AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“All I know is that Trin and I woke up on a plane with a bunch of big guys. They spoke Greek so I didn’t understand what they were saying. We were scared for a while, but other than making sure we had enough to eat and drink, they ignored us. I think at one point I heard your name, but the men didn’t tell us anything. Now we’re back in Chicago, but it doesn’t look like we’re headed to the house.”
I glance at Aris’ back as more questions form in my head. “I think maybe they’re taking you someplace to wait until I get there. I’m about to board a plane now, but I swear we’ll see each other soon.” I disconnect the call, hoping I haven’t made a liar out of myself or that I haven’t read more than I’m supposed to from Aris’ cryptic responses.
On the plane, Aris and I sit across from each other.
While looking out the window, I ask, “Do you intend to keep holding my sisters as collateral to keep me in line?”
“Agapiméni mou—”
“I don’t know what that means, but my name is Aniyah. Please use it.”
“I don’t enjoy repeating myself. Look at me when you make demands.” Aris’ voice crackles yet he is nothing but calm as he waits for me to comply. Once I meet his gaze, he says, “I have what I need from you. What happens to your sisters hereon out is up to them.”
CHAPTER FIVE
I wake up with my head on Aris’ shoulder. I stare blindly at the strong column of his throat, wondering how I came to be in this position.
“We’re here.” The gravelly timber in his voice fascinates me and it takes me a few seconds to process his words.
I can barely keep my eyes open as we disembark from the plane at a private airfield outside Chicago. The darkening sky is a testament to my long day. In the back of the SUV, Aris plasters himself beside me. The heat from his thigh and arm touching me is a distraction I can’t afford. There will be no repeats of me resting on his shoulder. I look out the tinted windows to mentally distance myself from him.
As a gambit, it fails. I can’t hide from his reflection as he stares at me with… No, I must be mistaken. Until now, I haven’t been able to read him, so the tenderness in his regard can’t be real.
“What now?” I ask.
“About your sisters…” he says, ignoring my question. A reminder that I must face him and a warning that he still holds the people I love captive.
I spin around to confront him. “What about them? Are you rethinking what you told me? Do you now want to use them to keep me docile?”
“Who said I wanted you docile?” He cups my face and lowers his mouth until I can smell coffee on his breath. His lips are so close, it wouldn’t take much effort to close the distance.
Funny, his mouth doesn’t seem as harsh as during our first meeting.
Aris lowers his hand and shifts away. Although the distance he puts between us isn’t much, the emptiness he leaves in his wake confuses me. I curl my fingers into my palm before I do something stupid like touch my cheek where I can almost feel the ghost of his touch.
“Who else uses your sisters to keep you in line?”
“How’d you know…” I can’t hide the shock from my stare.
His lips firm and the hint of tenderness I glimpsed earlier frosts over with chilling swiftness. “I wasn’t sure until now. It’s your father, isn’t it?”
I open my mouth but I can’t push the words out. Lavaughn Hairston is capable of anything and guilty of incalculable heinous acts. Despite my knowledge of the monster my father hides beneath his veneer, admitting that he will sacrifice his daughters in such a way is a betrayal, and I’m still a Hairston. I have one strike against me by marrying Aris, and there’s no guarantee that I’ll ever be welcomed back into the family. But to compound my sin by throwing my father under the bus is unthinkable.
“Don’t presume to make judgments on my family’s dealings. You don’t know us.”
“Not yet, but I will. And I’ll also eliminate whatever causes that fear in your eyes.” His determination shines through in the crackle of his voice and the steely gleam in his eyes.
“You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. Y-yo-you’re the reason for my fear. You abducted me and my sisters then forced me to marry you.”
“I’m sure you want to believe that, but you were afraid long before I showed up.” He closes the distance between us again, holding me captive with his stare and the hand pressed on the window by my head. “And when you look at me, there’s more than fear there, but I’ll remove that, too. Once I settle everything with your family and the Arroyos, I’ll give you the life you deserve.”
“Mr. Glezos,” the driver interrupts us, “We’ve arrived.”
Aris nods and straightens, but my heart pounds a deafening roar that rings from my ears to my toes. The door behind him opens. He exits, then holds his hand out to me.
I bypass the gesture as I step out, unwilling to let him feel my pulse raging when I have no explanation for the havoc taking place in my body.
His lips twitch, but he remains silent as he leads me up the stairs of a massive mansion. The rattling bugle calls of the Sandhill Cranes point to us being close to Lake Michigan in one of Chicago’s most exclusive suburban neighborhoods. I wish that being in my home state gave me a sense of peace, but the unknown that lies before me will never calm my unease.
