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He picked me back up and walked out. He spoke to Santino, and then I heard a door click shut. When he placed me back on the bed, I bit my lip, afraid of what was next. Tears escaped my closed eyes.
The doctor rewrapped the bandages that covered my arms, feet and midsection and put ointment on my many scrapes. Once he was done, soft sheets slid over my body.
“Everleigh.” Lucius found my hand under the blanket and held it in his. “Open your eyes.”
I shook my head; I was cold, even though he’d piled blankets on top of me again. The bed dipped and Lucius sighed, his body close to mine. “You have my word that nobody is going to touch you again.” His raspy voice did wonders to distract me. “Everleigh. Please. Open your eyes.”
“I’m tired.” I pulled my hand out of his, opening my eyes only to be hit with his pleading gaze and downturned mouth. “I want to sleep.”
He paused for a moment, studying my face as if committing it to memory. “Santino will stay with you.” With a nod, he left, leaving an oppressing silence in his wake.
It had been a week since I’d foolishly jumped off the cliff, and except when I went to the bathroom, there wasn’t a moment when I was alone.
Santino walked me everywhere and now stayed in the office with me while I was working. Lucius would then walk me back to my room after dinner and stay with me. We went to bed together, my body aching to move closer every night but never giving in. But there was no more hand holding. No more whispered conversations.
The weight I had gained thanks to Mariana’s excellent cooking was long gone, and I once again resembled a walking corpse. But who cared? Not me.
As soon as Santino picked me up this morning, I knew something was wrong. He kept shooting me glances, and he was fidgeting. Santino never fidgeted. It made me nervous. The morning was slow going, the work I still had to complete seemingly impossible.
And then there were Santino’s attempts at conversation. Since he’d never initiated a conversation before, this made me suspicious.
“Can I get you anything?” he interrupted my dark thoughts on how they were going to kill me. I thought chopping me up in tiny pieces and throwing them into the ocean would be a favorite. Like I had never existed.
“No, thanks.”
I forced the “thanks” out, not having forgotten my manners completely while having a pity party for one.
“You haven’t eaten anything yet.”
“Not hungry.”
“I’ll get Mariana to make you a sandwich.”
“No, thank you.”
This time, the “thank you” part came out growled.
He fixed me with his gaze, gearing up to say something else. The opening of the office door interrupted our uncomfortable stare-off. Lucius’s unruly mop of dark glossy hair peeked through, and his drool-worthy body followed. Even if I were about to be dismembered, there would never be a moment when I wouldn’t appreciate all that was Lucius.
He nodded at Santino, who got up and left without a word. I watched Lucius move around the desk and stop at my side.
“Let’s go,” he said and took my hand.
Too stunned to protest, I let him pull me up. “Where to?”
“You’ll see.”
Way to be cryptic.But what choice did I have but to follow?
Lucius walked me down the long corridors, his steps sure, his grip warm. He looked back at me with a tentative smile on his face, making me suspicious as to where we were going. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he seemed almost excited.
I was lost after the fourth turn, all the hallways looking the same. After another few turns, we stepped through a large door and into a pool area with a glassed roof and Olympic-sized swimming pool.
The sun shining through the roof caused the water to sparkle, giving it an otherworldly appearance.
Lucius visibly relaxed as soon as we’d set foot into the room, his shoulders less tense and his face losing some of its permanent frown lines.
The door fell shut behind us, the loud noise echoing in the cavernous space.
