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AMBER
“Is Rob better than me?” Aidan says cockily. “You’re even wearing his shirt. We’ll have to do something about that.”
I smirk at him.
He slaps me for it. Despite his violent history with me, the man had never slapped me before. The coward had always used something else to hurt me, never skin-to-skin. His change of style must’ve stemmed from seeing me with another man—not that he’s any less of a coward now.
Ignoring what he’s just done to me, I keep following his instructions to drive along the narrow dirt road. Then he asks me to stop again.
Without warning, I feel a smack at the back of my neck.
I lose sight of everything as blackness takes over.
* * *
“Wakey-wakey!”
I flutter my eyes open. My whole head hurts, as if it’s just hit something made of steel. I’m lying on a couch inside what looks to be a cottage.
“It’s just the two of us now, Amalia.”
I stare at him. Just the two of us, indeed. This cottage doesn’t seem to have anything but an old couch and a small table.
“Rob really loves you, huh?” Aidan says. “How do you define love, Amalia?”
To him, I can’t say it’s something that lasts till the end of time. Not even anything about loyalty. Because Aidan is those things, only he does them obsessively, selfishly.
“Tenderness, understanding and trust.”
“So touching!” he mocks.
“You could have anyone you want. You’re handsome, you’re smart, Aidan. Your business might’ve gone bust, but you’ll come back, I’m sure. It’s just your temper. No one deserves your temper.” I keep blabbering as I’m mulling over a way to get out of this place without him.
He shakes his head. “I was willing to work through it, but you didn’t give me a chance. I was going into therapy! Didn’t you know what that meant? If my business associates had found out, I would’ve been named and shamed like a criminal. But I was willing to take the risk foryou.”
“I told you to give us time, until we were ready. I was willing to stand by you through therapy, but to get married?”
“So your attitude was to wait and see? If the therapy worked, you’d stick around, and if it failed, you’d say goodbye. You weren’t willing to give me a chance. That was it. What happened to unconditional love? Hell, a teddy bear meant a lot more to you than me, huh?”
“I gave you enough chances. And where did I end up?” I keep Aidan occupied as I rack my brain to plan my escape, or at least to tell Rob where I am. I’m aware that Mama is in danger, but if I can somehow cut Aidan’s communication with Fernando, I might be able to buy time.
“You’re so perfect. My friends loved you. My clients loved you,” he says, pacing the room.
There’s one thing on me that still can save my life. My smartwatch. It’s tucked under Rob’s long-sleeve shirt, so Aidan hasn’t noticed it yet. But I have to hide it before he does.
He looks out the window, clearly expecting someone.
I unbuckle my watch. Seeing Aidan move, I hide it under my thigh. I’ll need to find a safe placeon me, where I can conceal it.
“You didn’t have any friends, Aidan.” I meet his gaze. “That’s why you’re trying to hang onto me so tightly, because you haven’t got anybody else.”
He cocks his head, somehow looking agreeable. Then he turns his eyes to the window again.
I quickly secure my smartwatch in the place I think might not be on Aidan’s mind, for now.
“Friends… what are they good for? You—that’s all I need. You’re more precious than any other person or living being on this earth. I can tell you that much.” He had told me that before, once or twice after his angry fits. But this time, somehow, he’s softened.
Aidan draws a long breath, his eyes looking dreamy. “Do you remember the first time we met? My God, you were the sweetest thing. There was no one else, yet you were there. I guess I could say what happened to me was meant to be. You took care of me—and most of all, you listened.” He sits next to me, hands on his knees, fingers laced together—the way I remember him when I found him sitting along the Elbe River. At the time, there was a gash on his knee. “I still don’t know how you did it, but I opened up to you like you were an old friend. You just had a way with me. Still do.”
