Page 21 of Stay Awhile
“Yeah,” I answered.
VC chuckled. “What the fuck are you doing, man?” he asked.
I knew exactly what he was talking about, but I decided that playing as if I didn’t was the best course of action.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and if this is why you’re calling me, you’re wasting both of our time.”
“Bullshit. You know exactly what I am talking about, but if we want to play stupid, I can do that too. You know they found you right? And oh, the woman, they’re running checks on her, too, now.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? She has nothing to do with any of this, so why would they be looking into her?” I asked.
“Oh, now you want to talk? Think about it, you have been in the shadows for years now! Suddenly you pop back up on their radar and with a woman that you’re clearly smitten with. Oh, they’re going to try to figure out more about her. You better hope they think it’s a useless thing.”
My jaw tightened and my fists clenched at my side at the thought of my bullshit coming back on her. She didn’t deserve it and she didn’t know what she was getting herself into with me. Shit, my name wasn’t even Brodrick.
“It would be in their best interest to leave her alone. She doesn’t know a damn thing.”
“Well, you need to get out of there now. I know what you’re doing. Leave.”
I didn’t plan to entertain this conversation a moment longer, so I hung up the phone. I didn’t need him worrying about what I was doing. I got me. I would leave but on my time. I needed to make sure I saw her board her flight back home before I could truly leave everything behind.
The moment I stepped up to the front door of my villa, my instincts kicked in. Something was off. The door was unlocked. I never left it unlocked. I pulled my gun from my holster and slowly pushed the door open.
The sight that greeted me stopped me cold. Ms. Vlad sat at my desk, looking exactly as she had twenty-five years ago, down to that same crooked nose. Behind her stood two guardsI recognized from the compound, but it was what was displayed on my laptop that made my blood run cold. Surveillance photos of children in compromising positions, the same ones from that night, that changed everything.
“Knox, darling. Did you really think you could hide forever?” Her voice still had that same grating quality.
I kept my gun trained on her. “How did you find me?”
She laughed, the sound like broken glass. “Oh, we never lost you. We just waited for the right moment. And now you’ve given us something to work with.” She tapped a key on my laptop, and a photo of Skye appeared on the screen.
“She has nothing to do with this.” My voice was deadly calm, but inside I was raging.
“On the contrary. Her parents’ program created you. Isn’t it poetic that their daughter will be your undoing?” She stood slowly. “You have a choice. Come back to us willingly, or we’ll show her exactly what kind of monster she spent the night with.”
I almost pulled the trigger then, but I knew one shot would bring the entire resort security down on us. And Skye was still here, still vulnerable.
“You’re still thinking like a soldier,” Ms. Vlad said, reading my hesitation. “Good. You have twenty-four hours to decide. After that...” She gestured to the photo of Skye.
They left as silently as they’d come, leaving me alone with the choice that wasn’t really a choice at all. I had to leave—not to protect myself, but to protect her. At least until I could figure out how to end this once and for all.
I packed quickly, muscle memory from years on the run taking over. I touched my wrist out of habit to check my watch, only to notice that I no longer wore it. VC had gifted me the watch when we escaped. I remembered Skye’s gentle touches when she’d noticed it earlier. I realized in that moment that I left it behind in Skye’s room, but I was cool with it. At least now shewould have a piece of the real me, a breadcrumb if she was as smart as I thought she was.
Before I left, I took one last walk by her cabana and made my way around to get one final look at her peaceful silhouette through the curtains. Then I disappeared into the night, already planning my next move. They wanted to use her against me? They would learn what happened when they threatened the one thing a monster had learned to love.
This time, I wasn’t running away. I was running toward something—the end of the Void program, once and for all.
The first raysof sunlight filtered through my curtain as a consciousness slowly crept in. My body hummed with the delicious ache of a night well spent—muscles I hadn’t used in forever reminding me of every moment, every touch. I smiled into my pillow, remembering the way his hands had mapped every inch of my skin like he was memorizing me. Even my lips still tingled from his passionate kisses.
This was a different soreness than my usual workout left behind. This was the kind that made me want to stretch like a satisfied cat or relive every moment. My thighs burned in the most pleasant way, and the slight tenderness of my breasts brought back flashes of his mouth, his teeth, his touch.
I reached across the sheets, seeking his warmth, but my hand met the cold cotton instead. My eyes snapped open, the peaceful aftermath of the night before quickly fading. The space beside me was empty, the sheets long since cool.
“B?” I called out, but only silence answered.
My heart skipped when I spotted the hotel stationery resting on the pillow beside me. With shaky fingers, I reached for the note, already knowing who had left it.
Thank you for showing me what peace feels like.
