Page 41 of A Princess, Stolen
I nodded again.
“How bad is it?”
“Bad.”
He snorted impatiently. “How bad, I want to know!”
“Do you know what anaphylactic shock is?”
“Of course. Just because I don’t make billions doesn’t mean I’m stupid,” he replied angrily.
“I didn’t mean…”
“What do you think we are? Complete idiots?”
“Criminals. Serious criminals.”
“Watch it, but yes!”
“But you are, aren’t you?” I said quietly.
We looked at each other and I thought about last night when his pupils had dilated so much that it seemed as if he liked me. I had heard and read many times that that only ever happened when you liked the person you were speaking to. But he couldn’t like me. But what if he did?
“I told you, don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?” I asked, confused.
“Stop using your charm, blinking, and your pretty face. It doesn’t work on me. It doesn’t work on anyone here. Even if it does, you’ll only invite disaster on board.”
“And I told you that it’s a tic.”
“Get rid of it!”
“I can’t turn it off. You can’t control tics. That’s their nature.”
“Their nature? For God’s sake, do something else! Shuffle your feet, make faces…do something that makes you ugly!”
I blinked again. Unintentionally.
He swore angrily, went out, and came back with a packet of crackers and packaged bread. After studying the ingredients, he tossed both onto the table. “Your daily bread. You can eat it without any worries, okay!” He reached for the door handle, but I held him back.
“Nathan.”
“What?”
Thank you, I wanted to say, but I remained silent because I didn’t owe him any thanks. After all, I was probably here mainly because of him and he had had me locked up. “Never mind.”
He looked at me but showed no emotion. “Stay here until I come get you, okay?”
“Yes.”
He sighed with thin lips. I probably blinked again.
It was only when I was eating that I realized how hungry I had actually been. I finished two loaves of bread and almost the entire packet of crackers when Nathan returned and took me to the tiny shower room right next to the even tinier bathroom. He posted Pan as a guard outside, which was worrying for two reasons. First, it was Pan. Second, Nathan believed I needed to be guarded for my protection even though he had said the men weren’t killers. But maybe they would do something else to me, like stick my head in the toilet in an improvised waterboarding. Mykonos appeared to be just waiting for the right moment. Sparta and Taurus too. I wasn’t so sure about Pan anymore. I hadn’t forgotten his words about his mom. They had been so out of character for him.
So that I could shower in peace, I decided to trust Nathan, and maybe Pan was merely standing outside the door to stop me from trying to escape again. I quickly slipped out of my dress, which clung to me like stiff whipped cream. Then, I took off myunderwear, turned on the old showerhead, and lathered myself from my toes to the top of my head with the men’s shower gel that was lying around. It smelled of mint, and with the warm water, it felt tingly and invigorating on my skin. For several minutes, I closed my eyes and imagined being in my bathroom temple. It felt so good to wash away all the grime, this first shock of my abduction.
I was so engrossed in my cleansing ritual that I cried out in surprise when I stumbled against the wall. Instinctively, I ducked expecting a blow, but there was no one there. I was alone.
