Page 20 of He Will Come for Me

My mouth opens, but no sound comes out. My face and chest are hot with so many emotions. “So, I wasn’t kidnapped. I was bought?”

Phoenix exhales, his hands balling into fists. I stare at him, pleading with my eyes that he tells me the truth.

“You were kidnapped, but not from the auction,” he says. His voice is devoid of all emotion.Auction?

“I… What?”

I don’t understand. He will come for me. He always comes for me.He’snot my father. Who ishe? So, if I wasn’t kidnapped from the party… auction. It was an auction. I was bought.

“You bought me.” The truth is clear in the way he squares his shoulders. The way there’s a brief flash of regret. Maybe?

“Yes, your father sold you to me. You were kidnapped from me.”

I stare at him, my already broken heart stutters. This man I had a crush on for years bought me at an auction I didn’t know I was going to.Why?“You bought me,” I say again. He doesn’t say anything. Simply watches me as I process the information he just told me.

“I was kidnapped from you? By who?” His fists get so tight his knuckles turn white. I’m obviously asking questions he doesn’t want to answer. And he doesn’t; he simply stares at me. I step up to him, tilting my head back to glare at him. “I deserve to know the truth.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “Please. I need answers.”

“Your father kidnapped you. He didn’t like that his enemy bought his daughter.” My chest heaves as I take all of this in. My father sold me and he kidnapped me. A tear slips down my cheek and I swipe at it angrily.

“I’m alone. No one is going to come rescue me.”

Phoenix took me back from my father because he bought me. Why did he have to be so nice? Why did he let me bake and form a relationship with Phillip and Clara? Why did he say we could go to his restaurant? Why don’t I remember him buying me?

“I think I’ll stay in my room tonight. I don’t want to go out after all.” Turning, I walk back to my room and he doesn’t try to stop me. I yank the towel away and pull on an oversized shirt. After I quickly dry my hair, I sit in the oversized chair and look out onto the property.

When the sun begins to set, Phoenix steps out the front door and climbs onto a motorcycle. I’ve seen him come and go a few times. I’ve never seen him on a motorcycle. He’s wearing dark pants, a white shirt, and a black leather jacket.

His head tilts up toward my room and I swear our eyes connect. I stare at him. Maybe he can see me. At this point, Idon’t really care. I feel numb. No one is coming for me. After several more minutes of us just staring at each other, he pulls his helmet on, starts the motorcycle, and drives off.

Pulling my feet up, I bend my knees and rest my chin between them. “My name is McKenzie. I’m twenty-three years old. I’ve been kidnapped. No one is coming for me. No one.”

The next day I stay in bed, so Clara brings me breakfast and lunch, but I barely eat. I switch between watching TV and reading. It’s a welcome escape.

“Will you be going downstairs to eat dinner?” Clara asks. She places the book I asked for on the table next to the chair I’ve taken up residence in.

“Not tonight. Can I eat in here?” I don’t look at her because I don’t want to see the look of pity in her eyes. Phoenix must have told her what happened, or at least part of it. She’s treated me like a fragile china doll all day.

“I’m fine Clara, just don’t feel good today.” I assure her for the hundredth time. She knows I’m lying because even on the days I wasn’t feeling my best, I still went to the library. But nowhere is safe. I don’t think Phoenix left the house today, so I was afraid I’d run into him.

And I’m not ready to face him. He bought me. My father sold me. I hug my knees even tighter to my chest. The boulder in my stomach doubles in size. This was the wake up call I needed. The feelings that were beginning to arise needed to be dealt with. This solves that problem.

“Clara?” I don’t look at her, but I can feel her gaze on me just the same.

“Yes?”

“Did you and Phillip meet here?” She sighs. The kind of sigh of a woman in love.

“No.” That catches my attention, so I face her. She has a small smile on her lips. “My mother was really sick, and we were starving. We were squatting in a house that hadn’t been lived in for years. So, one night I waited in the alley of one of Mr. Phoenix’s restaurants. I was determined to get food for my mom and I one way or another.” She pauses as she gets a faraway look in her eyes, like she’s remembering that night.

“Phillip came out with food he was throwing away. So, I jumped out of my hiding spot and scared him so bad he dropped all the food.” She chuckles as she sits on the edge of my bed.

She shrugs. “I would have still eaten it. I was desperate. He said absolutely not, led me into the kitchen of the restaurant, and proceeded to make me a meal for my mom and me. He told me to come by the next day for more food. When I did, he introduced me to Mr. Phoenix. He hired me on the spot. Then he took me to pick up my mom and got her checked out by Dr. Chamberland. He gave us an apartment in his building and made sure my mom got the help she needed.”

She has a goofy grin on her face. “Once I started working here and spending more time with Phillip, things progressed. He lives with my mom and I now.”

I thought hearing her story would give me hope, but it just caused the crack in my chest to get bigger. The Phoenix she describes in her story is the one I remember from school.

How did that man wind up buying me? And why? Why did he buy me?

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