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I climb in, put my dinner box down on the bar, and sink into the soft black leather. It’s a chilly night, but Hugh already has the car warmed up so I’m nice and toasty.
This is the life.
When Hugh gets back in the car, he puts the partition up.
A frown flickers across my brow, and I sit up a little straighter. My guard has gone up a bit since I told him I didn’t need the partition up before, but maybe he did it out of habit. Maybe Silvan or whomever he usually drives likes to have the divider up.
Even though I’m sure it’s nothing, my uncertainty makes me more aware of my surroundings. I glance at the bar where my champagne glass sits empty, the bottle still chilling in the bucket from earlier. I probably shouldn’t have more, but it was so good, and I don’t know when I’ll have champagne again.
I pour myself one more glass, then sit back in my seat. As I take a sip, I become aware of a little white box sitting on the seat beside me and nearly choke.
Where did that come from?
It certainly wasn’t there on the ride over to the restaurant.
Warily, I grab the box and pull it closer to me. A note on top reads, “Sophie,” so I know it’s for me.
My heart starts beating faster. I don’t want to open it, but I suppose I should.
It looks like a bracelet box but wider. When I take off the lid, I see a silk blindfold on a bed of black velvet, and my heart stalls.
The note from the lid flutters down on my lap, and I see that the back reads, “Put it on.”
Uh-oh.
Suddenly, the word choices Hugh used come flooding back to my mind.
He specified over and over again that I wouldn’t have toseeSilvan tonight.
Now, I’m holding a blindfold.
Goddammit, he tricked me after all.
I don’t want to put it on, but the thought of seeing Silvan makes me feel sick. Crushing the scrap of silk in my hand, I lean forward and knock on the divider.
The partition doesn’t move.
I sink back in my seat, and a sense of foreboding washes over me. I’m tense as I lift the silk to my face just to see if putting it on triggers anything. It doesn’t seem like it should since Silvan can’t see me, but there’s a sense of him seeing everything that I can’t seem to shake.
Swallowing, I slide the band down over the back of my head and settle the mask on my face. The silk feels smooth and cool as it falls across my cheek.
Like a fool, I wait for some magical change, but nothing happens. I’m just sitting in the back seat of a strange man’s limo wearing a blindfold like a lunatic, so after a moment, I rip it off and toss it on the seat beside me.
I look around for locks, but I don’t see them. Maybe only the front partition where the driver is has the ability to lock and unlock doors in this thing.
That realization makes me feel more like a prisoner than a pampered guest.
I’m about to start banging on the divider again when the limo slows and comes to a stop. A stop alone wouldn’t be suspicious. I can’t see with the partition up, but maybe we’re stopped at a traffic light.
Foreboding sweeps over me when I hear a sound that’s suspiciously like Hugh’s door opening. We’ve only been on the road for a minute or two, so we’re definitely not to my destination.
Trying to ignore my racing heart, I tell myself it’s nothing.
It feels like a lie, though. I think I’m in trouble.
In hindsight, I definitely shouldn’t have gotten in this car. Hugh seemed so nice; I can’t believe he’s complicit in a thing like this.
Extinguishing the last of my thoughts that perhaps I’m overreacting, the limo door swings open, letting a gust of cool air into the cabin.
