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“We’ll hide you as well as we can, but if Nathan finds you, stay in well-lit public places. If you’re not near a police station, run somewhere that’s likely to have a security guard, like a shopping mall, pub or drugstore.”
I nodded, going over everything he’d said again in my head, not wanting to forget any of his advice.
Adrian paced in front of me again, his hands buried deep in his pockets.
“Now, if you do everything right and he still catches you, don’t let him move you to a second location. Don’t get in the car, into the house or walk anywhere, even if you have a gun to your head. I guarantee what’s waiting in the place he wants to take you will be far worse than where you are.”
A sense of uneasiness filled my gut as I realized how much I’d blown off the idea that Nathan could be dangerous. The guys had tried to warn me, but I still insisted on going home. Now that Adrian wasn’t just referring to “something bad” in a vague sense, but was talking aboutactual kidnapping, I couldn’t help but look back at myself and wonder how I could have been so reckless.
“Let’s say the worst happens, and he has you trapped,” Adrian said. “Or tied up, or whatever. Stay calm. Don’t cry. Focus on your breathing. The more you freak out, the more he’s going to panic. And if he panics, he’s likely to do something stupid.”
He sat next to me on the box, his thighs touching mine.
“If this happens, ask him for a favor. Not a big one, like letting you go — something small, like a glass of water. Something that makes him feel obligated to help you without him noticing.”
He paused.
“Do you take any medication regularly?”
I blinked at the question. The only tablets I took regularly were birth control pills, even though I’d heard they could marginally increase my risk of developing breast cancer. I figured it was a small price to pay to avoid having a child that I would ultimately abandon by dying before I turned forty, like my mom did.
But I didn’t want to tell Adrian that.
“That’s a bit personal, don’t you think?”
He shrugged.
“Whatever it is, keep a spare pack with you at all times. You don’t have anything life-threatening like diabetes or asthma, do you? Any heart conditions?”
“Just a broken one,” I joked, and he didn’t return the half-smile I gave him.
“Emma, this is serious,” he said, and rubbed his eyes with his fingertips. “Shit, I keep forgetting who he was to you. I’m sorry if I’m being blunt, I just want to protect you.”
“It’s okay,” I said, and put my hand over his. “I used to see him as my future husband, but that was a long time ago. These days, I see him as someone who treated me like shit.”
Adrian was quiet for a moment.
“How long were the two of you together?”
“Three years,” I said. “Since I was twenty-two.” I bit my lip. When I said it aloud like that, it sounded like a huge part of my life. And in a lot of ways, it was. Nathan was my first serious boyfriend — I’d had casual flings before I met him, but I was grieving my mom, and didn’t see the point of getting to know someone well when I had no idea if I’d be alive for much longer.
Nathan had made me feel special, and I’d made an exception for him.
Adrian turned his hand over so our palms were facing, and squeezed mine. His skin was warm and dry, and I could feel the strength in his fingers.
“Don’t be afraid to fight back if he hurts you,” he said. “That person who you loved doesn’t exist anymore.”
I didn’t want to admit it, but even though I knew that he was right, I wasn’t sure Icouldattack Nathan. Even after what I’d seen him do, there was still part of me that felt like fighting back betrayed what we’d been through together.
“Shall we keep going?” Adrian asked, as he pulled his hand away. “Or is that enough information for one day?”
“Let’s keep going,” I said. I wanted to get through as much as I could, just in case something happened.
“Okay,” Adrian said with a smile. He stood up and dragged a steel-framed chair over from the storage section of the basement. “How do you feel about being tied up?”
“Like… sexually?” I asked, and Adrian laughed.
“Like you’re being kidnapped,” he explained, and gestured to the chair. “Take a seat.”
