Page 7 of Unveiled

I hang up, not waiting for a response. Over the last three months, we’ve worked closely together, and I’ve trusted him with the most precious thing in the world to me. I don’t need him to tell me he’ll clean up my mess, because I know he will.

As I walk up the stairs into my house, I open up my phone to send Ainsley a good morning message. No more days will go by without us talking, and if she thinks she can ignore me, she’ll have to learn another lesson.

Me: Good morning, little one. I left you a little present on your nightstand. Hope you enjoy.

I smirk, imagining her exact reaction when she opens the present. I bought it forever ago, intending to give it to her one day, but then our happy little bubble popped and everything changed.

Instead of just imagining it, I pull up the camera feed to check if she’s awake. As she pops up on the screen, she’s setting her phone down on the nightstand and looking around. She must have left the sound on for her phone, because she looks like she just woke up. It wouldn’t be the first time one of my messages woke her up.

When she finds the present, she opens it up with some hesitation, acting like there’s going to be a spider inside or something. And when she sees what’s inside, she shuts it and throws it across the room, acting like there really is a spider inside.

I laugh to myself as I close out of the camera app. That definitely wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for, but it was exactly the reaction I expected.

Last time, it only took me three weeks until she accepted me and came into my bed on her own. I didn’t push or rush her; she came on her own.

This time, I’m going to push. And this time, I’m not holding back from using all of my talents to make her fall for me all over again. If I have to take her to bed every single night until she’s done seeing me as the monster, then I’ll be there every night with a new present.

My phone vibrates on the table as I walk away to get some breakfast, pulling me right back in.

Ainsley: That wasn’t funny, and I don’t want it. Take it back.

I laugh, a full belly chuckle. The first one I’ve had in a very long time. Of course, she would be the one to bring it out of me.

Me: Remember when we met last semester? At that Halloween shop? When I left that shop, I went straight to buy that. I’ve held onto it ever since, knowing it would belong to you one day.

It’s true. I hadn’t planned on buying it so soon, but after seeing her reaction to me that day, I was too excited not to go buy it.

This time, I set my phone down and actually walk away from it, needing to get some food to fuel myself for the day ahead. I should be bothered that it’s already morning, but I’ve lost so much sleep searching for the men that hurt Ainsley over the past few months that I don’t even realize I haven’t slept until it’s been a few days. And even then, I only sleep for a few hours at a time.

When I return to the table with my toasted bagel and cream cheese spread on top of each half, I sit down and look at my phone. She ignored my message. Pulling up the camera feed to see if she’s still in bed, I find her staring at the corner of the room she threw my present in, sulking to start her day.

I click through my phone until I hit dial for her number, and then pull up the camera to see what she’ll do.

By the surprise on both of our faces, neither of us thought she would answer my call. She stares at the screen for a second after hitting answer, probably trying to decide if she should talk to me or just hang up.

“I don’t want it,” she tells me again when she talks to me, choosing to skip the greeting.

“That’s not why I called,” I tell her. “I have two choices for you. I can take you out for a nice dinner tonight so we can talk, or I can just sneak into your room and make you come again.”

Even through the camera, I can see the blush rising on her cheeks.

“I love seeing you blush, Ainsley,” I practically purr at her. She jerks her head around, looking for the camera with no luck.

“I choose neither,” she answers. “I don’t want to see you again, don’t you get it?”

She puts the phone on speaker and drops it on her bed so she can curl her knees up to her chest and rest her forehead on them.

“You don’t want to see me because you’ve convinced yourself I’m the monster waiting to scare you in that basement,” I tell her. “But you realized how wrong you were about me the first time, so now I just need to remind you why you fell in love with me in the first place.”

“You are a monster,” she spits at me, her head still held against her knees so I can’t see her face. “You promised you’d keep me safe, but they took me from you anyway. They took me and threw me into hell, and you didn’t come until it was almost too late.”

I deserve that. I deserve every word she’s throwing at me, because I’ve already told myself all of this. She was hurt because I pushed her into this life, which makes everything that happened to her my fault. I know it would be best if I let her go, but I’m a selfish man.

“Get it all out, baby. Yell, cry, do whatever you need to do to me so you can feel better. You can even beat me up when you see me tonight. But just know, whatever you do, I’ve already done to myself a million times. I’ve lived with the guilt of what happened since you were taken, and I’ve beaten myself up every single day. Throw your accusatory words at me, but you can’t make me feel worse than I already do.”

She lifts her head up so her chin is resting on her knees, and I can see the tears streaming down her face. It makes me feel even worse for telling her all of that.

“You will see me tonight, Ainsley. You can beat me up, I can lie in bed with you while you sleep and take your nightmares away, or you can just cry in my arms. It’s your choice, but I’m not going anywhere. If I didn’t make it clear enough last night, you belong to me.”

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