She continues to glare at me, but slowly she nods her head. After last night and her biting me, I’m not sure how much I trust that, but I’ll be right outside, so if she tries anything I’ll be able to catch her. I’d really rather not traumatize her further, but it’s up to her.
“Do you want me to take your shirt now, or after you get in the tub?”
She holds her arms to her chest. “After. And give me a towel so you don’t see me once I’m done.”
I nod even though my cock has awful timing and twitches at the thought of getting to see her fully nude. I never thought it would be an option for me and desperately wish it was under different circumstances. I wish she was nude in front of me because she wanted to be and that it meant I could finally make love to her all the ways I’ve fantasized about for months.
Still crouched, I open the cupboard under the counter and pull out a towel. I set it on the floor near the tub where she should be able to reach it. I move to pick her up again and she stops me.
Shakily she gets to her feet. Her legs tremble. I hold a hand out to her to help her with the couple of steps she needs to take. With a frown, she takes it and walks over to the tub like a baby deer learning to walk. Turning, she sits down on the ledge and flips her legs over the side, sighing as her feet make contact with the water.
Josie remains sitting there before she looks at me. “You can go. I’m not going to undress in front of you. You’ve already seen more than I’ve wanted you to.”
The cold tone in her voice stings. Of course, she doesn’t want me to see her. That would be like her brother or father seeing her naked. I’m sure she’s mortified. I just wish I could make her understand I mean her no harm. “Right. I’ll be right outside the door.” I glance at the bathroom window. It’s a small porthole-style. She’d never be able to get her shoulders through it let alone any other part of her body. At least I don’t have to worry about her using it as a way to escape.
Leaving the bathroom, I go to the bed. She was on top of the comforter and it looks like it kept her accident from reaching the bedsheets. I just have to find a different blanket so she won’t be cold at night. If she didn’t hate me right now, I would offer to sleep in the bed to help keep her warm, but I think that’s the last thing she wants from me. I sigh and toss the comforter along with her pants to the door. I don’t want to leave the room. I don’t want to give her any kind of opening to escape. I listen to her move around in the water. Knowing she’s naked just a few steps away from me and sudsing up her body is more than I can handle right now. Sex should be the furthest from my mind, but I can feel my cock swell as I think about her running the soap over her breasts.
I wince as I rub at my face, hoping the pain of my nose will make my cock die down. How can I think about that when I’ve traumatized her? She probably will never want to see me again after this even if I convince her not to go to the cops or say anything about what she saw. She’s not only scared but humiliated from pissing herself, and it’s all my fault. Being a moron has put me five steps back. I don’t know how I’m going to get back from this.
I then remember the clothes Silas got from Ros and hurry from the room for a split second before returning. Keeping my head out of the bathroom, I stick my arm through the open doorway and let the bag hang from my hands. “There should be clothes in there for you. Let me know if you need help getting out of the tub.” I swing the bag and toss it toward the toilet.
After a moment her voice reaches my ears. “Whose clothes are they?”
Well, she’s talking to me, that’s a good sign, right?
“My sister’s.”
“Rosalie? Seriously? Does she know they’re for me? She hates me.”
I lean against the wall. This almost feels normal. “She doesn’t hate you. She... she just doesn’t know how to express her emotions well.” That makes two of us.
A snort comes from her. “Whatever you tell yourself so you can sleep at night. That girl hates me. She used to put gum in my hair when we were kids.”
I frown. “No, she didn’t. I would’ve remembered something like that happening. I would’ve freaked trying to get it out of your hair.”
“That’s because I never let you know. I didn’t want you getting mad at her, or trying to cut my hair to get it out. I figured out how to get it out myself.”
God, she’s always been so smart, even as a kid. “You didn’t have to hide something like that from me, I would’ve gone easy on her.”
Silence reigns again and my heart hammers. I wish I knew of something to say. “I know you don’t believe me, Josie, but I really am sorry all this is happening. I wish it wasn’t. But to protect my family I need to know you aren’t going to go to the cops the second you get back into the city, and you’ve lost your trust in me. We have to regain our trust in each other before any of this can end.”
She doesn’t say anything, but I can still hear her moving around in the water.
I stare outside. This is going to be a long week or so, however long it takes. And I still have to call her father and tell him that Sacha never showed and I can’t find him in any of his haunts. Since it is Sunday I have the added excuse that the bakery is closed, so I wouldn’t have had a chance to see Josie or know that she’s missing.
Chapter Eight
Josie
I can sensehim on the other side of the wall. I know he can’t see me, but my body is still pink with humiliation. I can’t believe he saw me in that state and took the pants off me while they were wet. I’m never going to be able to look him in the eye again, for so many reasons. I sink under the water’s surface, as my legs and arms no longer feel like limp noodles that I have to fling around to get to move and let the water rinse the shampoo out of my hair. I let myself savor the stillness that being under the water brings.
I know I can’t escape from here. Where would I go? I’m a city girl, I would die in the woods. I don’t know if I can trust Cason anymore. I mean he drugged me and brought me here, and I can’t leave until he’s certain I’m not going to the police to tell them that he’s a cop killer. My father placed a hit on Sacha, I remember that now from what I heard last night. So Cason isn’t a serial killer, but that doesn’t change the fact that heisa killer. If I go to the cops I would be getting my father in trouble as well. Then again, he has billions of dollars. He could pay everyone to make the problem go away.
What would happen to Cason? Would my father throw him under the bus, have him killed for taking me? He said he has me here to protect his family. The Bancrofts and Kotovs have always been on the same level, or so I thought.
Despite my anger at him for everything, the thought of Cason or his family being killed because of me is almost too much to bear. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, and if he went to prison, I would never see him again. It’s like there’s a war in my head. Part of me is saying I’m crazy for ever wanting to trust him again, and the other part has been in love with him for so long it wants me to say he can do no wrong.
My lungs burn and I force myself to come up for air. I gasp as I break through the surface.
