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“She was in my arms, practically naked. I think she was getting turned on.”
“Oh yeah, that would do it. And after last night, can we blame her for not trusting us?”
“Her reaction, though, Creed, it was extreme. That much pain and hurt came from somewhere far deeper than an offhanded comment about trust.”
“It’s not offhanded, though, is it? Trust is important to her and to us. You asked her to trust you a day after we kidnapped her.”
When he doesn’t say anything, I take a different angle. “Do you trust her?”
His face looks pained for a second before he shakes his head. “No. I want to, but I can’t. Not yet, anyway.”
“I imagine she feels the same. Only times a hundred. We’re calling all the shots out here. She has no way of escaping us. If we wanted to, we could easily overpower her.” I raise my hand when he looks like he’s going to interrupt. “I’m not saying we would. Relax. But we are withholding her clothes and shoes. We’ve taken away her ability to contact the outside world and anyone she may have out there worrying about her.”
“Well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad.”
I stare at him for a second before we both dissolve into laughter.
“We are so fucked. I’ll admit, we might not have been in the right state of mind when we decided kidnapping was our only option, but...”
“But?”
“But I can’t argue with the results. I know we can break through that wall if we just try.”
“And hopefully, she’ll forgive us so we don’t end up charged with a felony,” he jokes.
I shake my head. “We need to let her lick her wounds, but still talk her into staying. We have a lot to work through.”
“She has a life away from Apex now. A life we’re not a part of.”
“Astrid had one too, and yet, now that she’s back here, she’s never been happier.”
“How do we know she won’t just leave again?”
“We don’t. Which is why we need to figure out why she left in the first place.”
“Do you think…” he leans closer, looking at the door briefly before lowering his voice. “Do you think she knows why you married her?”
I glare at him, making sure the door is still closed. “No. There is no way she could know. There was only you, me, Cooper, and Kay that knew the truth. And they’re dead. Besides, it might have started out one way, but it quickly became more than that.”
“I’m not saying it wasn’t. I’m just trying to figure it out.”
“We’ve been over it a million times. Until Avery decides to tell us why, we’ll never know the truth.”
He nods before walking over to the window and looking outside. “We’ll start fresh tomorrow. After the PT is over. We’ll pretend like the past never happened. The questions can wait until she trusts us. It’s not like we’re going anywhere.” He looks at me with a smirk.
“Why does it feel like we’re going into battle?”
“Because we are. And if we play this right, Avery will be the spoils of war.”
* * *
Avery is up before both Hawk and me. I climb out of bed and find her in the kitchen, sipping coffee. She looks at me over the rim of her mug as I approach.
“There any more?”
She nods and steps aside so I can see the full pot behind her.
I pour myself a cup and stand next to her. “Someone is coming today to do some exercises with you. Do you want to shower before they get here or wait until after?”
