Page 34 of Collide

A soft knock on the door caught my attention and I dragged my eyesaway from Angel to the door and sat up, just in time to see it open and a woman walk into the room carrying a tray of delicious smelling food.

The woman appeared to be in her mid-50s, she was a small lady, hermousey-brown hair tied into a tight bun on her head and she wore a black shirt and pants. I felt like a bitch for thinking it but there was nothing remarkable about her, a face that would disappear into the background.

“Excuse the intrusion, Ms. Bennett, My name is Jacqueline, and I’mgoing to be your maid. Mr. Wolfe wanted me to bring you some food.”

She placed the tray on a table and then scurried off with her headdown before I even had a chance to thank her or object to her being my maid. I didn’t need someone to look after me, I was more than capable of doing that myself.

I swear my sister had a sixth sense when it came to food, that girlcould smell a cake baking from ten miles away and sniff out the exact oven it was baking in.

Minutes before the woman dropped the food off, Angel showed nosigns of waking up for another few hours, yet the second the aroma of crispy bacon and eggs filled the air, her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright in bed, looking around manically for the source.

It must have only taken her a few seconds to realize she was nothome in bed where she had gone to sleep, and panic filled her face. I gently placed my hand on her arm to capture her attention and relief flooded her eyes when she saw I was next to her.

‘Don’t panic, you are safe,’ I signed to her.

‘What’s going on? Where are we?’ She signed back, eyes stillroaming around the room and taking in her surroundings.

Her room was pretty damn nice, slightly smaller than mine but thedécor was the same. The only difference with her room was that there were two doors leading off the main room as opposed to one. I figured she had a separate bathroom and walk-in wardrobe.

‘We are going to be staying with a friend of mine for a bit. He’s goingto take care of us, there is nothing to worry about.’

It was an outright lie but I hadn’t quite figured out what I wasgoing to tell her, there was no way I’d be telling her the truth of the matter. Kid was only eleven for fuck sake, she shouldn’t have to worry about bullshit like this.

Angel shrugged, not fazed by what I had told her, and why shouldshe? I hadn’t done her wrong in her whole life, she trusted me without question. I only hoped this wouldn’t come back to bite me on the ass.

‘Is that bacon?’ she signed before pointing to the tray on the side.

Fucking typical, while I’m doing my best to not spiral into a worldof panic, she’s thinking about bacon. I couldn’t help but smile though, this girl was my world and I would have doneanythingto keep her safe and give her the life I wanted her to have.

I hopped off the bed and strode over to the tray where a number ofplates under dish covers sat, Angel followed closely behind me. The pair of us whipped off the lids and then shared a delighted grin at all the mouth-watering food that had been brought to us, for once in our lives we weren’t going to go hungry.

The next couple of hours passed in bliss. Angel and I devoured ourbreakfast, eating every last scrap on the plates, and then spent some time exploring her room.

It transpired she did have a walk-in wardrobe that led into thebathroom, behind the second door was her own personal lounge area, equipped with the biggest plasma television we’d ever seen. Angel begged me to get her game console from our apartment and I promised her I would, all the while worrying what I’d have to do for Kai in order to get it, I was beginning to learn that nothing came for free with him.

She’d been unhappy about the personal tutor and didn’tunderstand why she couldn’t carry on going to her usual school, but I told her if she did well and paid attention, then the nice man who was looking after us would pay for her cochlear implant.

Seems I’d already learned a lesson in blackmail from Kai.

A knock on the door interrupted us from our hysterical laughter. We’dbeen jumping on the bed to see who could bounce the highest, not giving a shit if it caused any damage to the furniture.

I didn’t pay for it, so fuck it.

“Come in,” I called through laughter, even as my stomach plummeted.

Angel and I stopped jumping on the bed and stared in unison as thedoor opened. I was expecting Kai to walk in so was surprised when the woman who had brought us breakfast, Jacqueline, entered the room.

I stepped down from the bed, but Angel stayed where she was,no doubt hoping our game would continue the moment the woman left again.

The poor woman barely looked at me as she spoke, instead keepingher eyes on the marble floor. “Pardon the interruption, Ms. Bennett, but Mr. Wolfe has asked for you to join him. He asks that you say goodbye to your sister as you will be required elsewhere for the coming days.”

The good mood I had been enjoying only moments ago fucked rightoff and a feeling of trepidation and regret crept over me.

I looked at Angel who was still standing on the bed, her smile too wasnowhere to be seen and it didn’t take a genius to know that she had lip read what Jacqueline said.

‘Where are you going?’ she signed, and my heart split down themiddle.

I didn’t know when I’d be allowed to see Angel again and I didn’tknow how either of us would cope with that. Not a day had passed since leaving home nearly five years ago where we hadn’t seen each other. I had a feeling our separation was going to be harder than any damn thing Kai was going to make me do, and suddenly six months felt like an eternity.

---