Page 19 of He Will Come for Me

“What are you doing?” There’s humor in his voice.

“I think the rest of the cupcakes are cool. I’m going to go put the frosting on.” Before he can respond, I hightail it out of there.Please don’t follow me. Please don’t follow me.It’s a mantra in my head. When I get to the kitchen and he doesn’t show up, I breathe a sigh of relief.

After frosting the rest of the cupcakes, I grab one and walk back to the theater. He’s still in there watching the movie. His lips tip up in a small smile when I hand him the cupcake.

“Thanks.” Everything in me wants to stay, but I can’t. He affects me too much and I can’t let that happen. I’m his prisoner. He made that clear from the first night he brought me here.

“You’re welcome. I’m going to go get ready.” He doesn’t call me out on the fact that I still have hours. He simply nods and takes a bite of his cupcake. I stare for another second before turning and heading to my room.

Why is he keeping me here? What does he want with me?I need to focus on the fact that I am his prisoner. Even if he treats me better than my last kidnappers. Maybe I can use this outing as an opportunity to look for ways to escape. I have to get out of here before I become too comfortable.

Chapter 9

Sinking down into the hot suds, I sigh as the heat relaxes my muscles. There’s this feeling I have right behind my belly button I can’t quite place. It’s sadness, mixed with what feels like being homesick and also like I’m forgetting something.

I snort and lean my head against the lip of the tub. Of course I’m forgetting something. I can’t remember the six months before I was kidnapped. I play the night of the party over in my head.

How is it I can remember up until the crunch of the rocks under the tires of our car and not anything after? Was I kidnapped at the party? Would Phoenix know the answer to that?

I haven’t asked a lot of questions because I didn’t think he’d answer them, but I’m beginning to wonder if that’s all in myhead. He’s surprised me with how kind he has been. He doesn’t treat me like I’m his enemy or his prisoner.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and sink under the water. The quiet doesn’t bring the peace I crave, but it helps drown out the constant barrage of thoughts so I can focus.

“I don’t understand why I need to wear this.” Father forced me to put on this skin tight black dress with a slit that reaches the top of my thigh. He also gave me a necklace that looks like a ribbon, it’s red, tight, and uncomfortable.

“You’ve been begging for years to go to one of these parties. You must dress the part.” I’m hugging the door on the other side of the backseat. Unease slithers up my spine. He’s not telling me something, but I don’t know what it is. He’s right, I’ve always wanted to go to one of these parties and I was always told the same thing. One day, when I’m old enough.

I just turned twenty-three. I guess that’s old enough. Ivan, our driver, turns down a road that’s lined with rocks and pebbles. The sound of them under the tires makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

“You are to stay with me the entire time. You don’t speak to anyone unless spoken to.” I don’t know how to respond. Why did I want to go to this party? It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be much fun. “Do you understand?” Father asks impatiently.

I nod, unable to speak. Breathe in. One. Two. Three. Breathe out. Three. Two. One. My heart stops racing just as Ivan pulls up to the front door, where the valet is waiting.

“Here.” Father thrusts a mask at me. It’s red and matches the necklace he told me I had to wear. He pulls on a white mask. “Put it on now.” His voice doesn’t leave room for argument. I slide the mask into place and swallow. The valet opens my door and extends his hand to help me out of the car.

Placing my hand in his, my fingers shaking slightly, I allow him to help me out of the car. Stepping onto the cobblestones, I wait for my father to take my arm and lead the way. Why do I feel like I’m walking the plank with hundreds of sharks swimming under my feet, ready to eat me alive?

Pushing myself out of the water, I gasp for breath and rub at the sting in my eyes from the suds. “Oh my god.” Standing, I grab the towel I placed on the floor next to the tub and wrap it around me, not bothering to dry off. Racing out of the bathroom and bedroom, I run straight into a hard chest. Phoenix’s hands come up and grasp my upper arms, steadying me.

“McKenzie? Are you alright?” I’m dripping all over his floors, but he doesn’t seem to care. His eyes rake over me, his pupils dilating slightly. Maybe I should have taken the time to put on more than a towel.

“What did my father do?” I ask.

The grip he has on my arms tightens slightly before he releases me. “Did you have a memory?”

I begin pacing as I clutch the towel between my breasts so it doesn’t fall. “Oh my god,” I whisper it over and over again.

I remembered the party, or at least I thought I had. I thought I had argued with my father over me wanting to wear the dress, but he forced me to wear that dress. Because at one time I didn’t feel comfortable wearing clothes like that. After college, though, I did want to break out of my shell, but the way he acted that night made me uncomfortable. So, I didn’t want to wear it. Not with the way he was acting.

“My father made me go to that party.” I run my hand through my sopping wet hair. I’m making such a mess, but I don’t care. When Phoenix doesn’t speak, I finally stop and stare at him. “Why? Why did he make me go to that party?”

Phoenix closes his eyes and sucks in a breath through his nose. “You don’t want to know, McKenzie.”

I glare at him. “Tell me, Phoenix. I deserve to know.”

He runs his hand up his jaw. “He made you go to sell you.”

My heart breaks into a thousand little pieces. Like a vase that’s been thrown against a wall in anger. My father sold me. The man who used to push me on the swing in our backyard. The man who would sneak me a cookie when my mother said no.

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