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Chapter 16
I don’t get very far,since I’ve not been given any time to explore the island outside of Kal’s home, and therefore don’t know anything about the layout.
I run until I’m blocks away from the bar, hyperaware of the wind kicking up the skirt of my dress each time my feet hit concrete. At least I wore underwear today.
There’s a bus station at the end of a connecting street, and I duck in as soon as I reach it, trying not to feel immediately paranoid about the lack of people inside.
To be fair, it seems as though this island doesn’t have a wide variety of folks, anyway. I’m sure the majority of them travel by foot or car.
At least, that’s what I tell myself as I approach the ticket window, searching for any sign of life inside. The lights are off in the office, the computer screens black. It looks like no one’s been here in weeks.
Groaning to myself, I lean my head against the counter, mentally assessing my body for signs of the drug Vinny injected me with.
It’s been several minutes and I don’t feel any different, except more on edge than ever as I wait for symptoms to set in. Exhaling, I walk over to one of the plastic benches in front of the window and flop down, pulling my phone out.
My sister’s name flashes across the screen, requesting a video call, and I decline, exhaustion clouding my brain. The phone vibrates again, an unsaved number I know by heart popping up, making the organ clench inside my chest like a closed fist, barring itself from further hurt.
I decline that call too, slumping on the bench and dropping my head to rest on its back.
Tapping my fingers on my bare knee, I contemplate my next move. There probably isn’t very much time, considering Kal knows Aplana and I don’t, and he’s also probably tracking my phone. I’m only minutes from the bar, and I know the first place he’d look for me would be an apparently abandoned bus station.
Because he’s smart. A predator at his very core, alert and cognizant at all times, like a lion lying low in the grass before an attack.
I could hide in a bathroom or a storage closet. Maybe try to find a door that locks, or mask my scent with the soil from one of the potted plants near the exit.
But deep in my heart, I know it’s useless. Kal didn’t take me as his wife for no reason, so there’s no chance in hell he’d ever give me up for anything less.
With a hand that feels like lead, I turn my phone over, wondering if Mamá was right to try and rescue me from this life.
At least with Mateo, I wouldn’t have been a prisoner to the feelings inside me; they’re volatile waves that ebb back and forth, tossing me like a ship as I try to decide between my infatuation and my fear. Lately, the former’s been winning out, my sex-starved brain short-circuiting when any part of me comes into contact with my husband.
The latter, though, is the option that makes sense. I should fear him. Should be spending all of my time figuring out how to get as far from him as possible, rather than melting into a needy puddle any time he’s around.
Maybe if I hadn’t been so openly wanton, he wouldn’t have taken me to that bar, and I wouldn’t have been attacked.
Maybe if he hadn’t left you alone, you wouldn’t have been.
My phone rings again, that same number popping up; against my better judgment, I answer, hitting the speaker button with my pinky as the rest of my body starts to feel like it’s taking on water.
“Where the fuck are you?” Kal’s voice is cold, hard steel, hurled at me like a lightning bolt.
A lazy smile works over my lips. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I’m not in the habit of asking questions I don’t want the answer to,” he says darkly. “You know better than that, Elena.”
I make a face at the window. “You sound like my dad.”
A long, pregnant pause stretches through the line between us, heat scoring my cheeks.
“Yeah?” Kal clips. “Then get back here so I can discipline you properly. Put you over my knee, show you how I feel about you running away from me.”
Tension expands in my core like an unraveled thread, tangling like a spider web between my thighs. Biting my lip, I try to latch onto the anger bubbling in my chest, even as warmth spreads from my pussy outward, my body melting at the image of me bent over for him.
“I didn’t run away from you,” I lie, swallowing over the emotion threatening the back of my throat. “You weren’t anywhere around when I left. Which, by the way, thanks for ditching me again. And thanks for recruiting a monster to babysit me.”
He sighs, and I can just imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to maintain composure. “I didn’t realize Vincent was going to be a problem. I will deal with him.”
Tears burn my eyes, and I sniffle as I fight them off, pulling my knees to my chest. Laying my cheek on my knee, I tap the phone, checking the time. “I hate it here.”
