Page 92 of Unveiled

Chapter 38

Ainsley

The door to my jail cell bursts open, shocking me out of a dead sleep. I have no idea what time it is, or even what day it is. My brain refuses to process what’s happening, even as the person rushing towards me registers as familiar.

“Come on, Ainsley, we’ve got to go,” Cain says in a hurry as he crosses the room quickly and starts pulling me from the bed. Through the grogginess of sleep still taking a hold of my mind, I force myself to sit up and climb off the bed.

“Cain?” I groan, trying to think of why he’d be waking me up in the middle of the night like this. Did something happen? Something must have happened, because he never wakes me up like this, and he never looks panicked like this.

Cain doesn’t answer. He grabs my hand and drags me through an unfamiliar house so fast I don’t even stop to note what the house looks like. All I know is that it isn’t our house, which just confuses me more. Where are we?

“What’s going on?” I try asking instead, but he continues dragging me through the house without an answer. He doesn’t slow down or answer my questions when we hit the cool night air. He doesn’t stop until we’ve reached a car, where he throws me in the passenger seat before running around the front to enter the driver’s seat.

As soon as he’s seated, he turns to look at me, but his eyes don’t linger on my face. They trail down to my neck, where they stay as he reaches toward me and brushes his thumb against a sore spot.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry this happened, baby. I was supposed to protect you, and I failed you,” he mumbles as he continues gently stroking my neck.

As the pain registers, my mind finally wakes up, and it all comes crashing down on me. The bar. His father. The tracker being cut out of me. I don’t know how long I was in that house. I tried to keep track of time, but with nothing to do, my body decided sleep was the best escape. My days and nights were slept away until time no longer mattered. He delivered me two meals a day and left them by the door if he found me sleeping. The meals that were delivered to me eventually became simple, cold meals, because I was never awake to enjoy the warmth of a freshly cooked meal.

“Cain?” I call to him again. This time, my voice gives away the panic I’m feeling as all the memories I have come crashing back to me, reminding me I was kidnapped all over again. If it weren’t for Cain finding me now, I would have been sold again. I was supposed to be attending my own auction tomorrow.

“Shh, it’s okay, Ainsley. I’m here now. You’re safe, I promise,” he soothes me. His hand leaves my neck as he turns his attention to the front of the car. Before I know what’s going on, we’re racing away from the foreign house, back to the safety of our home. Our home, where no one can hurt me.

“Thank you,” I whisper so quietly I don’t think he’ll hear me. I force the adrenaline pumping through my body to stop, not wanting to feel like we’re entering a fight when he’s finally rescuing me.

His hands grip the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turn white, and all I want to do is reach out and soothe the pain I know he felt from losing me again.

“Ainsley, before we get home, I need to say something,” he announces. He keeps his eyes straight ahead, never leaving the road for a second as he forces himself to say what’s on his mind. “I failed you again, and I know you can’t forgive that. You deserve a life of happiness and safety, and no matter how hard I try, I just can’t guarantee that. I love you more than anything in this world, Ainsley, but I won’t force you to stay with me if you choose to walk away again.”

His words sink in, making me feel like there’s a brick sitting in my stomach. How could he think I would leave him again? We’ve been through too much this time.

“Cain,” I start, watching his hands tighten on the steering wheel even more. I reach over, resting my hand on top of one of his until he relaxes his grip just a little. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

His head snaps to the side, his eyes leaving the road as they find mine. Disbelief fills his eyes, as if he thinks I’m just teasing him to get his hopes up before telling him he’ll never see me again.

“Ainsley -” he starts, but I hold up my hand to stop him. Was he really about to argue with me?

“You forced my feelings out of me after I locked them in a little box, and there’s no squeezing them back in there. You’re it for me, Cain. Dangerous life or not, I want to spend it with you. So, ask me again.”

He looks at me questioningly, not understanding what I’m telling him to do. I give him a soft, reassuring smile, hoping to ease the feelings bombarding him right now.

“Ask me again.”

Realization lights up his eyes, and I watch as he tries to guard himself against the hope he’s feeling. My smile grows wider, promising him he won’t be disappointed.

“Ainsley,” he starts, taking a deep breath to steady himself. He glances at the road as he brings the car to a stop, not wanting to be distracted in this moment. Once we’re safely stopped along the side of the road, he takes a deep breath and asks, “Will you marry me?”

“How sweet,” answers a malicious voice from somewhere behind me. Cool air hits my back, making me shiver as I realize my door is standing wide open. The owner of the voice wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me from the car, leaving Cain looking stunned.

“CAIN!” I shout, trying to get him to shake off the fog, but he only continues staring in shock as I’m pulled further away from him.

I’m pulled from the dream almost as abruptly as I was pulled from the car, only to find my captor sitting on the bed, watching me with a blank face. He’s holding something in his arms, but I don’t pay it any attention as I jump back, trying to put as much distance as possible between us.

“It’s sweet that you still call for him,” he mocks me as a twisted smile takes over his features. “But he wasn’t here to save you last time, and he won’t be here to save you this time.”

He stands up, dropping whatever he was holding onto the bed. Glancing down at it, I see it’s a dress. Well, sort of a dress. It’s more like what Carlos used to make me wear, those skimpy outfits that barely passed for clothes.

I grab it and hold it up, looking over the outfit he’s given me. The white material looks like it won’t even cover the essentials. The sides are cut out, leaving only a thin strip of fabric to connect what looks like a bra to the small piece of fabric meant to cover my bottom half. If I put this on and move just the wrong way, everyone will get more of a show than they bargained for.

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