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“It was a happy time.” She pulls a face, making me laugh. “Actually…” she lowers her voice. “It was. You see, despite everything he put me through, it was the most fun I’d ever had in my life.”
As I cast my mind back on my experience, I kind of understand what she means and I nod. “I suppose so.”
She regards me curiously. “So, tell me, Eliza, has the captor managed to make his captive fall in love with him?”
My flaming cheeks tell her the answer to that, and she nods, a knowing smile on her lips. “I guessed as much. Not that I blame you. These guys make imprisonment a pleasure. Sad but true. So, what’s your problem? Doesn’t he feel the same?”
She appears concerned and I shrug, not really knowing how to reply. “It’s good, well, all the time he pays me attention, that is, but it’s as if I’m only required for his physical needs. The rest of the time, he shuts me out.”
“I see.” Charlotte appears thoughtful. “And you want more, I guess.”
“Of course.”
I sigh. “I’ve spent my entire life being controlled by a dominant man and now I have the chance to escape that life and possibly find a better one, a normal one even. I have money and Malik promised he would set me up with a new identity. I could start again and meet a small-town boy and fall in love, buy a house, run a beach bar and have ten kids.”
“If you like that sort of thing, go for it.”
Charlotte shrugs. “The trouble is, I’m guessing you like him more than you realize because if you didn’t, you would be demanding your freedom already. It wouldn’t even be a problem and yet here you are, hesitating because of one man.”
“I am. Any ideas what I should do?”
Charlotte shakes her head and grins. “You already know your answer.” She perches on the edge of a wall and says with a teasing glint in her eye. “What if I called you a helicopter and gave you a ticket to freedom? What if I told you everything was arranged, a new identity, a home and a job, all with your name on it? You could leave right this minute and never glance back. What would you say?”
She has a point because I already realize that’s not an option, and I groan. “I’m so screwed, aren’t I?”
She shifts off the wall and heads across, pulling me in for a surprising hug and I’m so shocked I freeze for a second.
Then she whispers softly, “I can tell you don’t react well to emotion yourself, Eliza. I’m guessing you and Malik are the same person deep inside. Perhaps you need to work it out together because if anyone understands that man, I’m guessing it would be you.”
She does have a point because I’m definitely very uncomfortable right now and she pulls back and kisses me hard on the cheek, causing me to stare at her in surprise.
“Emotion, Eliza. Don’t shy away from it. Reach out and grab it hard, then run with it. Show it to Malik and demand it in return, because until you both tear down those walls you have so carefully constructed, you will struggle with this life.”
“Perhaps you’re right.”
We both glance up as someone heads through the rose garden archway and I see Ivan looking as if he’s fought a bloody war bare handed.
“Charlotte.” His gruff voice causes her to roll her eyes and say crossly, “What the fuck do you look like? Have you been fighting again?”
It makes me giggle as he rolls his eyes and says shortly, “I need you to kiss it all better. Hurry up, we don’t have long.”
“That’s what you always say.” She giggles, causing me to turn away before he sees my own amusement at his angry scowl.
As he reaches out to grasp her hand, she shrieks, “Don’t even think about putting that dirty hand on any part of me until you’ve showered!”
With a growl, he swoops down and lifts her over his shoulder and rewards her with a hard slap on her ass, growling, “I will do whatever I fucking like with you. Now shut your pretty mouth until I find a better use for it.”
I listen to them squabbling as they leave me standing and with a small sigh, I set about finishing what Charlotte had started. Then I hear a soft, “Eliza.”
I spin around and see Malik watching me from the archway, his eyes glittering with something that causes me to stop and stare.
“Malik.” My heart flutters because I will never tire of gazing at this magnificent man, and I suppose it’s the dark edges that I crave as much as the arrogance. He is my Arab prince, and I couldn’t imagine him any other way, and yet I don’t understand where I fit into his life.
He beckons me over as if I’m his slave and I suppose I am as I walk blindly toward him, not even questioning it.
As I reach him, he surprises me by reaching out and pulling me close to his chest and then strokes my face with a care that makes my breath hitch.
“You look beautiful among the roses. It suits you.”
