Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
She paces around the room, throwing her hands up in the air. "There's danger," she mocks. "People are after you," she mocks. "I have to protect you." She spins around on her heel and glares at me. "Who the fuck is going to protect me from you?"
I flinch as if she struck me. It feels like a physical blow.
"You are not going to deflect. You are going to face the fact that you betrayed me, Quinn." I remember the night I tied her to the O-rings and punished her. My hands itch to do the same thing now. "And you know I have ways of dealing with this.”
She's getting a spanking for this. It'll put everything to rest between us. I'll feel better, she'll be turned on, we’ll make love, and then our passions will fade and we’ll fall asleep and wake up to a new day. Sometimes a good, hard fuck is the only way to mend broken bridges and soothe hurt feelings.
I'll take her to see her mother. I'll tell her everything I know. We’ll forgive each other because that's what people who love each other do. They wrestle it out, they face their demons. They don't run and hide.
But she's been through so much.
And even though I'm pissed, I'll get over it.
"It's been a long fucking night," I say wearily. "Let's go to bed."
To my surprise, she nods her head and agrees. “Yeah,” she says softly. “Let’s do that.”
Reaching for me, she places a surprising kiss on my cheek.
I take the painkillers I took before, because I want to obliterate the memory of tonight and the past that she's dredged up. I want to sleep without dreams. And I do.
I sleep so soundly, I don't hear her leave.
And when I wake up, she's done what she threatened to do from the very beginning. Disappeared, without a trace.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“THE PLAN”
Quinn
I came up with a plan that I thought would work.
And it did, it worked like a charm. I needed to get down to see my mother. And although I'm confident it's the first place Adriano will look for me, I want a little time and space away from him.
Last night really fucked me up. When he got angry about the information Starla gave me and said that he has ways of making sure things like that don't happen again, I don’t doubt him at all after having seen him in action more than once.
He doesn't know that I spoke with Helena, after which I couldn't get the image of him hurting someone that attacked not just us, but me, out of my mind. How could I not?
Briefly, I remind myself that I took vows to him; I knew that he was no angel when I did. I have no reason to believe he would hurt me. But still…
I laid in bed next to him, aware of the fact that he was as sound asleep as he’ll ever be, after taking that medication. It knocks him out.
So it isn’t Adriano that I have to fear at the moment, but the guards he’s put in place who would rather die than let me escape.
Starla… I need some assistance, and there’s no way I can ask Eden. First, Eden has a conscience that’s as watertight as can be. She wouldn’t step on an errant housefly. Second, she is under surveillance as strict as mine. Third, I can’t even imagine what Sergio would do if she was found helping me escape. Not to her, per se, but yeah, maybe to me. Or even Adriano. Do I care?
Yes, yes I care. So I text Starla, thankful that she joined the modern age and texts now.
Hey, I need a little help.
Yeah? What's up?
As soon as I tell her my plan, she's on board. I feel a little guilty taking advantage of a teen’s goodwill and rebellion, but I’d do the same for her.
An hour later, I manage to convince my guards to take me to the mall. There's only one store that's open this time of day, a big box department store, but they don't need to know that.
All they need to know is that I am in one of the store’s changing rooms. Thankfully, despite the fact it's the only place open in the mall at the moment, we’re not alone here.
I know how to do this. And it’s a lot easier to do with Starla’s assistance.
I quickly change into a completely different outfit that I hid under the ones on my hangers. I put on a pair of boys jeans and a T-shirt, then tuck my hair into a ball cap. I slide on a pair of sunglasses. Lastly, I lace up a pair of sneakers. When I don't look a thing like my actual self, I text Starla.
Go time.
Twenty seconds later, there's a bloodcurdling scream. "Help! Help!"