Page 43 of Reclaiming Adelaide

He nodded. “I’m sure you’re starving.”

My mouth watered at the thought of food, anything really, but I needed it with cheese. “Jake?”

“What?”

We walked past the pool, through the sliding glass doors, and into the kitchen. Jake pulled out a barstool at the kitchen island and sat me down.

“Thank you.”

“What do you want to eat?”

“Do you have cheese?”

I leaned my elbows on the counter while Tonk took a seat next to me and stared.

Stared wasn’t the correct word.

Observed, studied, inspected. His gaze roamed over my body with intense scrutiny and only stopped when a woman with ebony hair walked around the corner.

“I couldn’t find the towels…” Her voice trailed off as she spotted me. She stopped abruptly, keeping herself a fair distance away. “Oh, hi.”

Scars traveled up and down her arms and thighs in some brutal form of torture.

Did this man do that to her?

Tonk spun off his chair and walked towards her, moving her out of the room with an unexpected delicate touch.

“Who was that?”

“Ivy.”

“Did he do that to her?”

He was a killer, right? That’s what Jake said right before he let his friend stick me with a needle filled with some sort of sedative.

Jake dropped the jar of pickles onto the counter, causing me to jump in my seat, followed by bread, mayonnaise, and cheese—three different flavors.

“It’s best you don’t say that shit out loud. I can’t protect you from him if you do.”

I swallowed hard and grabbed the package of American cheese.

The processed yellow stuff was my favorite. When I was a kid and even recently I’d grab a slice of bread, slap a rubber square on it, and pop it in the microwave until it melted to perfection.

I snatched the bread, my stomach eating itself away, and shoved a piece in my mouth as I made three cheese and bread slices.

“Is that all you’re having?”

I nodded, my stomach aching with hunger.

I put the slices in the microwave for fifteen seconds, watching the edges bubble.

“You should eat some protein.”

“Cheese has protein.”

I pulled the hot slice out and replaced it with another one.

“Not that kind.”

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