"They got into my apartment," I tell him. His brows raise slightly, waiting for me to continue. "They took whatever was left behind and took it back to their house in Spanish Springs."
A slow nod, absorbing the information, "Good thing we got all your vibrators out."
An ugly snort of a laugh escapes me, thinking of how disturbed my parents would be to have found those.
"Anything else?" he asks.
"They want me to come home," I supply, unhelpful as ever. A sniffle escapes me before I continue, "They're reporting me a missing person. It's only a matter of time before that search turns into them finding my new address. Which is where, exactly? Can't be here."
"A small, obscure village just outside of Homer. It'll take them at least a few days to get in touch with the police there and confirm your whereabouts. Several weeks to find flights and accommodations should they decide to track you down themselves." He shrugs, "More likely, they'll send scouts. And one of my men will track them back to their closest hideout."
Folding my arms across my knees, I let my forehead fall against them, staring at the deep green bathmat on the floor.
"You'll be fine, Isla." He sinks to sit on the floor, his comically long legs stretching out almost into the hallway. "They won't find you here."
Maybe they should.That small part of me wonders if I would be better off if they did find me.Maybe they're right, a cruel voice whispers in my head.If you were living the way you're supposed to, you wouldn't be suffering so much.
Even though I know better, those whispers cloud my thoughts in the quiet nights when I'm wishing for something more. If I lived the way they claim brings joy, would I be happier? Would I find peace? They seem so sure of it.
I physically shake my head, trying to clear away those claws they dug into my brain during childhood.
This is the only way to have true joy.
You'll have nothing without us.
Where will you go?
And if they did find me, I'd be guaranteed a family.
Unwilling to face the route thoughts of a family will take me, I distract myself the only way I know how. "They've found me a husband," I chuckle.
"Have they?" Eamon indulges me, false humor filling his voice. "And what is this Prince Charming's name?"
"Silas."
"DoesSilashave a last name?" he knocks my foot with his knee.
The playful touch does nothing to bring me out of my self-pity, but I appreciate the gesture nonetheless. "I'm sure he does, but I'm not permitted to know what my new surname will be, probably not until my wedding day. Lest I look the man up and decide to bolt. Again."
He hmms in thought. "Again?"
"I'm a fast runner," I laugh, thinking of the weekend I fled from my first wedding at 19.
He laughs, too, "Was your first betrothed not to your liking?"
"He was fine. Handsome enough, but there was something evil behind his eyes. Like he enjoyed that I wasn't pure because it gave him an excuse to—" I clear my throat, the words refusing to come out. The humiliation of him standing there, demanding cleansing rituals before the wedding could proceed, the memories of it nearly made me throw up again.
A loud crunch brings my attention to Eamon, and he drops his phone into his lap, the shattered thing clattering uselessly across his legs and onto the floor. His jaw clenches, eyes not meeting mine as they bleed red at the edges. All at once, he jolts to his feet, storming out of the bathroom.
In my inebriated, weakened state, I attempt to follow him, tripping over my feet as he speedwalks into my room, grabbing the laptop roughly from its perch on my desk.
"Hey! Take it easy. I still haven't read the invitation from Mike and Charlie," I argue, trying to take the computer from him.
"It's in ten weeks at their home in New York." He slams my laptop shut, tucking it under his arm like a football. "They'd love to have you but understand if you can't make it, which you can't."
My eyes threaten to water again, rage and sorrow and defeat bubbling up in my throat as he storms past me, disappearing down the hall the opposite way of the kitchen.
Whatever kindness he seemed to offer me disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving me alone with nothing but horrid memories and the taste of vomit in my mouth.
