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This is it. This is my last hope. I can’t run, or escape. My only chance is to plead for my life, to appeal to any goodness in him. There must be something. I’ve hit and bit him, and despite that, I’m not black and blue. Just maybe, he has a heart.
“What’s your name?” After all this time, granted most of it I spent unconscious, I never brought myself to ask.
His eyes narrow, searching my face, and for a moment I think he’s not even going to bother to answer.
“Ren.”
“Ren.” His name rolls off my tongue like a wish. “Do you have a sister?”
He needs to see me as a person, as a woman, as someone who deserves his kindness. His face softens slightly, and an ember starts inside me. A small flicker of hope.
He nods but doesn’t say anything. It’s a start, but I need more. I need to connect with him.
“Are you from an old school family? One that believes in arranged marriages?” In this life, it’s the norm, and he reeks of mafia or something similar.
He takes a few moments to answer, but eventually says, “I guess.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, finding it difficult to talk, knowing it’s time to open up and go back to hell.
“And if your sister was given to a man that takes pleasure in hurting her, what would you do?”
His entire body stiffens and his hands clench into fists. “I’d end him.”
Lucky her.
I close my eyes and let those words sink in. If only there was someone back then who would have done the same for me. But there wasn’t, and there won’t be.
“Do you know of Sergei Nikolov?” My voice comes out weaker than I’d like, but saying his name aloud is like ripping an old scar open.
There’s no answer, so I tilt my head upwards. His jaw is clenched tight, and there’s a dark feral look in his eyes that makes it clear he knows exactly who I’m talking about, and who and what he is.
“You take me back to my dad and he will give me straight back to him.”
I’ve been following him, he’s still unmarried. The deal will resume. I feel it in my soul and after that phone call, he’s not given up. He never will.
Ren’s face is blank, but his eyes, they tell an entirely different story. They darken, swirling with a mix of emotions I can’t even begin to understand.
“And if he finds you himself, it’ll be worse.” His voice may be gentle, but his words ignite my rage.
“He didn’t find me, you did!”
He really has no idea. My blood starts to boil in my veins and the warmth inside me turns to fire. My eyes brim with hot tears, but fuck him. He’s not getting them, and neither is Sergei. He doesn’t deserve one more drop.
“Please.” I step closer, my voice shaky, hanging on by a thread. “Just let me go. I will find the money somehow. I will rob a bank if I have to, anything. I will get the money, just give me time.
A vein pulses in his neck. He clenches and unclenches his fist, as if trying to suppress his anger. A muscle in his cheek twitches, but I’m not afraid of him. I’d rather he ends me here and now, then go back to that monster.
“It’s already done,” he says through gritted teeth.
“No! It’s not, please.”
“You shouldn’t have run. You’ve just made it worse for yourself in the end.”
“WHAT!” He can’t be serious. “I made it worse? I was fine. I was free.”
“He would have found you.”
“Oh right!” I wave my hands around, raising my voice. “Whatever you want to tell yourself.”
