Page 26 of Unveiled

After the monster rescued me, I didn’t think I would ever see Jonah again. I told the monster about him and made sure he knew Jonah was always on my side and did what he could to make me safe in captivity.

Even with that, I figured the monster would still hate him for having any part of it.

“How are you here?”

“Mr. Ryker found me, told me you told him all about me. He offered me a job if I was willing to keep you safe when the time came.”

The monster clears his throat behind us, telling us without words that we’re being too friendly. Jonah lowers me to the floor and unwraps his arms from me so he doesn’t get in too much trouble, but I’m not done. I stay by his side, not caring if the monster is uncomfortable or not. He needs to learn how it feels, especially after leaving me in the state I was just in.

“What about your mother?” I ask, remembering him talking to me about his mother’s illness and how Carlos was paying for her treatment.

“Taken care of,” the monster says from behind us, clearly trying to get my attention back on him, but it’s not going to work.

“I see you’re fighting Mr. Ryker. Why is that? You used to tell me all these wonderful things about him. You truly seemed like you loved him,” Jonah says, making me roll my eyes. Here’s my chance for a little payback.

“You were right, it was Stockholm syndrome. He’s kind of a dick,” I answer.

Jonah laughs, but a hand lands on my shoulder and twirls me around until I’m facing the anger in the monster’s eyes. “Really, little one? Because you seemed to like me when you were sucking my cock five minutes ago.”

My cheeks heat as Jonah clears his throat behind us, uncomfortable with the turn this conversation has taken. “Yeah, well, I learned how to make being imprisoned a little easier. I’ve had plenty of practice with it, after all.”

Fire lights up his eyes at my implication, and I can feel Jonah backing out of the room behind me. I should probably follow him, knowing I’m in for it, but my stubbornness won’t let me.

We’ve already had this argument, and I regretted it as soon as the words came out of my mouth. He’s not Carlos, and I know that. The more I compare them, the angrier the monster is going to be with me.

“I’m giving you one chance to take that back,” he tells me, so calm that I know I’ve really messed up.

I should take it back. Tell him I’m sorry and move on, but when has my mouth ever obeyed me? “Are you saying I’m wrong? This is the fourth time I’ve been held captive since you came into my life. The first time with you, then your father, then Carlos, and now I’m with you all over again.”

He nods, still too calm. “Then feel free to leave, if that’s really what you want.”

His offer is like a slap to the face, making me actually take a step back. It’s exactly what I’ve wanted since he showed up at my apartment the other night. Freedom, to finally be done with this part of my life. Now that it’s an offer and I can actually walk away, it hurts to know that he would let me walk away so easily.

As tears fill my eyes, I turn my back to him and follow Jonah’s lead, deciding to hide somewhere in the house. Somewhere away from the monster.

Chapter 11

The Monster

Ihad to push her away before I did something I would regret. She’s done everything she can think of to push my buttons, and this time was finally too much. I wasn’t fully confident that she wouldn’t take the chance to leave, but I needed to see if anything I’m doing is working.

After I calmed down, I searched through the cameras in the house to see if I could find her. It wasn’t hard to guess where she might hide to get away from me. Somewhere she feels safe and comfortable away from me.

Her old room.

I watched her crying into the pillow she hasn’t laid her head on in months, trying to comfort herself while she doesn’t even know what’s wrong. Now, her cries have quieted, but she’s still laying in the bed, clutching the blankets over her.

Part of me wants her to sulk, to know that what she said truly hurt me. It was a combination of things, really. The way she refuses to say my name, even though she’s wearing it on her back. Watching her jump into another man’s arms and cling to him like I wasn’t in the same room. And when she denied any feelings she ever had for me to that man, I wanted to murder someone with my bare hands. I lost it when she compared me to Guerra all over again.

I still shouldn’t have said that to her, though. It wasn’t fair for either of us. What would I have done if she would have left, taken it back and kept trying to hold her here?

All I want to do now is run up those steps so I can hold her in my arms and tell her that everything’s okay, that I’m not mad, but I can’t. I’m holding myself back.

There’s one thing I can do that will make me feel better, though.

I pick up my phone and dial the one person I know will help me. “Tell me you have more for me,” I say before he can even greet me.

“We found a few of Guerra’s men and brought them in. We were hoping to get some information about why the old boss was at their abandoned compound,” he informs me.

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