“Go on, Mia, take a wild guess.”
“You’re a Wednesday afternoon patient.”
But I would have recognized his name…unless he’s using a fake name. But it was court mandated, so would that even be possible?
He laughs, nodding for me to continue. “You’re Sean Sanders,” I whisper.
“Clever girl. You were always so bright, Mia. I knew you would do well. Imagine if you had had me to guide you the last ten years. Imagine how much you could have achieved by now.” He strokes my hair, and I have to force myself to lean into him. “But I’m here now. Think how well you’re going to do now.”
I’m a goddamn doctor. I did that all on my own. I did it despite what he did to me. I did it, all without being able to go home and have the support of my family. All because ofthis fucking monster in front of me, smiling like he’s rescued a princess from an ivory tower.
“Where are we?”
“We’re still in Seattle,” he says, playing with the ends of my hair. “We’ll move soon. We can’t linger too long, but I just couldn’t wait to have you in bed again.”
My stomach rolls and my mouth downturns. He’s going to expect me to have sex with him. I’m going to have to look like I enjoy it. I did enjoy it. As much as a seventeen-year-old can with a thirty-two-year-old man. My first everything was with him. He’ll know if I’m faking; he’ll know if I’m acting. I have to delay this as long as possible. I use the one card I know will work.
“I’m on my period,” I say, grimacing.
He laughs, “Mia, I’ve moved on from such trivial matters. I know I used to avoid it before, but it’s different now.”
I place my hand on his, and his eyes widen, a faint blush hitting his cheeks. “I just don’t want our first time after all these years to be when I’m on my period. I don’t want to be self conscious about the mess and the fact I’m bloated. I don’t want to bedistracted.” I squeeze his hand for good measure, and he swallows, letting out a slow steady breath.
“Of course, it has to be special. It will be, I’ll make sure of it.”
We smile at each other, and I feel like he expects me to say more. “Can I have a glass of water?”
He jumps from the bed, heading to the door. “Of course. I just got so wrapped up in having you back. I’ll get you some food as well. Then we’ll be hitting the road.”
He opens the door, closing it as he leaves. I hear the snick of a lock and the slide of a deadbolt.
The bastard has locked me in here. Literally locked me in a bedroom.
Jumping out of bed, I brace myself against the wall as I look out the window. I’m only on the first floor, so I could easilyjump and not kill myself. Maybe just a bruised ankle if I’m lucky. I try to wiggle the window, but it’s then that I see two nails haphazardly hammered into the wooden frame, locking it in place. I tug on one of them as hard as I can, just about getting the tip of my finger underneath the head but no luck. But it quickly slips and my knuckle whacks against the wooden frame with a thud. I hiss, pulling my hand into my chest and squeezing as hard as I can. There’s no time for this. No time to soothe. I need to find an exit as fast as possible.
I turn to the door that Carter walked through, twisting the handle in case I’d somehow imagined the lock.
“Carter,” I call out. “I need the bathroom.”
“Two seconds, sweet girl.” The bile threatens to crawl up my throat again as I instinctively move away from the door.
I’m not a kid anymore.
I’m not his fucking sweet girl.
I’m going to be his worst fucking nightmare.
The smell of coffee warms the air as he opens the door. I smile and ask where the bathroom is. He points down the corridor and lets me walk alone. He can’t be worried about me escaping.
I step into the bathroom, closing the door. There’s no lock, but that's okay.
The window has no nails, and I twist the catch and slide it up as slowly as I can, not daring to make any more noise than necessary. But as quickly as I have the window open, I hear footsteps coming down the hallway. The door swings open as I’m closing it quickly.
“What are you doing?” he snaps.
“I was feeling dizzy. I wanted some fresh air.”
“You can’t open that.” The vein on his forehead bulges.
