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“Do you know why I call you sunflower?”
My heart twists at the sound of his softened voice. He’s putting it on. I know he is because anything coming from him that sounds real is an act he’s spent years perfecting.
But it’s still disturbingly soothing.
I shake my head. I never cared. He wanted to give me a stupid nickname, and I didn’t have a say in it. So I just went along with it.
“Because I always saw you lighting up when talking about something that was important to you. Your focus is incomparable when you set your mind to it. Your only objective is to follow your goals like a sunflower follows the sun. Or else you wither and die. Back then, your independence was your sun.”
I search for something true in his gaze while I try to calm my heartbeat. But there’s nothing to see, no emotion to catch. Where is he going with this?
“Now listen to me and listen really closely, Kayla.”
He leans closer, his thumb pulling down my lower lip before letting go and pressing against my mouth. The gesture feels…almost loving. A lie if I’ve ever seen one.
“I am your sun now.”
12
KAYLA
Hypnotic - Zella Day
I refuse to look at the ring. Refuse to see what the band is made of, if it’s a diamond, which cut. No. That would make it too real.
I’m looking out the window of his Range Rover, watching trees and buildings pass by as we leave the city of Silver Falls, and he drives onto the highway.
He gave me his suit jacket to leave the station. It smells of him and there’s only one way to describe it. Elegant. That’s how he smells. Like a man in a well-pressed suit who holds the door for you, cherishes his loved ones, works hard to spoil his wife. Like someone who hugs you when you cry and kills the demons that haunt you.
Like a lie.
My arms are wrapped around my stomach, not crossed over my chest like I usually do. I’m in protect mode. Not defense or attack. Protect. Protect my soul and my body at all costs. I need recovery, and I have spent less than twenty-four hours dealing with him. I feel cold, and I’m shaking. My teeth would be clattering if I wasn’t clenching my jaw so tightly, grinding my teeth to the point of breaking.
As I watch other cars driving past, I put a shaking hand on the window. I feel like a little girl who needs saving. I feel like hitting the glass and screaming for someone to help. Is that what he’s already reduced me to?
I can’t be Nate’s captive. What about my family?
What is going to happen when the girls don’t get their calls from me? It’s hard enough to only see them once a month. I will not live without them.
On my left hand, all I can feel now is the band around my skin. All I can notice is that it fits perfectly.
Cold sweat gathers at my lower back while I wonder how he knew my size. I’m starting to suffocate again, my freedom slipping through my fingers just because of a piece of metal touching my skin.
“Not even in your wildest dreams.”
I startle at Nate’s impassive tone, not understanding what he means until my eyes look down. Subconsciously, I started taking the ring off with my thumb. It’s around the second knuckle now.
“That ring stays on you. Day and night. Sunshine or rain. Is that clear?”
His eyes are on the road, and I wonder if he notices me nodding. There’s no way I’ll agree to that out loud.
“I’ve got a song for you.” He accelerates on the highway as he presses play on the car screen.
I look away again, and this time, rage overtakes the anxiety.
Motherfucker put on “Highway To Hell” by AC/DC. I could kill him with my bare hands if I wasn’t in such a state of shock.
When we arrive at his ridiculous mansion, my heart kicks into a panic again. The perfectly white building could fit my house four or five times in there. I don’t dare ask any of the questions plaguing my mind.
