“No. Selfishly, I want to keep you with me. I want…”
“What do you want?” I take a step closer to him. When he doesn’t respond, I blurt out something I’ve never told anyone before. “I used to throw up because my aunt controlled my life so much.”
He blinks before slowly frowning. “What?”
“My aunt… she would control every aspect of my life. Who I could talk to and how I could dress and it was exhausting. She claimed it was what was best for me but it was stifling. It was slowly killing me. But I had no way out so… I would throw up. Not every day because I knew it wasn’t good for me. But I would throw up on occasion just to find a release. To find a way to deal with the control she had over me. That’s my secret. It’s one not even my brother knows about.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you’re being open with me. I want to be open with someone in my life. Even just once. I don’t know what the future holds. Marco could find us here. He could kill me. Or kidnap me again. But I want someone to know this about me. I’m tired of being controlled. It’s why a part of me hates you. You’re controlling me.”
“A part of you hates me. What about the other part?”
I hesitate before I finally confess everything. There’s no point in holding things back now. “The other part… cares for you too. I don’t want you to die for some reason. But I don’t want to be controlled by you. If you claim you care for me, you wouldn’t control me. I’m tired of it and I’m done being a pawn in someone else’s game. Just… done with it.”
“You really did that? Threw up?”
“Yes. I hid it well. Not even my aunt or brother knew. The only person who figured it out was my sister-in-law, Kira. But since I’ve been kidnapped, I haven’t even had the chance to talk with her. I didn’t even have the chance before I was kidnapped. My aunt hates Kira and kept me from her. I’m… alone. And I have been for a long time.”
Slowly, Will reaches out and touches my arm. I don’t move back. His touch is soft on my skin. “I’m sorry you had to gothrough that. It must have been tough. No wonder you hate me. I would hate me too.”
“Just don’t control me,” I whisper. “I’m tired of it.”
“You won’t leave? If I were to walk out that door, you would remain here? Until I can figure everything out?”
“Yes.”
“How do I know you’re not just saying that?”
“Will, you have to learn to trust people. You’ve been on your own too. That much is obvious to me,” I say. “I won’t leave. Only if you promise to return me to my brother one day. I will wait for you to figure things out. But you have to promise to give me my freedom.”
He looks me dead in the eye for a long moment, like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. And then finally… he nods. “I promise. I’ll get you back to your brother. That’s what you deserve.”
I let out a sharp breath. “Thank you.”
“Take a shower. I’ll keep watch. We should leave the motel in the morning. Find another place to take you. Marco will be out hunting for us. Your brother is out hunting for me. I need to find a way to get you to him without risking my own life.”
“I get that. You don’t want to die and I can’t blame you for that. As long as you find a way, I’ll be grateful. I already am. You saved me from Marco when you didn’t have to. So… thank you for that.”
A light enters his eyes that I don’t fully understand. “Of course.”
I walk away from Will to go to the bathroom but the urge to remain standing before him, talking with him, being in his presence, is stronger than anything I’ve ever experienced before.
After taking my shower and changing into the pajamas he brought for me so I don’t have to wear the wedding dress Marcoforced me into, I leave the bathroom to find Will in a state of undress. He only has his pants on. No shirt.
I stop in the doorway and let out a squeak.
“I prefer to sleep without a shirt,” he explains, nodding at the bed. It’s then that I realize there is only one bed in this room. Not two. Which means Will and I will have to share one. I will have to sleep beside Will for the very first time.
My first time ever sleeping beside a man that wasn’t my brother.
“Could you… put it on? Just for tonight?”
“Does my bare chest bother you?”
“No,” I say quickly, my face on fire. “It’s just…”
He quirks an eyebrow. “It’s just what?”
