AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
Chantilla
The alarm on my phone buzzed me awake on Friday morning, and I rolled over to find Abel not in bed as I stretched out my arms and legs. Brushing my fingers across his pillow, it still had the indentation, and there was a little heat left, so he hadn’t been gone long. This was my chance. I jumped out of bed, ran to my purse, and pulled the SD card out of the side pocket. I placed it on his night table, where I moved some of the documents around to make it look like it had fallen. He never mentioned it missing, so I assumed he had yet to realize it.
It had been a week, and I was on pins and needles waiting for him to erupt over the card, but he hadn’t. We’d both been busy; since I lived alone, Abel was spending as much time at my dorm room as he spent here. Which wasn’t saying a whole lot considering all his responsibilities with the frat house, school, and lacrosse, but he always made time for me.
Footsteps sounded from the stairs. I launched myself back into the bed and lay briefly, waiting for the door to open. Abel walked in with his arms loaded with a variety of weapons. I sat on my knees and stared with apprehension as he dropped mace, brass knuckles, a belt buckle with a hidden blade inside the clasp, and several knives made from plastic, sharpened “chopstick” hair ties.
“What is all this?”
Abel shrugged. “Weapons.”
“Yeah, but why?”
With heat in his expression, Abel leaned down, tucked my messy hair behind my ear, and stared deep into my eyes. “I can’t always be around to protect you. You’re mine, and I need to have a little peace of mind in knowing you can protect yourself until I can get to you, or you can run away. So everything here can be on you or in your purse without raising eyebrows.”
Without another word, I lifted my eyebrows, and Abel sighed, shaking his head. “Come on, get up. I want to show you how to handle each weapon, and we’ll practice some defensive tactics.”
Confusion had me following Abel’s lead as he walked me through each weapon and how best to utilize them. Typically, Abel’s touch and body around mine would make me instantly try to take him to bed. It had become one of my all-time favorite activities but wrapping my head around his unusual gifts had me unable to focus.
“Don’t ever hesitate. Follow your instincts and attack then run. Your ultimate goal is always to make it so you can run. You got it?” Abel held a desperate plea in his tone, which had me on edge.
“Abel? What is all this? What’s going on? This is over-the-top ridiculous. You know that, right?” I stared at all the weapons and hated touching them.
Abel frowned. “Fuck, Chan, this isn’t over the top. You have to stay safe. Do what I tell you, okay?”
In the recent past, I took a ton of Abel’s shit, but with no explanation for such a far-fetched need to protect myself, I wasn’t going to put up with it anymore. I got that there was a close call with Micah. Even worse, I’d killed the guy, which Abel still didn’t know I knew. I glanced at the weapons.
Was that why he wanted to ensure I could handle myself? Was it messing with his head more than he’d let on?
“Why are you so controlling?” With a shake of my head, I gazed at Abel. “You were never this way with me when we were younger, and now I’m yours. It’s not like you’re trying to get rid of me. I allowed it and rolled over for you far too long. I can’t take it anymore.”
The anger radiated out of Abel’s eyes as he glared. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about letting you step all over me because I still remember how you cared for me when we were younger. I still see the sweet boy who always had my back and I also see how much my mother not only screwed me up but you too. I always had a connection to you, and then after years of seeing each other, bam, it was like my heart seized. I fell in love with you instantly only to find you cruel and a bully, but it never stopped me from wanting you. I’d lost everybody, and to come here and find you again, I wanted you back however I was going to get you. But this.” I waved my arms at the weapons. “This is going too far. I have no say in anything. I’ve lived my whole life that way and can’t do it anymore. I need us to be partners.”
The images of Micah on the video flashed in my mind, and it fueled my need for answers. Why did Abel cover everything up? Why didn’t he call the police—because it was obviously self-defense? Why did he put himself on the line the way he did?
Abel rolled his tongue in his mouth and crossed his arms while he looked defensive and angry. I waited, and when he didn’t budge or act willing to give me anything, I shook my head and started changing and packing my things.
Watching what was on the SD card had shifted something in me, and the guilt of keeping it from Abel was killing me. But it gave me a sense of self-awareness I didn’t know I lacked. I was a survivor. I’d had to be in order to survive my mother’s upbringing. I didn’t need Abel, but I sure as hell wanted him. However, I deserved more respect than I was getting.
The silence in the room hung in the air while I avoided looking at him, knowing I’d cave in a second. He had this thrall over me. It was the only way to explain how I succumbed to him repeatedly.
There was no organized, easy-going packing. I threw my clothes in a bag without folding them. I’d stayed here enough this past week that I had bits strewn all over the room. Abel was constantly telling me to leave things here and I’d caught on to his sneaky motives early on. He was gradually moving me in when he didn’t think I noticed. But I had, and I’d been all for it until this conversation.
“I want to be a Supreme Court judge one day.”
The confession had me freezing as I lifted my eyes toward his.
“I need to control everything around me, including you, to make sure there are no blemishes or anything to jeopardize that. You’re my forever girl, Chan. It’ll already cause a stir because we were once stepsiblings, so everything else in our life has to be perfect.”
Forever girl? Did he think that? I didn’t think Abel felt like that.
“I do everything I do for my resume, to make connections, build a history with people. I’m building my base for politics. I must be versatile and think heavily on my platform daily because I’ll have to lean on it in the future. You’re going to have to lean on it too because it’s going to be our reality. There can’t be scandals. So I’m more invested in everything you do to make sure we can make it out of this and make it to the Supreme Court with nothing tarnishing our names.”
Abel’s dreams were ambitious, and having a spotless record would be beneficial, but we already had a scandal tied to us. If it ever came out, a heavy piece of information would destroy any chance of Abel reaching his goal. He said he killed Micah to protect me, he was going to rape me, but I was the one who’d shot Micah. It was on video. Turning it over to the police and proving self-defense would’ve been easier to recover from. But he didn’t want his name tied to any college shooting and potential rape case. Abel might’ve done it to protect himself. I had no knowledge otherwise. He didn’t know I knew everything, so there was no talking about it.
