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I thought for a moment and decided there was no reason not to tell him the truth. “Very little.”
“You’ve never been part of the business? Never curious?”
I chuckled, realizing it was the first time since this whole nightmare started. “No. My father treated me like a little china doll. Fragile. Breakable. Weak maybe? I don’t know. My mother died when I was young, so I was all he had left. If he could have, he would have locked me away in a tower somewhere like Rapunzel.”
He frowned down at me, clearly not liking the answer.
“I guess you could say I’m the classic mafia princess. Spoiled little rich girl.” I hadn’t thought much about it and shrugged before saying, “But you already knew this, so why ask me?”
“I don’t think you’re fragile. Or broken. And I most certainly don’t think you are weak.” Matthew reached up to stroke my hair away from my face. “I think you were dealt some shitty cards being born to that man.”
I shrugged.
“We need to get some sleep,” he said, followed by a yawn. “We’ll leave as soon as we wake up.”
“Leave?” I glanced around the small cabin having assumed we would remain here until this was all over.
“This was just a quick stop to rest up. The drive is still a couple hours from here, but the roads are windy and not driven often. I didn’t want to try to traverse them in the pitch dark while tired.”
“Where are we going?”
“I have a house in the mountains,” he answered.
“We are in a house in the mountains.” Why swap one prison for another?
He chuckled as he lay down and pulled me down with him. “Yeah well this cabin could fit inside a closet in my house. I think you’ll be far more comfortable in my home rather than this hunter’s pit stop.”
I remained quiet, taking in the fact that I was about to go to his house. His comfortable house.
“I hope it won’t be for long,” he said. “Your father and I have some business to handle, and if all goes well, and you behave and follow all my rules, you will walk out of this with every hair on your head. It will just be like waking up from a bad dream.” With another huge yawn, he turned me away before pulling me close again.
With my sore ass nestled against him, I watched the fire flicker in front of me as Matthew’s breathing grew heavy. I couldn’t process. I couldn’t come to terms with what just occurred. I had no choice but to close my eyes and hope that when I woke up, this entire ordeal would be over.
It was just a bad dream.
The boogie monster wasn’t under the bed.
No… the boogie monster was asleep behind me, holding me tight.
10
Matthew
The trip to the house wasn’t exactly easy. The roads were much worse than I anticipated, so I was glad that we had stopped at the hunter’s cabin for the night. Trying to traverse the windy and rocky roads was difficult enough in the daylight. Aria sat in silence, staring out the window as we bounced our way up the mountain. I was grateful for the quiet since I really didn’t know what to say.
Guilt.
Yes, I had guilt which wasn’t something I had planned for in all this. And I couldn’t just blame the sex for the guilt either. I’d had sex with many women before and not allowed a connection or the need to feel I should provide more than just a really good orgasm. Stealing glances at Aria, I struggled to figure out why I almost felt sorry for the woman and why I doubted taking her up to my house and considered calling off my entire plan altogether.
“We’re almost there,” I said.
“By the looks of how often this road is driven, it doesn’t look like you come here often,” she said.
“Not often enough. But I visit the house another way when I do.” I opened my fists that both held the stirring wheel tightly to get some blood flow moving into them again. “I don’t take vacations often, but when I do, this house is my getaway from everything.”
“So, you’re taking me on vacation?” she mumbled as she continued to stare out the window at the passing pine and cedar trees.
“I’ve made all the proper arrangements to make sure you are as comfortable as possible.” I glanced at her still sitting in her robe and grimaced at her dirty bare feet. “There’s clothes and shoes at the house. I guessed your size, so there is a variety of clothing and shoes in the closet, but I’m sure there will be something you can make do with. I also have stocked the bathroom with all the shampoos and female products that you should need. I’ll be leaving the house to conduct some business shortly, so if you do need anything else, you can provide me with a list.”
