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“You have a beautiful garden,” she tells me as we walk down the path, with the sweet scent of roses filling the cool night air around us.
“I'm glad you take pleasure in it,” I admit. She doesn’t need to know that ever since she came here, I’ve been taking so much more pleasure in it myself.
“When I’m out here, I don’t feel like I’m a prisoner. This all seems more like a vacation,” she admits cheerily, and for some reason, her words hit me straight in the guts.
It doesn’t matter how I look at the situation or how hard I try to make her comfortable here— the girl still sees herself as a prisoner.
She has no idea.
“Maybe that’s exactly how you should look at it,” I tell her when we get to the end of the path. “You may not like the situation you’ve found yourself in, but it would have been a lot worse if you were still with Adriano.” I don’t mean for my words to come out so harshly, but it’s a truth that she should be aware of and one I shouldn’t have to explain to her.
“Are you telling me that you saved me?” She looks up at me through her lashes, and I wonder if the innocence she’s penetrating is genuine or a fake lure.
“That’s for you to decide.” I shrug my shoulders. Acting like her opinion doesn’t bother me as I keep us moving onto the lawn toward the small lake. It will be satisfying to admire her from down there. The moon isn’t quite full, but it’s bright enough to reflect off the water.
I show her to the bench positioned at the water's edge and wait until she’s sitting before taking a seat beside her. Of course, I’m right, the blues and grays from the moonlight, combined with the tiny ripples reflecting from the water, produce the perfect glow on her skin. And those crystal eyes of hers sparkle like she wasn’t made for this world.
Riley stares out at the water, taking in the pretty view in front of us. But to me, it all seems so irrelevant when compared to her.
Is it normal to want something so much that it physically hurts you inside?
Eventually, her head turns toward me, and she smiles awkwardly when she catches me staring. Something’s changed in her since she left the kitchen. She seems to have lost all her sass. Out here she’s giving cute, vulnerable vibes and almost coming across as appreciative.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.” I crease my brow, curious to what thoughts are swirling around inside her head.
“I assume you want an honest answer?” She repeats the response I gave her when she asked me what I was doing at Adriano’s place.
“Always.” I mimic her right back, earning myself another of her bright smiles.
“I’m wondering why you're so angry at the world when you have everything,”
“I don’t have everything,” I correct her, and she doesn’t argue with me like I expect her to.
“But you are angry at the world,” she states, shifting her body slightly, so it angles toward me and shows how interested she is in my response.
“The world is a cruel place.” I stare out at the water, avoiding her eyes. I don’t want Riley to know that I play my own part in making it that way.
“And the world has been cruel to you?” She pushes for more. Always so curious.
“It’s cruel to us all, Riley,” I answer, hoping that she’ll leave it there.
She’ll never know just how cruel the world has been to me. My story isn’t one that should be shared on nights like tonight while surrounded by beautiful things. My past is ugly and tainted. The scars from it may not be visible, but I feel them, and they’ll go to the grave with me.
“You're right there.” She laughs to herself sadly.
I’ve been asking myself a question for a few days now, trying to reach an answer by analyzing her, but I figure simply asking her would be the best way to settle my own debate.
“Can I trust you?” I ask, staring at her hard. She needs to know how serious I am about this. “If you had the opportunity to run from me, would you take it?”
She looks thoughtful, suggesting I’m about to get an honest answer out of her.
“Where would I run to?” she asks sadly, her eyes fixing on mine again and carving another piece of me away.
“Your brother.” I provide her with the most obvious answer, one I know she would have thought about.
“That would be foolish. You told me yourself you have men on him. If I run to him, I’d make finding me too easy for you.” Her answer at least proves that she believes my threat to her brother is real.
It also proves she’s smart.
