door, and then closes it.
“Your cheek will be fine. Cam does good work.”
But he doesn’t look at me when he says that and doesn’t mention the cuts on my arms.
“Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
I walk behind him, wanting to reach out to hold his hand or touch his arm. Anything to feel some connection to him.
“Maybe a quick shower will be a good idea instead of a bath. Wash up, and then you can soak in the tub for as long as you want in clean bath water,” he says as he turns on the water.
Tossing that disgusting green towel over into the corner, I look at his arms covered in dirt from me. “What about you? You’re filthy too.”
He waves away my concern and steps back to hold open the door to the shower. “I’ll be fine, Sophie.”
Something’s wrong. His voice is so flat. What happened to the man who couldn’t think of anything else when I was around, especially when I stood naked in front of him?
“Why are you acting like this? Why does it look like you don’t even want to be near me, like I sicken you right now?”
He looks away toward the shower door handle that’s suddenly become such an important focus for him and shrugs. “I’m not acting like anything. I just thought a shower would be good. Get all that piss and blood and dirt off you.”
My emotions begin to unwind inside me, threatening to explode into something I don’t know if I can handle right now. Taking a step toward him, I touch his chest, and he flinches.
“Why are you acting like this? I barely touch you and it’s like you hate the feel of me near you.”
I wait for him to answer, to say something to prove to me I’m wrong, but instead, he just shakes his head and lets go of that damn door handle. “I’ll be out in the kitchen if you need anything. Just yell.”
The bathroom door slams behind him, and then I’m alone. I feel like someone hollowed me out, leaving just this outside shell that repulses him now. Looking down, I see the bruises on my legs. Are they the problem? Is it the injury on my cheek? I touch it gently and tears fill my eyes.
Or is it the cuts on my forearms?
For the first time, I see what Tap did to me. On my left arm, he carved SLUT and BITCH into my skin. Tears well in my eyes, and I look on my right arm to see one word sliced into me.
CUNT
I can’t stop myself from crying. Tap cut into me the three words he used to describe me. That’s all I was to another human being.
The sound of footsteps coming toward the bathroom makes my heart skip a beat, but then there’s nothing but silence. Is King waiting outside the door? Why won’t he come in?
When I don’t see the door open, I step into the shower and let out a heavy sigh as the water washes away all the dirt and piss on the back of my legs. Lathering the bar of soap in my hand, I scrub my skin to ensure it’s all gone as I get lost in my thoughts of what’s happened between King and me.
I didn’t ask for Tap to do what he did today. King said he knew I didn’t try to run away, so why can’t he even look at me now? If he doesn’t blame me, why is he acting like this?
The bathroom door opens, and I hold my breath as I wait for him to say something. I hear the sound of clothes rustling, but still he stays silent. Did he bring me new clothes to wear?
“King?”
He steps into the shower before turning his back to me. I stand there stunned but unsure what will happen next.
“What are you doing?”
Still he says nothing, not even turning to look at me when I talk to him.
I watch as the water hits his head and rolls down his tanned back, running over his taut muscles on its way over his body. He stands perfectly still, not looking for soap to wash his hands and arms that my dirty legs touched, and making not a single noise.
“Why won’t you look at me now? Am I so revolting after what happened that I make you sick? He didn’t rape me. He barely touched me, except to hit me.”
For the first time, he looks back at me and shakes his head. Pain like I’ve never seen before in him fills his eyes.
“I don’t blame you, Sophie.”
“Then why are you acting like you do?”
Again, he shakes his head, and when he answers me, that pain in his eyes comes out in his words. “I don’t mean to act that way. I’m just not the right person for you now. You need someone kind and gentle after all you’ve been through. That’s not me.”
“Then why did you come in here?”
Turning away from me, he says in a low voice, “I didn’t want you to be alone. I didn’t want to be alone.”
I take a step toward him and reach out to brush my fingertips over his shoulder. He doesn’t pull away this time, so I take another step so my body presses against his. A heavy sigh leaves him, and he leans back against me. His skin is hot and smooth against mine, alive like I wish I was.
He’s so strong while I’m weak. His anger proves that. I don’t have the power to be angry about what Tap did. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want to be around me now. I don’t seem enraged enough at what happened.
If I could be, I would.
Pressing my cheek to his back, I confess that truth to him. “I wish I could be like you. If I was, I could be angry.”
“You should be angry,” he says, his words resonating through his body.
“I don’t have the power to be that, King. Weak people get to be every emotion but angry. We can be sad, but we can’t be angry. I lost that power when he took me.”
King turns in my hold and faces me. He gazes down at me, and for the first time, he looks like the man who’s taken care of me while I’ve been here.
“You’re not weak, Sophie.”
“No, you’re not weak. I have no power here.”
He hangs his head and sighs. “I’ve tried to make this as safe as possible. I’m sorry this happened. All of it. He never should have grabbed you that night in the first place.”
Every word he speaks sounds so full of regret that I can’t stop myself from taking him in my arms and holding him to me. I know what kind of man he is, but more than that, I know what he’s done for me.
King wraps his strong arms around my shoulders, enveloping me in his hold that overpowers mine, and I close my eyes as a feeling of safety washes over me. He possesses all the power, but in some way there as he stands with me, I feel stronger.
“What’s going to happen now?” I ask in a small voice, almost afraid to hear the answer.
His embrace tightens around me, and he answers, “You’ll go home. I promise. As soon as I can arrange it, you’ll leave here and forget this place.”
I look up at him, stunned by what he said. “Home? How did you—?”
He pushes my wet hair off my face and smiles down at me. “Your uncle finally got in touch with my boss. Probably because of that note I gave your mother today. You were supposed to be back home already, but that asshole screwed everything up. I’m going to have a hard time convincing Duke to send you back with all these bruises and that gash in your cheek, but I’ll find a way.”
And just like that with one mention of my mother finally knowing I’m a
live, I begin to cry again. “Did she look sad? I know she probably seemed okay because that’s the kind of person she is. She never shows what she’s really feeling.”
“She looked like you,” he says in a faraway voice. “So much like you I was surprised.”
“Was she happy when she read the note?” I ask, my heart practically bursting at the thought of my mother finally knowing the truth.
“I didn’t stick around to see. The last thing I need is to be nabbed by Victor Varens’s guys in the Stop N Shop, Sophie.”
He’s right, but I wish he could tell me how she reacted. My mother’s a strong woman, though. She probably didn’t outwardly show much emotion, even if inside she was jumping for joy.
“Hey, look at me.”
Tilting my head back, I force a smile. “It’s okay. I understand. I didn’t expect you to risk yourself.”
“I walked away, but I think she was overjoyed to find out you’re okay.”
I lay my head on his chest and feel all my worries ebb out of me. “Thank you for doing that, King. It means the world to me that you helped me let my family know I’m okay and they don’t have to worry.”
He gently strokes his hand over the back of my head, and I have a hard time believing this is the same man I once swore to hate for the rest of my life. “Soon you’ll be home and all of this will just be a memory.”
I hear those words, and part of me is so happy I can’t put my feelings into words. But another part of me can’t imagine how I’m ever going to forget King.
Chapter Nineteen
King
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know this is the last night Sophie and I will ever be together. I know it’s the right thing to do to send her home. She never deserved to be dragged into this world. She’s too sweet, too soft.
I know this and still my chest feels like someone’s carving my heart out of me with a dull knife.
She dries off and looks around the bathroom for her clothes. “I forgot to bring my things in. I’m not even sure where I left them this morning.”
Pulling the T-shirt I brought in for her off the shelf, I hand it to her. “Wear this. You’ve been in those clothes ever since you got here. For tonight, you can wear one of my shirts.”