“Yes,” I say. “Grab a shower, okay? You’ll feel better. Grab anything in my closet you want to wear. I have hoodies and things. I am going to get some food for us. It’ll be takeout, but better than pizza.”
“Can’t be better than pizza,” she smirks.
She’s so cute. I know why Teddy loved her. I think I am in love with her too. I think I fell in love with her the moment I saw her at the cemetery, clocked the expression on her face, and knewright in my gut that there was someone else in the world who missed him like I did.
This time, she does as she’s told. She pads off and gets into the shower in my en-suite. I put an order through for pizza, which arrives just as she gets out of the shower.
She comes out of the bedroom wearing my hoodie. It comes down to mid-thigh. I wonder if she’s wearing anything underneath it. Probably not.
We sit down on the couch and I make sure she takes a good slice. A couple of cans of soda are cracked next to us, ice in glasses. It’s simple food, but it’s the kind of comfort we both need.
“You were in rehab?” She asks the question in between bites.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t for real this time. I just needed those other two off my back. I think you can probably see why.”
“Yeah,” she says. “They’re intense.”
I start eating too. It’s amazing. I haven’t really eaten since we left the rehab. Aiden’s men weren’t thinking about taking breaks for us. They were entirely locked in on doing as he said and getting us to him.
I notice Ella has a good appetite too. She eats a good half of the pizza before slowing. I leave another quarter of it for her. I want her fed and happy.
“Did Aiden not feed you? On top of everything else?”
She gives me a look that I find very hard to read, but which I know I should pay attention to.
“You just seem hungry,” I say.
“I like pizza,” she says, looking down and nibbling at the slice she already chewed massive bites out of.
I sigh inwardly. I didn’t want to make her feel self-conscious, but it seems that’s all I’ve done.
Ella
Why does this feel more awkward than being abducted twice before did? Luke seems sweet, but he’s not the same caliber of man as his older brothers. Leo and Aiden are unique. Luke feels more familiar.
He has intensity to him, and charisma, but it’s not the emperor energy of Aiden, or the fucking apex predator sort of vibe of Leo. Luke feels like he could set the world on fire and not care for even a moment.
When I look at him, I see recklessness, sweetness, danger. He’s built like a Minotaur. And he wants nothing more than for me to be happy. That should be enough, but it’s not, because this isn’t real. Sitting here, on this couch, eating good pizza… this is something friends do. And we’re not friends. We are strangers, and he just abducted me.
And that, to me, is the good part.
There’s something wrong with me, I’m pretty sure. I should be so grateful to be in his presence, and to be somewhat rescued from the others. But I feel like I am being rejected somehow, or denied something I should have because we’re just making polite conversation over pizza.
Luke is hot. A hot fucking mess, but I am not anybody to judge in that regard. He has this wild energy that he’s trying so hard to rein in. It’s like watching a bull in a china shop, except I am the china shop, and in this case the bull is tiptoeing around pretending to be a normal customer.
“What are you thinking about? You look concerned.” He asks the question with a furrowed brow.
“They’re going to come for me. And they let you take me because I belong to you too according to them. So… are you going to…”
I’m basically asking him if he’s going to use me.
“Do you want me to?” He catches my meaning instantly. “Are you asking me to…”
I can’t possibly say I am asking him to fuck me, but the last week or so of my life has been one sexual escapade after another. And now it’s wearing off, I’m starting to remember things I don’t want to recall. If I were still in Aiden’s presence, my mind would be full of nothing but pleasure.
“You want to be good,” I say. “But the good brother would never do what they want him to do.”
“You’re not here because of my brothers. You’re here because you deserve to be something other than captive.”
