You should probably get the hell out of here the moment you can.
It was true. Rowen was unhinged, unbalanced, and obsessive, but I found myself craving it rather than being repulsed.
His love looked nothing like what it should. It was dark and relentless, and it came with a pleasure so intense, it felt like a punishment. That didn’t mean he was dangerous. He wasn’t a threat to me. He didn’t cuff me to the bed to hurt me. He just couldn’t stand the thought of losing me.
I opened my mouth then closed it, since I still couldn’t say it.
It wasn’t that I didn’t feel something. It was that I felttoo much, and I wasn’t ready to open that dam. Not like this.
“Can you let me out of these?” I asked quietly, feeling guilty for not saying what he needed to hear.
His eyebrows furrowed, eyes boring holes into me, digging. His jaw ticked once, and then he blinked, the look of yearning fading into remorse—softened with a small smile.
“Let me feed you first.”
I thought about saying no—I should have—but instead, I nodded and opened my mouth when the fork full of food came near my mouth, letting him feed me.
Showing him what I couldn’t tell him.
I trust you.
***
I blinked awake and turned over to find the bed empty.
My wrists ached faintly, just enough to remind me what he’d done.
What I’d let him do.
Rowen fed me bite after bite, carefully cutting everything, watching me chew like I was fragile, and he had to be ready to catch me.
Then, he uncuffed me, only to hold me all night. Even when I shifted in my sleep, he was always there, repositioning himself to keep his arms wrapped around me. I should’ve felt caged, imprisoned, but I slept like a baby.
It was jarring, feeling so safe in the arms of someone who didn’t know how to love without taking everything. Who was willing to do what it took to keep me, even if it meant going against my will. Someone who tied me up and still whispered his sweet love in my ears.
Moving slowly, my body aching with every step, I made my way downstairs.
He wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen, but once I made it across the house, I could hear his voice, low and hushed.
His office door was cracked just enough to let me see him pacing with his phone to his ear.
“I don’t need you to like me, Marissa. I get it. You hate me for what I did, what I took, but she wants to see you. Don’t you just want her to be happy? She’s your daughter, for fuck’s sake. Just come visit her.”
My stomach twisted. He was talking to my mom.
I should’ve walked away, but I was stuck to the floor, listening, my heart pounding in my ears.
“She’s not a prisoner,” he said, colder this time. “She’s here with me because that’s where she wants to be.”
Well…
It was mostly true.
“Avery isn’t a little girl who needs your permission. She’s made her choice. Don’t be stubborn about this. Sheaskedfor you to come visit. I can get the next flight out and have you here by the end of the day. Just let me know when you can show up for your daughter.”
There was a pause, and I pressed my hand to the cool wall, letting it ground me.
Rowen was trying to play nice, trying his best to give me the one thing I’d asked for, no matter how much it hurt him.
