Page 59 of Torment

“I told you. You’re leaving.”

I narrowed my eyes with disbelief. “I’m not stupid. After everything you’ve done, you wouldn’t just let me go. You wouldn’t let me walk away so easily.”

“I would.” He pressed the keys into my hand.

“But…” I shook my head, utterly blindsided. “You can’t just throw me out on the street like I’m some sort of errant houseguest. We need to talk.”

He rubbed his left temple. “There’s nothing to talk about anymore.”

“There is,” I insisted, even though I knew how ridiculous it was for me to argue against my own freedom.

Mason nodded. “You’re right. I forgot to mention: I hired a security team to monitor your apartment in case your father or any of the other cult guys show up looking for you. They’re discreet, so you won’t see them. But as long as you’re there, you’ll be safe.”

“That’s not what I want to talk about, and you know it,” I said. My body temperature was quickly rising with a mixture of anger and confusion. “Why won’t you look at me?”

He rubbed his chin, eyes focused on the slatted floor of the porch. “I don’t want to,” he replied with a slight shrug.

“Wow.” I scoffed, still unable to believe this was really happening. “So after everything you did to me, that’s it? You won’t even look at me?” I said in an acid tone. “I’ll have a ton of scars for the rest of my life because of your bullshit. Do you really think I’m going to happily drive off into the sunset and act like nothing ever happened? Am I supposed to just get over it because you gave me some hush money?”

He shook his head firmly. “It’s not hush money.”

“Then what is it?” I threw my hands up in exasperation. “I don’t get it. Am I really supposed to believe you’re letting me go with no strings attached?”

“Yes. The money is there so you can live comfortably. Nothing else. It isn’t a bribe by any means.”

I took a deep breath. “You know I could go straight to the police the second I drive out of here.”

Mason nodded. “I expect you will,” he said calmly.

I could feel my blood pressure spiking. I was so angry at the way he didn’t seem to care about anything I had to say. Like I was just some sort of annoying bug flitting around him. “Do you know what they’ll do to you if I turn you in? You abducted, imprisoned, and tortured an innocent woman! They’ll throw the book at you.”

His eyes finally locked with mine. “I know.”

I couldn’t read his expression. He looked away again only seconds later.

Inexplicable tears welled up in my eyes. Freedom was right here in my hand, waiting for me to embrace it, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to leave. Not yet. Even though it made absolutely no sense, I wasn’t done with Mason.

“Please,” I whispered, grabbing at his shirtfront. “Don’t make me go. Just talk to me.”

He shook me off. “I thought you would know better than to defy me by now,” he growled. “I said leave, so get out of here.”

“I can’t.”

I meant it. Despite my determination to go out and live my life to the fullest when I was desperate for escape a few weeks ago, I wasn’t sure if I could actually return to the real world after all of this. I’d hated my prison, but at the same time, I’d grown strangely accustomed to it. I’d relied on Mason for my survival, and now he was throwing me out like an old, unwanted toy, making me feel giddy, panicked, and desperately alone.

“You can and you fucking will,” he said, gripping my right arm.

“No.” I shoved him in the chest with my free hand. I was no match for his strength, though, and he managed to march me down the porch steps with a simple arm twist. When he finally let go of me, I stumbled and fell forward, landing on a patch of green grass at the foot of the steps.

Panting, I rolled onto my back and sat up, staring at Mason. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me after everything you put me through.” Hot salty tears were streaming down my face now, spilling into my mouth as I spoke.

He shrugged. “That’s okay.”

“Okay? Fucking okay?” I shook my head wildly. “You say I fuck with your head but you’ve fucked with mine way worse.”

“I know.”

“You made me feel like I actually deserved the things you did to me. You made me hate myself when I should’ve hated you instead!” I shouted.

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