“I love you,” I breathed out.
“And I love you,” he replied, pressing his lips to my own in one last scorching kiss before pulling back. “You’re mine.”
“Yours,” I agreed.
“Come,” he stated. “Let’s get this over with so I can have my wicked way with you.” He stood, holding his hand out to me. I laid my own hand in his, a blush covering my cheeks. I’d happily skip seeing Cody one last time to let this man I married have his way with me. Now and forever.
I let Zachariah lead me out of the hidden room and to the kitchen. I didn’t let go of his hand, fearing the loss of his touch if I did let go. Being hidden and safe brought back memories of the car accident and the time I had almost lost my husband. I still have no idea what will happen if I were to ever lose him. I couldn’t lose him. It wasn’t an option.
Entering the kitchen, I couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped my throat. There, sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, hands tied behind his back, was the one and only Cody. The man that was more than just a simple pain in the ass.
His head was hanging down with his chin nearly touching his chest as he breathed in faintly. I didn’t expect him to be passed out cold, but I knew better to know that he wouldn’t be in a fighting position when it came to my husband.
A year ago, seeing something like this would have frightened me to my core. I would have been in a crying panic to figure how Cody, a man I once thought was my father, would warrant being here before me in such a way, but now, I knew better than to question such things. Oh, I could question it and I’d get more of an answer than I’d likely bargained for.
On a normal day, I wouldn’t even want to see this man, knowing what I do now. Today was not a normal day; it was a day that I would get answers that I surely deserved.
“How long will he be out?” I asked, seeing both Travis and Melio who sat at the table. Each had a pocket knife they were fiddling with. They were both pretty good-sized, too. “Do you really need those?” I asked towards the knives.
“Most likely,” Travis shrugged. “Can’t shoot the man in the house, so we have to use other means to get the answers.”
“You have to clean it up,” I stated, glaring at the two. There was no way in Hell I’d clean up a bloodied mess.
“Already got that covered,” Zachariah said, pointing to the clear plastic tarp that was laid out underneath the man. “Easy clean. Mostly.”
“I’m not gonna ask,” I mumbled out as I wondered how often this happened. Yeah, better off not knowing on my part.
“Where did Jonas go?” Zachariah asked the two men.
“Went to clean up the mess outside. The two guards that were stationed outside were killed. Knife to the throat. Not sure where the knife may have ended up,” Melio explained.
“Explains why no one came running when the window broke. I bet one of them was on his side to get him this close,” Travis mused. Then, turning to me, he answered my question. “He should be awake soon enough. We’ll try to get answers in a polite way first.”
“But it doesn’t always work that way,” Melio said, playing with his knife. He flipped it over and over, careful to not cutting himself.
“Oh!” Travis stated, instantly alert as a thought popped into his mind. “Have you asked Zach about what we talked about yet?”
“Haven’t really had a chance to,” I said.
“Ask me what?” Zach asked, his voice lowering in warning.
“To practice handling a gun,” Travis answered for me. Well, he did have the anger-filled eyes pinned to him. “Figured it’d be a good idea for her, you know, with what we face quite often.”
“I’ll think about it,” Zachariah stated flatly. That didn’t sound too promising to me.
I had truthfully forgotten to mention it, but with the hours that Zachariah had been spending away from the house the last few weeks, it had slipped my mind. Given, it had been less than a week since I had spent time with my brother anyhow.
Wisely, Travis didn’t proceed with the thought.
A moment later, Cody began to awake, grunting as he tried to move his arms. For a man that prided himself about God’s word, he sure wasn’t too smart about getting into the place he was now.
As he regained consciousness, he grimaced, but otherwise didn’t say anything. I watched as Cody’s eyes widened in fear first, then turned pleading, as he spotted me. I wanted to laugh. How dare he think that he could use me as a way out of this.
“Avidya,” he breathed, my name as strong as yelling for the devil upon his lips. Him calling me by anything gave me chills that went straight down my back. “You aren’t safe here.”
“Oh, I am perfectly safe,” I stated, looking him up and down in disgust. His hair was turning slightly grayer, and his light brown eyes were shadowed in by lack of sleep and stress. But otherwise, he still looked like the hard man that I grew up with. Well, except for the bruise that was covering the side of his face, which looked like it happened just today.
“Please, child,” Cody pleaded with me.
