Page 10 of Deceitful Promises

“We need to leave. We’re not supposed to be here.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me.”

I try to act like a don’t-give-a-damn boss bitch, but it’s tough because something is smoldering in his eyes. Nobody has everlooked at me like that before. It’s like he wants to kiss me and kill me at the same time.

“Come on,” he says, standing up. “We can’t hang around.”

“Or what? Somebody will catch us and send me home?”

“That’s not happening. It’ll just mean I need to bribe more people. Intimidate more people. It’s a hassle, Ania, not an escape route.”

I turn away, annoyed at how easily he reads me. Standing up, I brush my sweaty clothes down, self-conscious. I shouldn’t care if I look messy, but shamefully, I do. He leads me toward the rear of the plane. A huge door opens, and a ramp leads down to an airstrip. Everybody else is gone. A jeep idles just beyond the ramp.

“Wait,” I say, turning back. “I forgot the ballerina.”

He grunts and takes my arm. “No time.”

“But—”

“It’s a bit of wood, Ania. If you care that much, I’ll make you another one.”

“I don’t care atall.”

I snatch my arm away, walking toward the jeep. I know that’s where I’ll end up anyway, so I might as well pretend it’s my choice, at least on some level. I get into the passenger seat. He climbs into the driver’s seat and starts the engine, seeming so huge, so broad, so strong, so … No, sonothing. He’s a kidnapper—end of story.

He drives through some metal gates, already open, and down a long, quiet road. The stars stare down at us. It’s a clear night.The moon is too beautiful for what’s happening. In the distance, a city shines with bright lights.

“Where are we?”

“Home,” he says.

“You should’ve had a nap on the plane. You’re so cranky.”

Is that a smile? He turns his face as though he doesn’t want me to see, but then he says, “I am not cranky.”

NowI’mthe one smiling at a totally inappropriate time. “You aresocranky.”

“Hmm.”

“Hmm,” I tease.

Then he stays silent, which is fine with me, as if I need to talk anyway.

He stops on the outskirts of the city in the middle of a forest. After spending all my life on the West Coast, the greenery and the smell of damp earth seem so new to me. When I climb from the car, I take a moment to inhale the clean, cold air. I won’t let him break me. I won’t let him mindfuck me. I won’t let him ruin me.

Walking around to the back of the car, he takes out a duffel bag.

“Is this when the torture begins?” I say, trying to make myself sound sarcastic and like I don’t give a single F. Yet when I hear my voice, I know I’ve failed. I sound small and frightened.

“I won’t hurt you,” he grunts, heading for a cluster of trees.

“Are we camping?”

“Just follow me.”

“And if I don’t?”

He stops and doesn’t even turn. “Then I’ll chase you and bring you back. Unless you think you’re quicker than me.”

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