Page 10 of Was I Ever Free

“We need a room with two beds for the night,” I say.

Lucy squeaks beside me and gives me a quick tap on the shoulder. I tilt my head to look at her and the deer-in-the-headlights expression she’s currently sporting.

“We are not—I am not, ah,” she stutters while her eyes get wider and wider. “Separate rooms,” she finally manages to croak out.

I slowly turn my body to face hers, my palm leaning on the counter beside me.

“Your sister wouldn’t be all too pleased to know I’ve let you out of my sight for an entire night alone. We’re in the middle of nowhere and I don’t trust anyone, especially this guy,” I say, pointing a thumb at the man behind the desk. He seems smart enough not to say anything in protest.

She huffs. Her upturned nose scrunches, her mouth opening and closing as if trying to find the right words for a counter-argument.

“I am an adult,” she finally says sternly.

“An adult who doesn’t know anything about anything,” I mutter unimpressed.

Her eyebrows knit and she crosses her arms, staying silent for a beat before saying, “If I cannot even have the little independence of having my own room… well, then—that does not make you any better thanthem.”

The bite in her tone surprises me but I keep my face blank. Them. As in the men from Sacro Nuntio, including her now-dead husband, who controlled her all of her life and forced her into a constant state of submission. I clench my jaw, grinding my teeth at the thought. I was there the day we got her out, and the Lucy I met then was a ghost compared to the person standing up to me now. She’s come a long way in a year.

I slide my gaze to the clerk.

“Do you have rooms with a connecting door?”

“Yes, we do,” he says, nodding agreeably.

I turn back to Lucy. “Two separate rooms but you keep the connecting door open. Deal?”

I can tell she’s still dissatisfied, but shit, I’m being paid to watch over her. Connor would have my head if anything happened to her while under my care. He’d probably suffocate me under the weight of all the money he paid me to even be here in the first place.

Her nostrils flare, chest rising but finally, she nods. “Fine.”

With that settled, we check in and get the keys. I walk away while the clerk is still droning on about motel policies and check-out times, pulling out my bag from the car and letting Lucy do the same. She stays silent all the way to our rooms, located on the ground floor at the back of the parking lot. I hand her a key and she mumbles a thank you as we go our separate ways, into our respective rooms.

One day down. However many to go.

6

Iclose the door behind me, breathing in deeply, then wrinkle my nose.

Smells like mold in here.

From my vantage point, I do a quick perusal of the room. It is small. A queen size bed draped with a floral print duvet takes up most of the space. Even to my untrained eye, the television looks outdated. That, paired with the yellowing paint, the room has seen better days.

I grin.

It is perfect.

Almost immediately, I hear a rap on the door connecting my room to Bastian’s. Dropping my smile, I roll my eyes and push myself off the wall. I ball my hands into fists and walk around in a tight circle trying to let out some frustration. To not even be allowed a room all to myself is triggering a rage I can barely describe. It burns hot in my chest, but I quickly repress it. As easy as muscle memory, and just as unconscious.

Stomping over to the door, I unlock it and yank it wide open. Bastian appears on the other side, arms folded over his white t-shirt.

“Happy?” I say rather petulantly and I regret it immediately.

His upper lip twitches while a lazy gaze sweeps over my body. It feels clinical more than anything—as if he is making sure I have not lost a limb from the front door to here. Without saying a word, he walks into my room as if checking if everything is safe and sound, doing the same in the bathroom, then flipping the deadbolt on my door. Turning around, he struts back into his room, takes off his t-shirt, and disappears into his bathroom.

I stand there long enough to hear the shower turn on. The sound snaps me out of the small daze I drifted into.

Well, then.

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