“Y-you have no idea what I’m thinking.”
“I have a pretty good idea.”
She ducks under my arm and takes off. I catch her up in three steps and grab her arm. Taking her into my room, I need this dealt with, and not just for myself. If Luca finds out she knowsabout Effie, I’m certain I won’t like his solution to fixing the problem he will think Phoebe would become.
“Let me out of here,” she spits. “I want to go home.”
“I will, I just wanna talk first.”
“I doubt you’ll tell me the truth, what’s the point.”
“You want the truth?”
She hesitates but eventually nods.
“She’s the one who made you all believe I was dead. She kept me chained up in a tiny room for months. Barely fed me, I had to make water stretch, not knowing when I would get more. She had her men beat me till I was pissing blood. She…”
A tear rolls down her cheek and she cuts me off. “She is now you. An eye for an eye.”
“Something like that.”
She turns her back on me. “I hate what she did to you, but I can’t even stand to look at you for what you’re doing now.”
That cuts deep. Sighing, I try another approach.
“In many ways I’m still the same guy, but parts of me have changed. Not parts that are to do with you, though.”
“Ford, you are holding a woman captive and by the looks of it, not treating her too good. How am I supposed to see you as anything but someone I don’t know anymore,” she yells.
“Because if you stick around, you will see you still know me. I’m just not gonna let her get away with it.”
“And what if I hurt you somehow? Would you treat me like a dog?”
“Come on.” I sigh. “You would never hurt me like she did.”
“We don’t know that. Maybe I’ve changed in ways you don’t know about,” she retorts.
“Be serious, Phoebe.”
She goes to move around me, but I block her way to the door. She is not leaving yet.
“Let me out of here.”
“I can’t do that. I need to know what you’re gonna do next.”
Confusion mars her perfect face so I clarify, “Are you gonna tell anyone what you’ve seen?”
Anger turns her bright red, and I move out of the way as she starts slapping the shit out of my arm. Grabbing both her wrists, she soon calms down.
“Just tell me.”
“No! As much as I hate you right now, I won’t tell anyone. There, are you happy now?”
“Far from it, babe.”
All the fight leaves her. “You really aren’t the same guy anymore, are you?”
I step closer to her. “Accept who I am now.”
