Page 92 of Master of My Heart

The park around him was quiet, a sharp contrast to the turmoil inside him. He wasn’t a photographer, but capturing moments like this somehow soothed his soul when he needed it most.

After returning from Jayson’s apartment around midnight, he’d tossed and turned all night. Sabrina hadn’t returned, and he knew his friend needed to get some sleep. Jayson had told him he could stay, but honestly, Chase hadn’t wanted to. Being summarily rejected by the woman he loved had been bad enough. He didn’t want to see her when she came home. Didn’t want to see her hair mussed or lips swollen after being with another man.

Chase closed his eyes and swallowed hard at the thought of her snuggling up to another man overnight.

But Jayson had said it seemed like she didn’t want to go out. What about her apparent fear of Aiden? Would she really be afraid of someone who held her and loved her all night?

He sighed and walked over to a nearby wooden bench and dropped onto it. What was he supposed to do now? If Sabrina were in trouble somehow, he wanted to help. He would help, no matter what. But even Jayson didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t like he could burst into Aiden’s place and demand to know what was going on. He couldn’t force Sabrina to tell him, either. He didn’t have that right. He had to respect her privacy.

But the moment Chase found out, he would be there and do everything in his power to get her out of whatever trouble she was in.

*****

Sabrina stared at the floor as she limped back to her apartment. She felt numb. She wasn’t even sure why she was limping. She wasn’t in pain. Not anymore. It had gone way beyond pain last night. Sometime after she’d passed out, they’d woken her and used her ass without mercy, making her scream in agony. After that, her mind kind of shut down. She remembered being woken several times throughout the night to be used by one or the other, but she stopped responding after the second time or so. She just lay there and let them do what they wanted.

She unlocked the apartment door and walked inside. She didn’t even care if Jayson and Liz heard her. She didn’t really care about anything at the moment. Part of her wondered at her numbness. She’d been through countless nights like these before and been fine the next morning. Why was this different?

She had no answer. She didn’t even care enough to try and come up with one. Why bother? It would all be over in a few months. Being numb wasn’t so bad. Even the thought of seeing Chase again didn’t bother her. That was a nice change.

Aiden hadn’t looked happy this morning, though. Before she’d left, she vaguely remembered him saying something about losing interest in her.

Her heart began to pound as the numbness melted away in the panic of him going after other girls. The pain returned with a vengeance and she gasped. She put her hands on the table and hung her head, trying to get hold of what was going on in her body. She blinked back tears, then wiped them away quickly. She couldn’t let her roommates see she was hurting. It would put everyone in danger.

She inhaled deeply and stood up straight, determined to ignore the pain in her body. The apartment was silent.

She hurried to the bathroom to take a long, hot shower.

*****

“One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight...” Martin watched intently as Sabrina and Jayson moved to the music in the small studio on the second floor. Sabrina winced as Jayson spun her around in the air gracefully and set her down, but quickly schooled her expression before turning to face him again. His eyebrows twitched and raised, as if to ask if she was okay. She gave him a tight-lipped smile before lifting up en pointe and stretching her leg out behind her in an arabesque. She blew between pursed lips, trying to remember the next step.

“No!” Martin exclaimed when she turned to face Jayson. “Sabrina, you step forward twice before turning.” His mouth was turned into a deep frown and she saw the disappointment in his eyes. He studied her for a long moment, then shook his head. “Take five.” He turned on his heel and strode across the room and out into the hallway.

Sabrina closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to fall for the millionth time today. She’d been disappointing Martin all week. Her chest tingled with fear. Did he regret putting her in this role? She couldn’t blame him. This week had been tough on her and she knew he was unhappy.

“Sabrina?” Jayson reached for her hand, but she snatched it away quickly. She didn’t want to be touched or comforted. She deserved the shame coursing through her body.

Walking over to the window, she looked out at the buildings downtown. The cloudy day fit her mood. She rubbed her face and eyes, swallowing hard. She didn’t know what to think or what to do. She felt trapped. She was trying to do the right thing in protecting her fellow dancers, but the cost was higher than she’d expected. How much longer could she keep Aiden happy and keep dancing?

Jayson appeared next to her. “What’s going on, Sabrina?” he asked in a low voice.

“Nothing.”

He frowned, and she felt his anger bubbling to the surface. She stepped away, afraid he would lash out at her. She wanted to tell him what was going on so he could understand, but she couldn’t. Not without hurting everyone else in the company. She could feel him watching her. He was concerned, frustrated, and sad.

“Sabrina? A word?”

Sabrina turned and saw Martin in the doorway of the studio, jaw clenched. She lowered her head and hurried over to him.

He sighed. She looked up slowly, seeing the conflict in his eyes. “I’m concerned this role is too much for you to handle,” he began.

Sabrina’s heart dropped into her stomach and her throat tightened, making it hard to breathe.

“I spoke with Larry. He said you weren’t able to handle such a difficult schedule back home and I’m worried that I’m asking too much of you.”

Hot tears filled Sabrina’s eyes as she listened to Martin’s words. It was true. She couldn’t have danced this much back home, not with living with Ramon and Khyan.

“I thought you were doing okay the first couple weeks...” He trailed off, shaking his head.

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